T+A Caruso R

T+A Caruso R: the compact hi-fi system that just needs speakers

A complete hi-fi system missing only the speakers: this 29 cm wide aluminium enclosure combines a CD player, an FM and DAB+ radio, network playback, Bluetooth and a stereo amplifier. You are free to choose the speakers, whether bookshelf or floorstanding, and the choice depends mainly on the room. Everything is controlled from the front touchscreen, with the remote control or from a smartphone.

A compact all-aluminium enclosure

The Caruso R takes up the proportions of the very first Caruso from 2008, but where the all-in-one Caruso houses its drivers behind grilles, it features black lacquered aluminium side panels. The black body, set between a silver aluminium top and base, is visually stretched by the horizontally placed 7-inch touchscreen, which displays album covers, the time and the volume. The CD slot runs above the screen. Inside, an extruded aluminium profile, which T+A calls the Aluminium Framework, serves as the supporting structure for all the electronics and contributes to the unit’s 7.5 kg weight for 29 × 29 × 21 cm.

Ambient lighting complements the design. Its colour can be set source by source (one shade for CD, another for radio) or once and for all, with a “flow” mode that cycles through the colours and a slow pulse with adjustable speed; turned down to zero, it switches off completely. Control is available on the screen, through the T+A Caruso Navigator app for iOS and Android, or with the supplied infrared remote control, three of whose shortcut buttons can be programmed for the most frequently used sources.

A stereo amplifier to pair with your speakers

The switching (Class D) amplification delivers 2 × 50 W into 8 Ω and 2 × 100 W into 4 Ω, with peaks of 75 and 150 W. That is enough to drive a pair of average-efficiency speakers in a normal-sized living room; low-sensitivity floorstanding speakers in a large room, played loud, will need more headroom. The Caruso R accepts any pair of passive speakers with an impedance between 4 and 8 Ω, and T+A offers two models matching its style: the Caruso R 10 two-way bookshelf speaker and the Caruso S 10 three-way floorstanding speaker.

Sound adjustment relies on digital signal processing (DSP) that is finer than a simple bass-treble control. Bass, midrange and treble are adjusted separately, and the tone control can be bypassed at the touch of a button to return to a neutral signal. Two “Contour” filters act on specific ranges: the first on presence, the range that determines vocal intelligibility, useful for a TV news broadcast or a commentated match; the second on the lower midrange, to be boosted for a warmer sound or reduced when the room makes certain notes boom. Physiological correction (loudness) compensates at low volume for the ear’s reduced sensitivity to bass and treble.

A subwoofer output, with adjustable crossover frequency and level, extends the bass of small bookshelf speakers. The variable-level preamp output feeds active speakers, and a menu enables or disables this output and the speaker terminals separately: an active pair installed in a neighbouring room can play while the living room speakers stay silent. A maximum volume limit can be set in the settings, handy when several people use the unit.

Discs, radio and streaming in a single unit

The CD player is slot-loading: the disc, label side up, is drawn in automatically. It plays audio CDs, CD-Rs and CD-RWs, displays CD-Text information and accepts only round 12 cm discs, as 8 cm CDs and shaped discs could damage the mechanism. One option resumes playback at the exact point where it stopped after switching to radio or streaming, and an ejected disc that is not removed within ten seconds is drawn back in to protect it.

Connected to the network via Ethernet cable or dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 and 5 GHz), the Caruso R gives access from its screen to Tidal, Qobuz and Deezer, podcasts and more than 11,000 Internet radio stations from the airable service. Spotify Connect and AirPlay take over from a smartphone, and music stored on a NAS or computer can be played via UPnP and DLNA. FLAC, ALAC, WAV, MP3, AAC, OGG Vorbis and WMA files are played up to 192 kHz / 24-bit, in PCM only: DSD is not supported. When the Internet connection weakens, a three-level setting reduces the stream bitrate to avoid dropouts. The rear USB port plays flash drives and external hard drives formatted in FAT, FAT32 or NTFS.

