Интегральные усилители — Rotel A14MKII

The A14MKII is the integrated amplifier of Rotel's 14 Series, from the Japanese-founded company whose designs are engineered in the UK. It combines 80 W of Class AB amplification with a DAC, a moving-magnet phono stage, a headphone amplifier and aptX and AAC Bluetooth, and it is certified Roon Tested. The MKII version brought a redesigned DAC circuit and improvements to the power supply and gain stages.

Key specs that matter

Output is 80 W per channel into 8 ohms and 150 W per channel into 4 ohms, with THD below 0.018% and a damping factor of 220. The DAC is a Texas Instruments 32-bit/384 kHz converter, and the unit supports MQA and MQA Studio. Inputs are four RCA line, one MM phono, two coaxial, two optical and two PC-USB. Outputs include a preamp output and a headphone jack. Line input sensitivity is 230 mV and phono sensitivity 3.4 mV. Signal-to-noise is 100 dB for line, 103 dB for digital and 90 dB for phono. Line frequency response is 10 Hz to 100 kHz within 0.5 dB. Power consumption is 280 W, and weight is 8.9 kg.

Engineering and use context

The power supply uses an oversized toroidal transformer made in-house by Rotel, feeding four high-efficiency slit-foil bulk storage capacitors. The redesigned DAC section was tuned extensively, with critical components hand-selected. Tone controls adjust bass and treble in 1 dB steps up to +/-10 dB, and a bypass mode removes them from the signal path. The PC-USB input accepts MQA streams,. Relay-switched A and B terminals drive a second zone. The front panel graphic display shows a large volume indication and the incoming audio stream. For custom installation, the amplifier can be controlled over Ethernet, RS232, 12 V trigger and infrared. The front panel is available in black or silver and carries a USB type-A port. The supplied RR-AX1400 remote gives direct source selection and adjusts bass, treble and balance, and it also operates the basic functions of Rotel tuners and CD players. The phono input has an input impedance of 47 kohm.

Pairing

The A14MKII handles typical stand-mounts and towers in rooms of up to 30 m2. Its control connections let installers integrate it with home automation systems. The phono stage suits moving-magnet cartridges of about 3 to 6 mV, and the USB input accepts a computer or streamer.

Alternatives

Rotel's A12MKII is the smaller integrated amplifier of the range with the same feature concept at lower power.