I used to have a CJ5, it's a great sounding pre, but it's dated.A good tube for it is the Siemans. They will help it sound more transparent, and dynamic. The reason I went to something else, was the detail, dynamics and transparency, it was lacking. I still miss the way it made horns sound.If you don't listen to LPs, then a simple tube linestage, ie; Sonics Frontiers,Rougue Audible Illusions, will blow it away, in terms of dynamics, transparency, and detail. If you listen to LPs, and you like the sound, then it's going to be hard to replace. It has a world class phonostage. |
The rogue 99 really is incredible and as a match for the monoblocks they're unbeatable. There was just a great review of the 99/120's setup in the british hifi+ magazine that I thought was very well done and mentioned the synergy betwen the pre and power. I'd give Mark O'Brian at Rogue a call he is vcery knowledgable and helpful. I would also look into the Magnum upgrades that Rogue is now offering. |
i tried a magnum rogue 99 preamp, & it was bettered a little by the cary slp-98, but the melos music-director was truly in another league altogether. i don't tink the rogue liked the 5.5m long i/c's - it yust exacerbated impedance problems into my 25k-ohm input-impedance active x-over. ewe can get the melos ma-333r/music director for <$2k, & i honestly believe it will acquit itself well against any preamp awailable, at any price. there's nothing comparable near its price. yust my opinion, of course... ;~) good luck, doug ps - i dint like the fact that the rogue has no balance control or tape monitor function, either... |
Sedond I am sick and tired of this shit as post.Have you saved it and insert it anytime someone mentions Rogue.
Your opinions on Rogue gear have no merit.
Like I said.You got the Pre 5 minutes later you where crying about it.
Both the Cary And Melos are junk in comparison. |
leafs, i spoke w/3 different dealers who used to carry melos when they were in biz - two carried rogue, all three carried cary. all three recommended the melos, even tho they couldn't sell me a gnu preamp, which they' have been delighted to do. sorry, that as a rogue-owner, yure so offended by the thought that other comparably-priced equipment may sound better. have ewe ever listened to the cary slp-98 or the melos music-director or melos sha-gold? i had the cary & the rogue in my house at the same time - the cary was much less coloured, had better frequency extension, while still equalling the delightful bloom of the rogue. it also had balance controls & a tape-monitor loop, which i like. so, the rogue went away. then i happened upon a good deal on a melos music director, so i figured i'd a-b it w/my cary & sell whichever one dint cut it. well, the cary, nice as it was, was almost mid-fi in comparison to the melos. that's what i heard, that's where i committed my funds. the statement that the cary & the melos are junk in comparison to the rogue, is obviously made by someone who has never heard either, and has an unnatural need to measure their self-esteem thru their equipment. i have a good off-forum relationship w/david99 - a rogue-owner who's so happy w/his pre, he put it into his name! we have cordial discussions about equipment, including rogue, cary, melos, & also about other tings. what's *your* problem? sure, i comment about my experiences w/rogue, when the thread comes up - i thought that's what the forum was about. jeez, i prolly do it almost as much as *ewe* do, w/yer constant raving about it, whenever ya get a chance! ;~) hey, i got no problem w/that - i rave about what *i* like, too. but, i don't trash other folks, or their equipment yust cuz they don't agree w/me - especially if i've never even *heard* their equipment. grow up, doug s. |
I admire your coolness under fire Doug. |
