'Lifestyle' products usually emanate from the marketing-led mass-market companies, so it's a pleasant surprise to learn that at least one hard-core audiophile firm has the guts to be cute.  Roksan's Hotcakes are the last thing I expected to be made by a company still producing turntables...

The Hotcakes belong to a sub-genre of small loudspeakers which, while capable of acting as main speakers in not-too-critical installations, are best used for 'peripheral' tasks. These include serving as rear-channel speakers in surround-sound set-ups, working off mixing desks for near-field monitoring or (as the majority will use them) being run as remotes off a main system or as the main speakers in a second system. Kitchens, bedrooms, offices, student digs -- the applications are limitless.

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While Bose, AR and Wharfedale offer passive and active versions of their -- respectively -- RoomMates, Partners and Diamonds, Roksan's Hotcakes are passive-only. Not designed to act as substitutes for, say, JBL Everests, the Hotcakes can deliver satisfying but not raucous playback levels, and will work well with small quality amplifiers like the NAD 3020 and its progeny.

As with the Bose 101/RoomMate, each Hotcake features one full-range driver. It's a SEAS 4in cone, which Roksan tweaks for its own purposes. This driver is fitted to a seven-sided MDF
enclosure, designed to allow the Hotcakes to be situated either inconspicuously for those who value aesthetics above all else or for optimum sonic performance. As the box only measures 195x195x145mm, you'd be hard-pressed to find any room where its presence would intrude.