MusicRadar

The Royale packs a massive punch for a 1 x 12 combo.

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• Review

Paul Rivera is one of the world's most influential amp designers, with a career that's encompassed Mesa Engineering, Yamaha, Music Man and Fender, where he revived that company's amp fortunes in the early eighties with a range that included the legendary Super Champ - one of the last and best amps to come off the old Fullerton line.

Over the years, Rivera's own constantly evolving designs have found favour in every musical genre from country to pop to death metal, resulting in a long and diverse artist list that includes some of the world's greatest players.

"For a 1 x 12, the Royale's low-frequency response is epic, and it's not flabby like some 'big box' amps."

Yet despite the boutique credibility, modern Riveras are relatively affordable, especially since the introduction of the entry-level Pubster and Clubster series.

This year, however, Rivera has upped the ante a little with the introduction of a hot-rodded and more expensive version of its Clubster 45 amp, called the Clubster Royale.

The Royale sports the same retro-styled cabinet design first seen on the Venus range of amps. Consequently it's good looking with nice proportions, while capable of withstanding any abuse professional touring can dish out.

Thanks partly to two massive transformers it weighs in at roughly 23kg, which is about as heavy as we would want a 1 x 12 amp to be, yet still remains quite portable.

One main PCB holds most of the preamp, power amp and power supply components, including all the front panel controls. Smaller boards hold the FX loop circuitry, output valves and speaker and mains connections.

As you'd expect, the standard of layout and component quality is exceptionally high, with through-plating on the high-voltage PCBs and special chassis-mounted valve bases, which reduce heat transfer to the PCB and eliminate board flex. This greatly improves long-term reliability compared to amps that have valve bases directly soldered to the circuit board itself.

Other features include a regulated DC filament supply to keep noise to a minimum, while switching is done silently and smoothly by opto-isolators rather than relays: this is top stuff.

The lead channel controls include gain, master volume and a three-band EQ, while the rhythm channel is pared down to volume, treble and bass, with master controls for presence and reverb.

No Rivera is complete without a pull switch or two and the Clubster Royale has three, activating the lead channel's gain boost, a bright boost on the rhythm channel and channel switching if you don't want to use the supplied two-button footswitch.

The rear panel features Rivera's highly capable series effects loop with send and return level controls. This loop is a useful upgrade on the standard Clubster's insert points; it can interface with practically any effect, from a £20 fuzz box to a studio delay, and run any length of cable. Other rear panel features include a fixed level line out socket, impedance changer and a pair of speaker jacks.

Attention to detail is evident everywhere and the internal build quality is first class - this sample has been put together by someone who understands and appreciates high gain valve audio circuits.

Overall, it's an object example of how to do things properly; printed circuit board amp construction doesn't get better than this.