Franklin Audio RA-20 & SS-6 MkII

We check out a cleverly configurable re‑amper, and a switch box with a difference...

Franklin Audio offer a small range of handy problem‑solving devices that are all designed and handmade in Syndey, Australia. Alongside a couple of DIs and a speaker switch, there are two re‑amp boxes and a stereo input switcher boasting some useful facilities that I think make it unique. I was sent the stereo version of their re‑amper, the RA‑20, and the SS6 MkII stereo switcher for evaluation. They came generously packaged to protect them from damage in transit, and both take the form of a two‑part, black, 1.5mm folded‑steel rectangular box, with most controls on the top panel and four rubber feet securely attached to the base with screws. The labelling is similarly no‑nonsense, the crisply printed white‑on‑black text and markings being easy to read against the black. One might summarise all that by saying these boxes are compact and robustly constructed, with a pleasingly understated, utilitarian aesthetic. All of which is a good thing in my book...

The Re‑amper

I’ll take the RA‑20 re‑amper first, since that’s probably the simpler device to describe. Passive re‑amping might not be rocket science, but it’s executed nicely here, with custom‑wound Franklin Audio transformers at its heart, and while this box essentially puts two of the company’s RA‑10 single‑channel re‑amp circuits in one box there are some thoughtful additional touches in this two‑channel version.

Two Neutrik Combi sockets on the back allow you to connect sources using three‑pin XLRs or quarter‑inch jacks, and two quarter‑inch TS jack outputs can pass the signal on to your stompboxes or amps. Nestling between the RA‑20’s sockets are two buttons that let you select different channel‑configuration functions, helpfully indicated in a simple diagram above. The four options are: dual mono (whereby both channels remain completely separate); mono (left channel only) to dual mono, with separate controls for each channel; stereo, whereby both channels are used, but the left channel’s controls govern the behaviour of both; and mono to stereo, whereby the left input is split to two outputs, and the controls for those outputs are linked in the same say as in stereo mode. On the top are two knobs per channel, the upper one operating a pot to vary the input impedance to suit (or, potentially, change the character of) a source, and the lower one setting the level at the output. Below, on the front panel, are two...