Sedond,I am really sorry the Rogue brought out all the flaws in your associated equipment.Get over it. |
Sedond,Like i said once before.If you had not cried about the Pre 5 minutes after you got it and sold it within a week.I would cut you some slack. |
as i said before leafs, i put *hundreds* of hours on the rogue magnum-version 99 i had in the 2 months i listened to it in my system. ya, i *did* complain about it when i 1st turned it on - it was *really* bad then! ;~) changing to nos toobs helped some, but not enuff, even after over 100 hours of break-in. re: your comment that it brought out all the flaws in my equipment, all i know is i had accurate bass response down to subsonic levels, & an acoustic bass fiddle sounded like it was in my listening-room - both before *and* after i used the rogue 99, as well as a more extended & natural-sounding top-end. seems to me a more accurate statement wood be my assoiciated equipment brought out the flaws of the rogue. as i said before - i believe an impedance mismatch caused the frequency-extension issues in my system, especially the bass being mia. rogue states the output impedance of the 99 is 100 ohms. my simple test of crossing resistors over the outputs showed it is *at least* double the 850 ohms output resistance of the cary slp98 i had on-hand, to try the same test. w/a 5.5m i/c between my preamp & my x-over, & a 25k-ohm input impedance of my x-over, the rogue obviously was not up to the task of driving the load presented to it. as i've also posted before, i'm sure that w/short i/c's, & an amp w/a higher input impedence, the rogue may wery vell acquit itself admirably. even so, i'd still choose a cary or melos preamp before a rogue. it's really quite simple, i'm sorry it offends ewe. but, if anyone ever asks for adwice about rogue preamps, i shall offer them my experiences, whether ewe like it or not. your silly statements about the rogue exposing the flaws in my system, your continued outright lying about how long i owned it, & how much time i spent listening to it, your continued negative wotes *won't* stop me. i'm more encouraged by support from folks like redkiwi, and my desire to honestly aid fellow audiophiles looking for adwice. poor sgreenberg, who started this thread - how has yer input helped *him*?!? all he knows is yure fanatic about rogue, everyting else must be junk. he knows nuttin' about the sound characteristics of *anyting*, based upon yer statements. once again, leafs - grow up, doug s. |
My input has hopefully led him to consider the Rogue.Unlike yours.
I dont spend time pissing on gear I dont like.
I hear tons of stuff week in and week out.If I piped in and bad mouthed every piece of bad stuff I heard it would be a mile long.
I prefer to talk about the good stuff I have heard.
I praise things that sound good even if I dont own them.
Doug I dont need to grow up. You do.
Its just that I am so tired of seeing you post the same wawawa on the Rogue.
Your system did not work with it.Its your system faults.
Every post and review I read on the 99 says its great.
I own a 66 and am happy.
Both units rate 5.00 on AudioReview and one is a class b component in Stereophile.
So back to the point.
You posted it once twice three times its time to get over it and shut up about it. |
sgreenberg,sorry if I have been of target.I am sick of Sedond anti Rouge post.Once twice three times,after 25 times it gets tired.
I have a Rogue 66 which Mark upgraded last summer.While it was away I bought a CJ PV-7 and used it for about 2 weeks.Its is a very nice preamp had some Mullard NOS in it.I really enjoyed it.
Once I got my upgraded 66 back I was realy blown away by how good it sounded.It has become even better with breakin time on it.
I am very happy with this product and can say it sounded better than the CJ-PV-7.
I use Rogue 120 Mono's.
The best thing to do is try one and compare it with others.
