Rogue Amps: Unlike other Tube amps

I'm wondering about the new S'phile review of the Rogue 99 pre-amp (as I've been on a "search for the Holy Grail" for some time, in thinking of upgrading from my VTL 2.5TL). Is it as great as the reviewer claims? Equaling or bettering the VTL 5.5? Some of the posts here have me wondering. I guess I never thought (w/o having heard it however) that the Rogue would be as good as the better ARC or CJ or VTL gear, but then they are all quite a bit more expensive aren't they.

Tubecrazy, there is no hiss present with these amps. I made a point of using the amps with higher end power cables from Virtual Dynamics to remove most impurities from the power to make the noise floor as black as possible. I also ungrounded the circuit board but kept the chassis grounded to avoid ground loop hums. The stock Magnum versions use the Electro Harmonics 6550EH power tubes and 12AX7 and 12AU7 tubes. I thought the reviewer was quite happy with the amps, the review was quite positive. With any gear, you have to try it in your system. Let me know what you end up with.

Buckingham, something I noticed in the review is the mediocre S/N ratio of 70 db. Is the hiss level higher than you've experienced on other tube amps you've owned? Which stock input/driver tubes does Rogue include with the Magnum 120?

Interesting, though I don't agree with your observation. I observe that the Rogue Amps seem to sell well compared to other equipment, and depreciate less than most equipment. This varies to a certain degree with models; the magnums sell quicker. I have considered a Rogue pre-amp for a long time, (I am auditioning one now) therefore watching their comings and goings and have found they move well before most sellers are inclined to negotiate on price.

What sells fastest is any piece well below average price.

I own the amps that were reviewed in Stereophile this month. I made the trip to the book store last night on my way to another Audiophile friends house and read the review. I'm running them with the Audio Aero Capitole MKII and the Virtual Dynamics NITE series Interconnects. I found the stock input tubes to be a bit lifeless so I swapped them out with NOS Mullards and NOS Holland Phillips. This combo of input tubes totally changed the amps. They now sound much more open and extended at both frequency extremes. I've really enjoyed this amp and have had them since the end of this winter (a record for any component in my system). You've probably seen my auction for these amps... Well I'm selling for the same reason as everybody else on this site; to upgrade :) As a gauge of how much I move gear, I've swapped 7 CD players, 4 speakers, 5 amps and 4 sets of cables in this past 12 months. The Rogues have spend the most time in the system.

I had a Rogue 88 power amp and thought that it was excellent for it price. It compared very favorably with my CJ Premier 11a (rated class A by Stereophile, if that matters at all), being darker and a tad less transparent. However, it had better bass and was more exciting to listen to. Must be used with efficient speakers (Coincident, Silverline, etc.) and run in triode mode. I sold it because I could not tolerate the fan noise.

I had a Rogue 66 magnum preamp and absolutely hated it, it did not fit my tastes or system at all. It was noisey as heck, large amounts of detail was obscured, the top end is rolled off hard, the bass was soggy and slow. It had amazing ability to layer objects in 3D space and was of course "smooth," as some people would call it, I found the midrange pleasant as most tube lovers I suppose do yet I found this manipulation artificial sounding, less true to life, and I couldn't live with the tradeoffs. The Musical Fidelity A3cr preamp ate it alive in my system.

I auditioned the Rogue 88/66 and Cary sli 80 together on a pair of Tannoy D700 and they both sounded great. The Rogues did not have quite the bass definition or control of the Cary but the mids and highs were basically equal. I think Twl is probably right. Arthur

I auditioned the Rogue 99 Magnum head to head with the CJ 17LS and the Cary SLP2002 yesterday. The Cary had a unique room filling sound that is not what I expect in Audiophile heaven. However the sound will definatley appeal to some. The Rogue however had me A/B'ing back and forth between it and the CJ for a while. The CJ was definately a bit smoother and had a deeper sound stage. But at almost half the price the Rogue sounded good. Perhaps with some work with the right amp, IC's and speakers the Rogue could work for a lot of audiophiles. It did run hot, however, when compared to the others. Salesman said something to do with the biasing or some techno stuff which causes Rogue to run their tubes on the hot side. After that was all said and done I listened to the CJ 16LS again and made my decision. Although I wanted to fall in love with the Rogue for the price/quality reason, I am not someone who wants to change equipment every year and felt the CJ 16LS would fit into my systems for many years to come. Just my very un-professional opinion.

The Rogue was defiantely something that will appeal to the masses and should be listened to by all in the market for a tube pre...If for nothing else to hear what all the talk is about.

I hope this helps, happy listening.

I think alot has to do with the fact that they are not Audio Research or Conrad Johnson, or other well-known name brands. Rogue is pretty well known in some audiophile circles but not near as well as ARC and CJ. Even though Rogue has very good sounding products, the name recognition factor may be holding them back some.