'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.

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.

Because the driver is fitted to an angled surface, created by
cutting off a corner, the Hotcakes can be arranged easily to fire
horizontally or vertically, up from the floor or down from the
ceiling, shelf mounted or stand mounted -- the shape allows your
(or your interior designer's) imagination to run riot. Brackets
have been made available for wall mounting, while one
particularly fetching stand option has the Hotcake firing
straight up, looking like a 1930s uplighter floor lamp.

Although these speakers aren't intended to supplant full-range
systems, I couldn't think of any way to audition them other than
as 'real' speakers. Using a variety of costly and powerful
amplifiers with CD and LP sources, I ran the Hotcakes on 24in
tall stands, with the speakers firing at the listener. I was
staggered by the results.

No, the Hotcakes do not deliver rich, full bass which defies the
laws of physics. No, the dynamics are not limitless. What these
wee beauties do is offer near-perfect lateral imaging, fair depth
and convincing height. They're quick and sharp, with no smearing
in the mid or treble regions. They cover the all-important
midband with far greater competence than you'd expect of a
speaker which occupies no more space than a stack of around 20
CDs. The worst sin of which they can be accused is a slightly
nasal character on male vocals.

The lack of weight is disconcerting with all but a cappella
vocals, some strings-only recordings or speech. To enrich the
sound, you really must site the speaker near a boundary surface.
Simply placing the Hotcakes on the floor with the driver firing
up toward the listener was enough to add 'body'; to my surprise,
the speakers still created a sound 'picture' at a respectable
height in front of the listening position. Conversely, mounting
the speakers with their drivers firing down into the room and
their backs touching the ceiling/rear wall proved to be an ideal
alternative to ceiling-mounted designs which fire down directly
at the floor.

I spent a few days listening only to the Hotcakes and it didn't
seem like a hi-fi equivalent of Lent. The sound was vastly
superior to that of any portable, which means that their success
as spacesavers is assured (students in cramped digs, take note).
For kitchens, small studies, reception areas or other secondary
sites, the Hotcakes are ideal.

At #139 per pair in black or white gloss lacquer (or anthracite
for an extra #20), the Hotcakes cost as much as or more than a
number of sensible, fine-sounding budget systems of a
conventional mien. No, the Hotcakes will not 'outperform'
Celestion 3s or Monitor Audio 7s or AR Red Boxes or a host of
other dandy two-way systems. On the other hand, no conventional
speakers can provide the aesthetics or the siting options of the
Hotcakes. Which gets us back to the introductory paragraph.

If you don't have to worry about space or aesthetic
considerations or a limited budget, then you don't really need
the Hotcakes. But if you're an audiophile who dreads the
unavoidable sonic compromises of selecting a speaker for its size
or looks rather than performance, the Hotcakes will ensure that
you won't need that Grecian 2000.