Rogue 99 vs. BAT 3i

Lvk47, I can only give you my oppinion on the Rogue 99. I owned a Magnum 99 that I bought new; it replaced a AES AE-3. The AE-3 is a great sounding preamp at a fraction of the cost.

I bought the Magnum 99 never hearing it. I read user reviews and the Stereophile review that Chip Stern wrote, and thought I would give it a try. Heck if I dint like it I could always sell it , as I have done in the past with equipment.

The Rogue had great soundstaging both wide and deep, but it was missing that tube charm or even presence that I grew to like. I tried many different NOS tubes hoping that might wake it up. I now had a good selection of NOS tubes, with a slight improvement in sound. Changing tubes is a chore...after removing the screws you have to fight(pry) the cover off, this was always a pain. The tubes sockets are attached to the curcuit board and there were times that I felt they were going to be pulled out before the tube. The Rogue is not a quiet preamp....you always know its there....at this price I thought it should have a black background with no noise at all. When using the remote on the Rogue, you will hear a sound like a vibrating cell phone coming through both speakers; I found this to be annoying.

I kept going back to the Stereophile article that says its sound is somewhat dry, solid state with a touch of tubes. You might want to read that review; they gave the Rogue good marks. They have world class customer service with Mark Obrien there to help you any question you might have.

Having bought the Magnum for over $2100 new, and finding it not to my liking, I sold it only a few months old for $1400 with a 4 NOS tubes. The new owner only had it for a short while and he also sold it. You can find used 99's here on AA at any given time.

Yes the Rogue is a nice piece of equipment, but I was not impressed at all. I bought a Cary SLP98, I find it superior to the Magnum 99....except that the Rogue does the soundstaging better.

good luck

Kevziek, my comments on the Rogue Magnum 99 were not meant to upset you or anyone else. Lvk47 asked for oppinions concerning this preamp and I responded, as did Scottht.

Yes the 99 is well built solid piece of equipment; but solid doesnt translate into sound. The motorized volume control is erratic and noisy on the Rogue, while the motorized volume control on the Cary is right on and silent. I found the 99 to be very microphonic, touch any button or turn either of the selector switches and your speakers will pick this up.

Dry yes, I thought the Rogue was rather dry....sounding closer to solid state. Speding over $2000 on a preamp you shouldnt find as many of these inherent problems all in the same unit.

Kevziek, the tubes that I was using in the Rogue came from various sources ....the supplied NOS Russians that came with the unit, 2 complete sets of NOS RCA, Phillips, from Mark Obrien (Rogue), 2 complete sets NOS RCA, Sylvania from Andy at Vintage Tube Services. Andy is extremely knowledgable and repected in the world of tubes, and screens all of his tubes. I have used all of these same tubes in my current preamp and they dont show the signs of being microphonic as they did in the Rogue.

Kevzeik you mentioned you owned 2 99's, so you liked what you heard in the Rogue units. I wanted to hear what others were raving about, but im sorry it just wasnt there, I didnt hear it. The Rogue on the used market may very well be a good upgrade for someone.

This hobby is so subjective from equipment, speakers and cables being used. Its like politics or religion; everyone has their own oppinion or set of beliefs, and that doesnt make them wrong. You liked the Rogue , I didnt....neither of us are wrong. One thing that we might agree on is that this hobby has the tendecy to be costly.