For broadcast radio, the tuner receives FM and DAB+, with station lists and favourites for each band, as with Internet radio. On DAB+, dynamic range control (DRC) narrows the gap between loud and quiet passages for background listening, when the station transmits it. The supplied telescopic antenna, fully extended, is suitable in most homes; in areas with weak reception, an outdoor antenna makes a clear improvement.

TV, headphones and external devices to connect

The TV connects to the optical digital input (up to 96 kHz) or coaxial input (up to 192 kHz). The Caruso R has no HDMI socket, and the TV must be set to output a stereo PCM signal. Two analogue RCA inputs accept other sources, with sensitivity adjustable input by input to avoid volume jumps when switching sources, and each input can be renamed on screen (“TV”, “Console” or other). A second Ethernet port shares the Caruso R’s network connection with a TV or console placed nearby, useful when only one cable reaches the cabinet.

Bluetooth works in both directions. In receive mode, it accepts music from a smartphone or tablet in aptX, AAC and SBC; in transmit mode, it sends sound to wireless headphones, for watching a film late at night without disturbing the household. For wired headphones, the 3.5 mm jack socket on the back delivers 30 mW to models above 32 Ω: enough to drive portable headphones or an efficient model, less so power-hungry hi-fi headphones.

Alexa, alarm clock and everyday use

Amazon Alexa is built in, with microphones located on top of the enclosure. Once the unit is linked to an Amazon account, the assistant responds to voice commands whatever the current source, starts music and controls compatible smart home devices. A button on the screen mutes the microphones, which is then indicated by a red crossed-out icon.

The Caruso R also serves as a living room clock radio: five alarms can be programmed with their days, volume and source (DAB+, FM, CD or a simple tone), and a sleep timer switches it off after 1 to 60 minutes. In comfort standby, the screen displays the time with adjustable brightness and the unit can be switched back on from the app. Eco standby reduces consumption to below 0.5 W, compared with 6.5 W when Wi-Fi remains active; with Alexa enabled, the unit no longer goes into standby. With no signal or user input for 20, 30 or 60 minutes, depending on the setting, it switches to standby on its own, unless Alexa is active.

Technical specifications

Overview and controls

• Device type: compact multi-source system combining a stereo amplifier, a CD player, a network player, an FM / DAB+ tuner and Bluetooth connectivity
• Speakers: not integrated, to be paired with bookshelf or floorstanding speakers offered as options by T+A
• Controls: front-panel touchscreen, T+A Caruso Navigator app for iOS and Android
• Voice assistant: built-in Amazon Alexa, microphones on top can be disabled from the screen
• Ambient lighting:
  • Colour adjustable by source or shared across all sources
  • “flow” mode with cycling colours
  • Adjustable brightness and pulsing
  • Can be disabled
• Status indicator: green when on, red in comfort standby, off in eco standby
• Updates: automatic via the Internet at power-on

Amplification

• Technology: high-efficiency Class D switching amplifier
• Rated power: 2 × 50 W into 8 Ω, 2 × 100 W into 4 Ω
• Peak power: 2 × 75 W into 8 Ω, 2 × 150 W into 4 Ω
• Frequency response (+0 / −3 dB): 5 Hz to 22 kHz
• Harmonic distortion: less than 0.04%
• Signal / noise ratio: 101 dBA
• Channel separation: greater than 90 dB
• Speaker impedance: 4 to 8 Ω

Audio settings

• Tone controls: bass, midrange, treble, bypassable
• Contour filters:
  • Presence: improved vocal intelligibility
  • Low-midrange: warmer or clearer sound
• Low-volume loudness compensation: can be enabled
• Balance: adjustable
• Subwoofer: output can be enabled, adjustable crossover frequency and level
• Maximum volume: adjustable limit
• Output management: speaker outputs and analogue output can be enabled separately, notably for active speakers in another room
• Analogue input level: sensitivity adjustable for each input

