Launched in 1985, the sound quality of the product positioned it as a strong competitor against the established industry leader, the Linn Sondek LP12.

Needing a top plinth roughly an inch (25 mm) thick made from wood with a density of about 700 to 800 kg/m3, Moghaddam found suitable material in a fire door with which he built a prototype.

[4] The Xerxes, introduced in 1985, secured the advocacy of Roger Macer, a successful independent hi-fi retailer in London who sold the then market leader, the Linn Sondek.

[5] The product, named after the Persian king Xerxes I,[2] was launched at a hi-fi show in 1985 where the Roksan Darius loudspeaker concept was also unveiled.

Tufan Hashemi said Roksan sought to create equipment that would excel in high-quality musical reproduction and capable of involving the listener on an emotional level.

[8][2] However, the Roksan's outer platter weighs less than half of that of the LP12, to reduce load on the main bearing, yet is able to achieve a greater inertia because of its weight distribution.

[7] The Xerxes uses a relatively light medium-density fibreboard (MDF) top board on which the bearing and tonearm assemblies are mounted.

On the lower board, to which an outer surround is attached, three compliant rubber feet give additional isolation to the turntable's chosen placement.

[9] One notable characteristic of the deck is the large C-shaped groove cut into the top plinth to control how vibrations would be transmitted from platter to the tonearm area.

[2][6] To further increase isolation, the Xerxes possesses a spindle that allows the user to centre the record, but which is supposed to be removed during listening so that the disc rests solely on the felt mat.

[13] The arm and headshell is a one-piece construction; the large-gauge aluminium tube interference-fitted at one end into a massive yoke that is the bearing.

In 1989, Roksan launched the budget Radius record player, Tabriz arm and Corus moving magnet cartridge.

Other competitors included the Well Tempered Table,[8] the Phonosophie P3,[14] the Michell GyroDec, Pink Triangle,[9] the Dunlop Systemdek, and the Logic DM-101.

The company was highly influential in the way hi-fi was sold, and it managed to wrest market share from Linn and Naim, who had a stranglehold in the UK.

[15] Hi-fi critic Art Dudley observed that prior to Roksan arriving on the scene, people who valued a component's rhythmic and melodic capabilities had only one real turntable choice, the (still splendid) Linn LP12.

considered the Xerxes "arguably the first turntable to give the previously all conquering Linn Sondek LP12 a real run for its money".

[6][19] According to the manufacturers, the producers of the show deliberately sought to feature one in the series, from the first episode, to highlight Morse's passion for music.

[19] In the first episode, The Dead of Jericho, the people associated with the fictional manufacturer of the turntable (Richards Audio Research) were the focal point of the storyline.

The original two-plinth Xerxes (1985) was discontinued after about eight years' production, after the Touraj Moghaddam Signature (TMS) was launched.

The bearing, attached to the inner platter, has an unusually small-diameter hardened-steel spindle, which sits on top of a tungsten ball[11][21] that measures 2 mm and is machined to a tolerance in the order of micrometres.

[21] According to the manufacturer, the Xerxes.20plus incorporates key design elements from the TMS3, including the tungsten carbide bearing ball, inner and outer aluminium platter, mat and decoupler blobs.