As with their other products Rike Audio, the Romy 20SE uses a rare tube that is seldom seen in other high-end amplifiers. This transmission pentode introduced by Siemens in the 1960s under the designation RS1003 and later further developed by RFT as the SRS551 is almost predestined for audiophile purposes – provided that it creates optimal working conditions in terms of circuitry.
Which, to put it mildly, is no easy task. In the Romy 20SE, a pair of selected SRS551 delivers 20 Class A2 watts in triode operation, which do not fail even with critical loudspeaker loads and, thanks to the unusually high damping factor, that have the woofer cones under control at all times.
What distinguishes this fantastic sounding integrated amplifier even further from typical single-ended devices is the extreme durability of its output tubes. As the SRS551 tube was specified for medical use it had to pass quality tests that ensure 10,000 hours without any problems. In the Romy 20SE, it is easily two and a half times as good, although Romy’s performance is 30 to 50% above that of conventional SET amplifiers.
SPECIFICATIONS
– Category: high-level single-ended tube amplifier
– Inputs: 4 x (RCA / Cinch)
– Output: 2 taps for 4 and 8 ohms
– Output power: 2 x 20 watts (Class-A 2)
– TubeS: 2 x SRS551, 2 x ECF80 (selected and matched in pairs)
– stable even with critical loudspeaker loads
– high damping factor
– Optimized circuit topology for extreme tube durability (typically> 25,000 hours)
– Elaborately braced full metal sandwich housing with bronze sub-chassis
– each device individually fine-tuned to a minimum of parasitic resonances
– Unparalleled component quality including in-house Rike Audio oil-paper capacitors and extremely resistors with superb characteristics and minimal tolerances
– Oversized power supply with mains transformer and two output transformers in low-stray toroidal core technology
– high quality ceramic tube socket
– hard gold-plated input terminals
– Contact-safe pole terminals for banana plugs and spades
– finest craftsmanship made in Germany
– Guarantee: 24 months (without tubes)
