Rogue 88 or AR Classic 60 ?


Which tube amp should I purchase- Rogue 88 or Audio Research Classic 60? I can get either for around $1000 used. I have Hales Rev 2 speakers- 86 DB efficiency into 8 ohms and Cal CL-10 CDP- Any opinions?
jpschrup8f4f
Liguy have you heard them side by side.If not your coments are not valid.
Similar to your thread on being stunned by Biwire.You did not compare the sound of one VS the other.You listened to them on one system in a dealers locastion then brought them home and using different amps room conditions and determined it was the biwiring that made the difference.You have to hear them in the same set up to be able to comment.
Sonically, with good 6550's the classic 60 is far superior to the rogue. Too many owners of the Classic 60 settled for the sound they got using the stock 6550's from ARC. With better tubes this little amp was wonderful. If you are looking for a recommendation on which amp to purchase I would have to recommend the Rogue not because of sound quality but serviceability. The Classic 60 is about 20 years old now and parts for repair (it's a tube/transistor hybrid) will become scarce if they are not already, while the Rogue is a relatively new amp.
Having owned both, I would say the Rogue runs circles around the Classic 60, in every category.
While knowing nothing about these two amps, I do have Hales (Rev. Threes) and my experience thus far strongly suggests pairing them with a high current amp. They sound OK when under powered (I intially drove mine with a 35 watt receiver while shopping amps), but they *really* come to life when there's adequate power available. Just an FYI.
Have owned Classic 30s (a pair used to vertically bi-amp) on ML Arias and Dunlavy SC4s, and currently own a pair of Clssic 150s. I have played with a '60 while making the decision to go whole hog and grab the 150's many years back. I've been running the 150's very happily ever since into Merlin VSMs. The entire Classic series are brilliant amplifiers, particularly when you dial in the sound with some good NOS tubes. They respond particularly well to ARC's newer linestages. Oh, and one last thought. There are a handful of MIT coupling capacitors in the circuit which a capable tech can replace with Hovlands that along with the afore-mentioned NOS tubes, really eliminates any tendencies toward "glare" at high outputs that some Classic users have noted. Highly recommended!
I'm a newbie to high end and I have just bought the 88 and love the balance of the highs, mids and bass. I am using a Rotel receiver as a preamp right now until I can afford to buy the 66 or 99 preamp. Speakers are Meadowlark Shearwaters. CD player an old SONY CDP 500. As expected the 88 made an incredible difference over the receiver used alone. I have also demoed the Rogue Tempest(integrated) but prefer the 88 even with the Rotel. For what it's worth with this funky combo sound stage imaging is good and the clarity and openness of the sound is wonderful. Can't wait to get the 99 joined up with the 88.
Just FYI, Rev. twos are 6 ohm. And whatever ya' do, give 'em as much juice as you can.