Rotel A11 Tribute integrated amplifier

In 2019, Ken Ishiwata (former Marantz engineer and brand ambassador) agreed to make adjustments on a Rotel amplifier and CD player (CD11 Tribute). Unfortunately, he passed away on the 25^th of November 2019 before the finishing touches could be added.

Rotel  had accepted his specifications and Ishiwata had supervised the production of the first prototypes. His friend and colleague Karl-Heinz Fink has been able to participate and complete the work. Fink and Rotel estimated that it was meeting Ken Ishiwata’s vision and requirements. The ambition of both products was to achieve a sound of excellent quality at a very affordable price.

Sadly, the passing of Sir Ishiwata changed the product designation from “Ken Ishiwata Signature” to “Tribute Edition”.

Therefore, the Rotel A11 Tribute integrated amplifier replaces the A11 model. Today, it’s the Japanese manufacturer’s loss leader.

ROTEL A11 TRIBUTE: FRONT PANEL

On the outside, the Rotel A11 Tribute looks like its big brother the A12 integrated amplifier , with a few less connectors and buttons.

There’s a blue backlit display window on the centre of the black or natural aluminium front panel. It indicates the selected source, the volume and the tone. On the right, there’s a digital volume potentiometer like on all products of the range. There’s also the menu access, 5 buttons for the input selection, an A/B speaker selector and a headphone jack!

Of course, the front panel is provided with a Japanese screen printing that can be translated into “Tribute respect”.

ROTEL A11 TRIBUTE: BACK PANEL

At the back of this integrated amplifier, there are 4 high-level RCA analogue inputs.

They are supplemented with a pre-out output and a Bluetooth dongle. It’s in charge of the aptX and AAC for wireless CD-quality audio streaming.

ROTEL A11 TRIBUTE: CIRCUIT

The announced power of 50 watts is supplied by a 50 watts Rotel Class AB conventional amplification per channel at 8 ohms. It is supplemented with an enormous Rotel custom-designed toroidal transformer. It ensures a perfect speaker stability, even with difficult loads.

Ken Ishiwata’s adjustments to the Rotel A11 Tribute Edition are primarily the replacement of the ten coupling capacitors and two resistances. These components which are present on the amplifier stage’s signal path have a strategic role in the transparency and neutrality of the audio signal.

In the preamplifier section, six capacitors were replaced by high-performance models. In fact, this represents more than half of the audio signal’s components.

All volume stage’s capacitors were also modified. Rotel also added an additional electromagnetic insulation and damping materials to the chassis to eliminate resonance effects on the circuit.

ROTEL A11 TRIBUTE: TESTING AND LISTENING

We have here the reproduction and musical qualities of the Rotel A11: transparency, dynamism and timbre quality.

The definition however seems to have been improved, as if the true potential of the mid-range was revealed. The bass is still very dynamic and stable, but with an improved nuance and transparency.

All of these qualities allow the Rotel A11 Tribute amplifier to be paired with excellent Hi-Fi speakers and constitute efficient and coherent sets at an affordable price. For example, we recommend the association with the manufacturer’s Rotel CD11 Tribute CD player.

Congratulations Mr Ishiwata, you have our respect!