I posted earlier if you want to see my system and stock tubes.
I put Mullard cv4004's (12AX7's) in my Rogue 120 yesterday and so far they are a little blurry and washed out in comparison with the tubes that came with the amps from Rogue. They are a little lusher sounding but the bass is now flat when it was amazing. I slightly prefer the tone and it is sometimes more natural sounding now. I hope some of the other attributes come back over time. (does that happen? do tubes break in?) I may put the other tubes back in, time will tell.
I thought this was relevant because other people have posted raves about these tubes from Kevin Deal and this is not such a rave, but more like a step sideways from the very nice tubes Rogue put in to begin with.
BTW I did not like talking to Kevin Deal on the phone - he was very difficult to get info from. |
|
An update to my previous post on NOS tubes... I have replaced my new NOS tubes with the stock EH's that were in the Magnum Tempest when I got it. It just sounds right with the stock EH's in there. Maybe I'll have better luck next time with NOS tubes. I am thinking of upgrading to the Magnum M120's from the Magnum Tempest. Has anyone heard both side by side? What major improvements will occur? I will be connecting the Wadia 301 directly to the M120's so a pre isn't needed. THanks |
Drumsgreg, I'm using a pair of Magnepan 1.6qr's. How are the zero's working out for you these days? I think I'll send out my stock 66 next week for the Magnum upgrade and plan on asking him about the E80cc tube and the power supply hole thingy. I haven't had a chance to reply since I've been out of town and just returned. Thanks! |
Brad ,the Zero`s are working great, I` m using my Meadowlark shearwaters now , and there kicking some real great music right now. I had Mark send me the 12au7 he is using in the Magnum 66, I`m running it right now. Its still to early to tell about this tube , it might do as well as the E80cc, we`ll see.Did you get a hold of Paul about tring the Zero`s with your system. I wish I still had my Maggies to try with this amp and the Zero`s, bet it would have been AWESOME |
Drumsgreg, Glad to hear that the zero's are working out for you! I haven't had a chance to talk to Paul yet, and might be upgrading my amp in the very near future. At one time I believe I saw that you live in the Carolina's? Am I correct? I'm in Wilmington,N.C., and if you want to hear the maggies again and you are near by, we could meet. I've been curious as to how the Rogue 120's would sound on my maggies so, we might be of value to each other! Let me know either way! |
Brad , I do live in the great state of South Carolina, The Rogue 120`s will sound great on the speakers, I have the 88 and it drove the Maggie 1.6 very well. The speaker was a little to big in my Living room, the wife wanted to get some thing that sounded as good but did over power the room with the size. We then tried the Innersound ISIS and found them to be much better, I have lived with these for a year now, the size of the Isis is still a little to big and I may just put the Meadowlark Shearwaters back in the Living room. The deal was that we would do a H.T. room the way I wanted and the two channel room { Living room } would keep the speakers as small as I could ,not to mess up that room with speakers. We Have people come by and thats the room they are in most of the time, I will sell my Isis sometime this week. The Meadowlarks do sound good ,but the Innersound are much better in every way to the Maggies and the Meadowlarks.That tube that Mark sent has really started to sound very good. I`ll keep you posted. |
Well, I've had my 99 Magnum for a few weeks now and it's really starting to sound good. I really like the option of the variable gain. However, I wish I could adjust the setting between the 2nd & 3rd setting. Is it possible to adjust this? Thanks. |
Got my 88 amp back from Rogue several days ago after having the Magnum upgrade done. Although I am still burning it in it appears that the 88 Magnum upgrade has had much more impact than the Magnum upgrade done on my 66 preamp. While I was very pleased with the 66 upgrade I am overwhelmed as to how much improvement it made with the 88. My next move is to upgrade my speaker cables and interconnects. I have a Meridian 508.24 cdp and Spendor SP100's speakers. My current speaker cables are Audioquest Indigo+, interconnects are Audioquest Vipers. Any suggestions? |
I noticed that there is a audible distortion/hum coming out of my right channel. Could this be the power supply issue others have posted about, or might it be a tube going bad? By the way, I have the Rogue 66. Is one tube for the left and one tube for the right channel? Any suggestions where this might be coming from? Thanks |
Precbsed, have you tried the Rogue 99 pre? I hear it is much better than the 66. I am using the 66 Magnum right now and I love it. |
Buckingham, no I haven't heard the 99 but I have a sneaking suspicion that I will soon. When does it ever stop? |
Actually the hum/distortion I mentioned earlier is coming from both speakers. It is not as audible now that I'm using another amp. It could possibly just be dirty ac from the wall. Could someone else who experienced the power supply hum from their Rogue describe the sound? |
Bradz, try listing the ground by using a cheater plug. I had a hum with my Magnun 120s and that cured it. |
Grandpad, thanks for your comment, it helped me get rid of the humming in my M120 Magnums. |
Grounding loop hums seems to be an issue with the M120's (I have it as well). Anyone find a way to get rid of it without cheaters?
