Интегральные усилители — Rotel A11 Tribute

The Rotel A11 Tribute is a Class AB stereo integrated amplifier created in cooperation with Ken Ishiwata as a homage to his career of more than 40 years in the audio industry. It builds on the earlier A11, and the joint work of Ishiwata and the Rotel engineering teams brought upgraded components and retuning of all critical circuits. Sources can connect by Bluetooth, by RCA cable or through a phono stage for MM cartridges.

Key specs that matter

Rotel specifies 50 W per channel into 8 ohm and 95 W per channel into 4 ohm. Total harmonic distortion across 20 Hz to 20 kHz stays below 0.03%, intermodulation distortion is also under 0.03%, and the damping factor is 140. The four RCA line inputs accept 180 mV at 47 kilohm and overload at 4 V, while the MM phono input needs 2.3 mV, also at 47 kilohm, with a 50 mV overload point. Frequency response is 10 Hz to 100 kHz within 0.5 dB on line and 20 Hz to 20 kHz within 0.5 dB on phono. A-weighted signal-to-noise figures are 100 dB for line and 85 dB for phono. A preamplifier output delivers 1 V with a 470 ohm output impedance.

Engineering and use context

Rotel manufactures the oversized toroidal transformer in-house. The chassis is 430 x 93 x 345 mm, with an 80 mm tall front panel, and weighs 6.85 kg. The US version runs on 120 V at 60 Hz, draws 160 W, needs less than 0.5 W in standby and produces 479 BTU/h of heat at 1/8 power, while a 230 V, 50 Hz version is made for Europe. The unit is double insulated, so no earth connection is required. Wireless streaming uses Bluetooth with aptX and AAC codecs, and a Texas Instruments digital to analogue converter handles the digital side. Bass and treble controls work over plus or minus 10 dB at 100 Hz and 10 kHz. A graphic display on the front panel and an IR remote are used for operation, and the finish can be black or silver. Rotel states the design is meant to hold its performance with difficult loudspeaker loads.

Pairing

Rotel shows the amplifier connected to its CD11 Tribute player, with a 12 V trigger link so both switch on together, and the RR-AX1401 remote is supplied. Vinyl playback with an MM pickup works without an outboard phono box, and the remaining RCA inputs take other analogue sources. The pre-out allows adding a subwoofer with its own amplifier or an extra power amplifier later.

Alternatives

A more powerful choice in the same chassis format is the Rotel A12MKII integrated amplifier, rated at 60 W per channel.