Dont let someone who had a bad experience put you on the wrong track. |
Sgreeenberg check out what owners of Melos gear have to say at WWW.audioreview.com
2 Models listed one rated by 30 users at 2.67 one rated by 9 users 3.67. |
yes, rogue is worth trying. tho yer input until yer last post wood never give anyone a reason to try it. and, even in yer last post, the only info ya give about it is: "...I was realy blown away by how good it sounded... it sounded better than the CJ-PV-7...". gee, how informative! in the right system, it may be great. it wood seem a logical choice to mate w/rogue amps. it isn't so much that i had a bad experience w/rogue - i have freely talked about the impedance problems i had w/it. it's yust that, imo, cary & melos preamps are nicer than rogue. if ewe tink this is pissing on rogue, then why did ewe yust piss on cj - is *that* ok??? it's nice to have a choice of tings to try. if someone is considering rogue, i will let them know of other product i tried that i liked better. let *them* decide - not everyone hears the same. when did i ever mention rogue when it wasn't in the thread subject? meanwhile, until ewe own a-gon, yer repeated postings to tell me to shut up about it are laffable. and, if ya *did* own a-gon, and ya wanted to censor honest opinion about product, who'd wanna participate? all grown-up, doug s. |
yes, sgreenberg & all, melos went outta biz because they had horrible service problems, & their fotentiometer wolume controls' alignment was so sensitive, it wood get damaged during shipping. but now, cuz of it, these things are a bargain on the used market. and melos audio restorations, formed by a couple of their former technicians, is in biz to service & update the product. they are well-aware of the old melos' shortcomings, & strive to offer better service. this is also old info that i've prewiously posted in threads regarding melos. i bought my melos *after* reading all the reviews on audioreview; sent it to m.a.r. to have it fully upgraded to music-director specs, & i couldn't be happier about it. good service & an outstanding-sounding product. yust my opinion, of course... :>) doug s. ps - don't tell me that anyting comparably-priced sounds better than melos - i mite have a hissy-fit & tell ya to shut-up or sometin'... ;~) |
Yust my Opinion,Lets all chase after gear from companies that are no longer in Bussiness.They are out of bussiness for a good reson.Lousy gear that they could not service properly.YUST MY OPINION |
That's not a completely fair statement, Leafs. At the risk of defending my own purchases, Hales Design Group and McCormack Audio both delivered extremely good products at their price points. Both are now gone. Hales simply disappeared into the ether and McCormack was gobbled up by CJ.
Unfortunately, the ability to develop great products does not automatically equip someone to weather the market's rising and falling tides any more than starting a business suddenly makes one a financial wizard. We won't even get into the marketing side! |
yes fpeel, of course i agree w/ewe. other companies that made quality product that are no longer w/us include counterpoint, threshold, spica, & artemus, yust to name a few. i guess if a healthy biz were the sole yudge of sound quality, then bose wood be the speaker audiophile crave, eh? ;~) regards, doug s. ps - thanks, leafs, for going thru my threads & pinging me w/negative wotes. hope it made ya feel better... :>) |
Fpeel,I agree to a point but in most cases In particular with Melos they made gear that broke down and then there customer service was horrible.Yes some good brands have gone down but Melos died the death they deserved.There customer service was possibly the worst in the industry.
Go figure there is enough of the bad stuff out there that a third party is making a living fixing it.
Is this a product you want to snuggle up to. |
leafs, if melos equipment dint sound so good, no one wood be able to make a living fixing it. i have an opportunity to buy a pair of their amps, configured either as 400wpc monoblocs, or 200wpc stereo amps. i *wish* i could afford 'em... i'm *not* worried about 'em breaking, i'm more interested in the sound. but, to be honest, leafs, ewe may have a point - i've always been more concerned w/performance. the wife & i have four cars between us - oldest a '72, newest a '92. *all* italian... ;~) truth be known, they're all *at least* as reliable as any other asian, european, or american cars we've come across. doug s. |
Hi All -
Thanks for your input, some of which has been very helpful. Unfortunately, I seem to have started a little war here that is pretty much off my subject matter. If we could go back to my basic question, that would be great. If not, maybe someone should start another string more appropriately titled to what you've been discussing. |
sgreenburg, yure rite, & i aploogize. my 1st post was a simple attempt to answer your question, it specifically *was* on the subject matter. when i was rudely attacked, i felt compelled to defend myself. ya, i guess it's a little war. in hindsight, i tink it wood have been appropriate to simply respond to leafs w/someting like: yeah, sure leafs, whatever... sorry, doug s. |
What tube types does the PV5 use and what is now installed in the unit? This may be a better first step depending on what's in there tube wise now. |
The unit was retubed a few years ago before I knew about NOS tubes, so I'm sure there's nothing exciting in there. I'll have to check the manual for the types of tubes. Thanks for asking. |