I hoped deicated lines would do it, no lcuk.
Any grounding schemes that will get rid of it?
Manual suggest plugging amps/pre into the same circuit. That doesn't seem to help.
KP |
I would try grounding only the pre and lifting the ground on all other components. Make sure at least one component is grounded or you'll get a shock. Once you've lifted the ground, you can also switch the 2 prongs and play with polarity. |
I noticed another thing with the M120's. You have to use the exact same length or power cord for each side. |
Hey guys, who here is using the Magnum 99 pre with the Magnum M120's?? |
I've got 99 mag cabled to a Belles 150 HotRod. I'm looking for more bass. The set up is clear, defined and quiet. Jazz CDs , via a Rega Jupiter sent to PSB silvers, sounds great with the gain all the way up. But rock has the bass sucked out. Can re-tubing improve across the board , making jazz better while improving rock? I've got another thread going here but I couldn't help but notice this one. WIth all the talk of tubes, what change in tubes could affect the most change in the bottom end? I missed the filling details. Where can I go for this and what can I expect? |
Axspike, have you talked to Mark at Rogue Audio. I'm almost certain he'd know which tube would work. |
I'm using a Rogue 66 pre and will getting my Rogue 99 next week. Once I listen to the two pre's, what change in sound will I hear going from the 66 to the 99? |
Hey Bradz,
I'm also curious. I don't want to bias your findings, but the 99 uses the 6SN7's octal tubes which are known to reduce grain and smooth things out. The 6SN7 is a much better tube than the small 12AX tubes IMO. Are you getting the Magnum version? Be sure to fill the Power supply with sand. The hole for the sand is done at the factory now, so it's OK to do it yourself if it's not there. |
Hola Buckingham,
I bought a stock 99 last week for a KILLER price....$1270. delivered to my door! The upgrade to the Magnum version may come later. From what I've read about the 66 and 99, I also think the 6sn7 tube will smooth things out. We will see. On my stock 66's power supply, I noticed a plastic cover on one end opposite side of where the cord comes out. Is this the place to fill with sand? What kind of sand do you use....only silica sand, which resists moisture? How much sand do I use in the power supply? Sorry about all the questions, but I'd like to know. Just recently, I've also upgraded my amp. The new amp compared to my previous amp, brought out more of the signal and sometimes I feel that it should be more smooth sounding. Hopefully, the 6sn7 tube in the 99 will do it for me. |
Bradz, some other guys on here have done the sand trick. Member "David99" is the guy you want to talk to. He sent me an email with detailed instructions but I lost it! Let me know how it works out. |
How long does it take for the 99 to fully break in? |
Bradz, with new tube equipment I usually give 2-4 weeks to fully open up. Please write a quick summary of your findings of the 99 :) |
Bradz, I second Buckingham's request.
KP |
After reading enough of these comments and reviews of Rogue, I decide to plunge $700 for a "rarely" used Rogue 66 preamp from a seller on AudioGon just to find out that it does not work !@#$%^&*. It won't power up and none of the tubes light up. This is my first entry into tubes and the experience has not been good at all. Does anyone know what could be wrong?
In any case, I also have no idea how old the tubes are. The seller claims that the unit has been serviced by Aronov (whoever that is) and the tubes have less then 10 hours on them. How can I find out about the condition of the tubes? Assume that I will have the unit repaired but since I have never listen to tubes before, how do I know if they are good or bad and whether some other tubes being mentioned here are better? |
Bum deal...Have you contacted the seller? |
spudspot-sounds like a bad fuse.relax and put a new one in it.contact mark for the size.radio shack sells em' |
I agree with David99! Don't panic, it's probably a fuse. You might also want to check the internal fuses, if it has any.
KP |
i'm wondering why the 66 was serviced by aranov and not rogue, considering the customer support mark provides is class a all the way.
and yes, a fuse is a likely culprit and super easy to fix |
First, I 'd like to thanks everyone for helping out. I was hoping that it was a fuse too but it turns out to be a lot worse than that. I have contacted Mark and he indicated that there is fuse in the power supply. Before that when I first received the preamp, I was very suspicious of the sound of moving part in the PS like something came loose. Yep, it sure is. As I open the PS, I found that the circuit board is not screwed to the case and couple of the heavy gauge soldered wires got broken off. In addition, one of the soldered wire to the CD RCA input jack inside the main preamp casing is also broken off.
