Dispatch was by black plastic-wrapped very stout metal flight case with reinforced bruise-me corners. Each amp had its own numbered and matched valve set of Mullard driver and Genalex Gold Lion outputs. A multi meter with bias cable attachment was included.

In the pale glass of day, the hard-tempered shields proved to be of top furniture quality and very strong. No scratch-prone acrylic here. The footers sported tilt'n'shimmy inserts for multi-axis isolation even if on that count, Artur didn't seem exactly convinced of their effectiveness. That's because he asked me to report on sonic differences between various platforms. I only have one type of amplifier stand so couldn't help. But to my mind, an effective isolation footer should make it immaterial what type material it sits on. If a solid wood platform still sounds different from granite which sounds different from metal and glass, just how effective can the footer's own isolation performance really be? It's why rather than fiddle with fancy footers, I favor comprehensively engineered performance racks and stands from Artesania Audio of Spain. Now playing footsie games stops being of interest or meaningful.

The business end had these top-quality connectors and a 9-pin bias interface with associated trim pots.

Tubed up, the show included some obligatory orange…

… whilst from the front, there were the gleaming model and company names in metal appliqué.

Sheer handling and visual inspection spoke to an obvious class act just like the driver who'd hauled his lorry for three long days, then promptly rang the door bell with a big and friendly smile.

How to use the multi meter. "The adjustment should be carried out 5 minutes after starting the amplifier and then repeated after 30 minutes. Of course you can take the measurement any time to insure that the tubes are still okay.

1. Set the meter to 2000mV and use the two red wires to connect it to the amp's bias interface.
2. Using the potentiometer marked 'bias' and a small screwdriver, set the balance of the power tubes to 000 as shown in the left image.
3. Change any red cable to the black one and using the  '+Bias- adjust' trim pot, adjust to 230 – 240 (image 2). Always do the same for each mono block.
4. Recheck the balance using the two red wires.

"Before replacing an EL84, reduce bias with a few '-' clockwise turns of the 'Bias-adjust' potentiometer, then turn on the amplifier and perform the measurement procedure like above. If you cannot set a '000' value (indications are floating and exceed 60), it means a tube failure. Replace the EL84. Ignoring this error may activate protection and sometimes might make it necessary to return the amp for service."

With timing between incoming and outgoing review loaners tracking fortuitously, Rike Audio's unusual Romy 20SE was on hand for a de rigueur AB to a triode-strapped single-ended pentode amplifier.