What the heck is it? Royal Device (loudspeakers) mystery box

I picked this up today because of the rock solid build quality, I'm just wondering what the heck it is. Any ideas?

 

Royal Device Laura Studio MKII Speaker with Miranda Horn Technical Background Review

ROYAL DEVICE by Roberto Delle Curti Hi-Efficiency Loudspeakers Audiophile speaker systems High fidelity systems Sistemi di altoparlanti hi-end HiFi ed Alta Efficienza Lautsprecher Diffusori acustici stereo Enceintes acoustiques

Something related to the speakers this now appearing defunct company used to make?

 

By the look of it -- two RCA jacks and a ground on one end, and two RCA jacks and a power input on the other -- I'd guess it is a phono pre-amp.

 

Analog inputs and outputs, a ground screw, and a power connection - it’s a phono preamp.

I hope you also got the power supply that goes with it.

 

Open it up, let's see inside.

 

Possibly a moving coil pre-preamp?

I made the mistake of clicking on their website link that was listed in an old SoundStage review. It led me to a site about crop circles & the end of days.

 

Oh, I hope not. I don't own any moving coils. I'm working on opening it.

 

My travails are on Audiokarma of me opening this thing up. Got the label off safely, but he must have the cover screw in. It stripped and I'm on my way to a (hopefully) get a hex head extractor.

 

I don't know what's with that bizzare website. Who spends all their time conjuring up such arcane theories?

 

Maybe all those charts were actually cartridge alignment templates?

 

Okay, here we go, guys. Had to drill out that screw.

 

Can we get a better shot of that 2014 Merlot perhaps?

 

Could it be a MC to MM transformer?

 

looks like a audio pre amp to me.

 

Whatever it is, it looks to be well built and the electrolytic caps look to be in good shape. I'm assuming that the side with the ground lug is the input side. If you have a multimeter, I would measure the resistance of the RCA jacks. If you see 47k ohms, I would assume it's a phono preamp. If you see 100 ohms, I would think it's a MC pre-preamp.

You still need to know what it needs power wise too. What does the other side of the board look like?

Hopefully, one of our brainiacs will arrive soon!

 

I get 46.7 resistance for each jack. So phono preamp? Excellent! Now to just figure out what power supply. Someone said what is the value of the large caps and divide them by 1.4 for their maximum voltage. The large caps are 1000uf 35v so 35v divided by 1.4 would be a possible 24v adapter?

 

This 2005 page mentions a new Royal Device "Bille phono stage" then later refers to it as "Billie phono stage":

Debut of new Royal Device single -ended electronics at THE Show | HomeToys

This currently available page looks like the front page of their formerly legitimate site, but all links on the page go to now missing pages - it is the same page as linked above, but this has a slightly different URL:

ROYAL DEVICE by Roberto Delle Curti Hi-Efficiency Loudspeakers Audiophile speaker systems High fidelity systems Sistemi di altoparlanti hi-end HiFi ed Alta Efficienza Lautsprecher Diffusori acustici stereo Enceintes acoustiques

 

The Wayback Machine by The Internet Archive may be useful for finding info on those past products.

Try these Wayback Machine links and go back to 2005 or 2006 and see what's there:
ossaudio Wayback Machine
royaldevice Wayback Machine

 

ROYAL DEVICE - BLUE EYES PHONO STAGE

COMPLETELY NO FEEDBACK even locally SINGLE ENDED CLASS A Junction FET PASSIVE RIAA PHONO STAGE.



The Blu Eyes RUBINA is derived from the professional RUBINA PHONO STAGE. It features a smaller cabinet in shining stainless steel BUT NO Step-up neither OUTPUT transformers. Suites to all MM and MC cartridges with an output level above 1 milliVolt, and it can drive even power amps with at least 0,5-0,6 volt input sensitivity. If connected to a preamp the possibility to drive also cartridges with output level of 0,5 millivolt is possible instead. The reason to use a JFET circuitry instead of tubes it is due to the high gain obtainable without the use of Feedback, still keeping a very low noise. Moreover, with discrete JFET circuitry we can afford valve sound without entering the microphonicity problems. Metalized polypropylene 2% capacitors used onto the PAssive RIAA circuit. Only discrete components. No ICs or SMD used at all. Please see schematics hereafter.

Phono Input: MM/MC high level

Input Impedance: MM/MC high level 47 Kohm

Frequency Response: 25Hz to 20,000Hz +/- 0,3 dB; SUBSONIC PASSIVE FILTER - 2,5 db @ 20 Hz

Harmonic Distortion: less than 0.2%

MM Sensitivity: 1 mVolt input for 0,5 Volt output @ 1 KHz (54 dB)

Total MM gain: 54 dB

Output impedance: minimum 600 ohm load - suggested above 1500 ohm

Maximum Output Voltage: 2,9 Vrms on 600 ohm load - 5 Vrms on 1500 ohm load

Amplification: Two stages JFET Single Ended NO FEEDBACK even locally - grounded source modality.

MC S/N Ratio: 89 dB S/N measured in respect to max output

Power Consumption: 1,5 W

Dimensions (W x D x H): 150 x 75 x 50 mm

Weight: 1,3 Kg - 3 pounds

Chassis Finish: SHINING STAINLESS STEEL Die casting 4 mm or SMOOTH STAINLESS STEEL

Remarks: Inputs for MM and MC high level cartridge - PASSIVE RIAA - Any channel and stage with completely separated internal power supplies - RIAA with ALIANTE AUDIOCAP polypropylene capacitors 2% and 1% resistor - HIGH-END Connectors - External p.s.u. transformer



DONNA <<<<< This is the link to the Wayback Machine webpage for this. It may take a little longer to load. (Thanks to Ham Sandwich)