I doubt if this is from shipping vibration since there is no damage to the box or the exterior of the unit. I have filed a dispute to Audiogon but not sure if it helps any. The seller has been ignoring all attempt to communicate. Oh well, look like I will have to take it to an audio technician or perhap send it back to Mark for repair and complete check over. Who knows what else is wrong with it. |
spudspot,
you may want to think about sending the 66 preamp back to mark at rogue and having the magnum upgrade done at the same time. i personaly run a 99magnum and couldn't be happier, but i've heard that the 66 magged out is not a subtle difference. mark is such a competent owner and all-around nice guy, i wouldn't send my rogue gear to anyone else.
not sure how much of the magnum upgrade would cover your particular damage, but the mag upgrade is about $250.
definitely echo off to others in this thread that have had it done and see what you can expect. this will likely be $$$ well spent.
just my 2 cents
sorry to hear you got burned
but don't give up on the rogue
cheers |
Spud- I bet if you send the 66 to Mark he'll take good care of you and the 66.Its well worth the expense.
you paid $700 right? thats $150 to $200 below used prices as far as I've observed.I bet Mark would fix it for well below that amount.
you may even get the deadbeat seller to pay for repair.go after that SOB and don't give up!!
we are all behind you! |
Spud
Send your pre amp to Rogue for sure. They really are great guys. |
Spud,
I too have to agree with everyone else here about the service Mark offers to his customers. I purchused a Rogue 99 and found out that it was considered a "older" model because of some noise coming from the power supply. I was ready to purchuse some of the Russian nos tubes ($80./set) and Mark mentioned the Magnum upgrade which he even offered to me at a lower price. Needless to say, I went for the Magnum upgrade which would allow it to be fully checked out and updated. I agree with others here that you should go for the Magnum upgrade because you too might have a older 66. Good luck and keep us posted. |
My Rogue 99 is upgraded to the Magnum and is being shipped to me soon! Man, I can't wait! Mark recommended from 100-200 hrs. of break in. How do the Russian nos tubes sound in the Rogue? |
I am running Chinese KT88s with my 88/99 combo(neither upgraded to Magnum) and want to tame the highs abit and fill out the lower mids. My Meadowlark Shearwaters give wonderful detail but the highs are a touch too bright. Any suggestions ? I've heard the ElectroHarmonix 6550s are supposed to be nice with this combo. |
Are any of you guys using the Magnum 99 pre? If yes, please give a short review of it. Thanks |
I have a Tempest MKI. Have been using Electro Hamonix tubes without problems for years. I bought a quad set of Gold Lions and they showed red plates after just a few minutes. Everything measures correctly per Rogue and I have checked every resistor around the tube sockets and they measure within tolerance. Cathode resistors are showing about 55 Volts droped across 660 Ohms for 83 milliamps. I tried adding resistance to the Cathode as high as 990 ohms without success. Any similar experiences? Rogue recommends I upgrade to the MKII. Anyone want to donate $1K? |
Hello, did anytone who owns a HERA preamp buy longer cables adn have 3 of the shorther cables they dont need (or any length speare cables)? |
Mines an Atlas..... almost a Magnum. Made by Mark special for Quad ESL57s. I'm so happy. Tried a dozen or so other amps. Nothing has even come close in my system. |
Hello, does anyone find that the atlas magnum amp produces a hum through the speakers when paired with the kt120s? I just put these tubes in my titan atlas magnum and there is a hum through the speakers even with nothing else plugged in. I didn't notice it with the kt90s. I use a fairly cheap power strip with audioquest power and speaker cables and dynaudio excite x16s. When the preamp is also plugged in the hum does not fluctuate with volume control. Is this a ground loop or noise from the amp? Can it be quieted? Thanks. |
It's probably a ground loop hum. I had something like that on the same amp (as well as many others) and a cheater plug (3 prong into 2 adapter on the AC cord) solved the issue. Try the amp first, then the preamp and so on.
Good luck. |
Thanks, Joeinid. I tried that and it didn't fix the hum. I think it is the just the amp. I can't hear the hum from my listening position. I've read that tube amps commonly do make some sound through the speakers. |
Reviewer, Kal Rubinson has done much tube-rolling on Rogue gear. His writings can be found over on Audio Asylum.
Happy Listening! |
Hello new on this forum but have been a rogue owner and audiogon member for ten years or so. After a bad tube and reading some Super Magnum info I've taken my M120 and 99 into rogue for some repair and updating. The 99 is going from magnum to Super mag, but not sure about the M120 they can get repaired but if I'm going to update now would be the time. So question would be who's compared the 120 to 150 and or the 180. and what are your thoughts on the differences . The ONLY compliant have had with any of the Rogue gear is how hard the M120s are on tubes I've had some very pricey tubes go bad prematurely and while it could be 100% on the tubes quality control. I have to wonder if the amps would be a bit easier on them could I still have those great sounding Tesla (KR-KT88) (now known as EAT). |
Genelex Gold Lion KT-77's to replace the stock Svetlana EL-34's in my Cronus (non-Magnum Version.) Wonderful improvement. |