CD player

• Loading: slot-loading, 12 cm discs only, no support for 8 cm discs
• Supported discs: audio CD, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-Text
• Frequency response: 2 Hz to 20 kHz
• Dynamic range: 100 dB
• Playback resume: resumes the disc where it stopped after a source change

Streaming and network

• Integrated services: Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer, podcasts, airable Internet radio with over 11000 stations
• Connect and streaming services: Spotify Connect, Apple AirPlay
• Media servers: UPnP AV, DLNA, Windows Media Player 10
• Supported formats: MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG Vorbis, FLAC, WAV, ALAC
• PCM resolution: 32 to 192 kHz / 16 to 24 bits
• MP3 bitrate: up to 320 kb/s
• Streaming quality: bitrate adjustable across three levels depending on the connection
• Wired network: Ethernet 10/100
• Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band 2.4 and 5 GHz
• Network setup: from the screen, via WPS or via the AirPlay setup on an iOS device

USB playback

• Media: USB flash drives, external hard drives
• File systems: FAT, FAT32, NTFS

Bluetooth

• Bidirectional function:
  • Reception from a smartphone or tablet
  • Transmission to Bluetooth headphones
• Reception codecs: aptX, AAC, SBC
• Control protocol: AVRCP

Tuner and radio presets

• Digital radio:
  • DAB, DAB+ in band III
  • Sensitivity: 2 µV
  • Signal / noise ratio: greater than 96 dBA
  • Dynamic range compression (DRC): adjustable
• FM radio:
  • Frequency range: 87.5 to 108 MHz
  • Sensitivity: 1 µV
  • Signal / noise ratio: greater than 65 dBA
  • Stereo / mono: switchable
• Presets: station and favourites lists for FM, DAB+ and Internet radio

Clock and alarm

• Clock:
  • Automatic setting via radio or network, or manual setting
  • Standby display with adjustable brightness
• Alarm:
  • 5 programmable alarms
  • Choice of days
  • Alarm sources: DAB+, FM, CD, tone
  • Adjustable volume
• Sleep timer: 1 to 60 minutes

Connections

• Analogue inputs: 2 RCA line inputs, 1 V nominal, 2 V maximum / 20 kΩ
• Digital inputs:
  • 1 coaxial input: 44.1 to 192 kHz
  • 1 Toslink optical input: 44.1 to 96 kHz
• USB port: 1 USB 2.0 port at the rear, 5 V, 2.1 A maximum
• Preamplifier output: 1 variable-level RCA output, 2 V / 50 Ω
• Subwoofer output: 1 RCA output, 2 V maximum
• Headphone output: 3.5 mm jack, for headphones above 32 Ω, 30 mW
• Speaker output: 1 pair of binding posts
• Network: 2 Ethernet ports
  • LAN 1: connection to the router
  • LAN 2: connection sharing with another device, notably a television or console
• Antennas: Wi-Fi antenna socket, Bluetooth antenna socket, FM / DAB radio socket
• Mains connection: IEC inlet with main power switch

Power supply and standby

• Power supply: 220–240 V, 50 / 60 Hz
• Maximum power consumption: 200 W
• Standby power consumption:
  • Eco standby: less than 0.5 W
  • With Wi-Fi active: 6.5 W
  • With Alexa active: no standby
• Comfort standby: time display and power-on from the app
• Automatic standby: after 20, 30 or 60 minutes without a signal or user operation, except when Alexa is active

Supplied accessories

• Infrared remote control:
  • 3 programmable shortcut buttons
  • Alexa button, alarm button
  • Depending on the series: rechargeable battery via USB on the rear or CR2032 battery
• USB charging cable
• 2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antennas
• FM / DAB telescopic antenna
• Mains cable
• Quick start guide

Dimensions and weight

• Dimensions (W × D × H): 290 × 290 × 210 mm
• Weight: 7.5 kg