Rogue vs ARC


I wonder the Rogue M150 or M180 is on par with the VT100 or Ref 110 from Audio Research. They seems to be voiced as moden tube sound but I have not been able to listen to the Rogue.
luna

Showing 1 response by davemitchell

I used to sell both ARC and Rogue for several years. The Rogue gear is nice for the money and more round and tube colored sounding. Bass is not as extended or tight, highs are not as extended or open, nor is there as much detail. But the sound was always nice and musical.

Build quality, parts quality and design sophistication with the Rogue are not at the level of ARC, regardless of how you feel about their sound. Rogue uses more off-the-shelf and ordinary parts including transformers, where ARC uses more specialized parts (output coupling caps) and proprietary custom designed transformers, nicer circuit boards with double wide traces, etc... Fit and finish with ARC is better and more consistent including the chassis and even shipping cartons and packing methods. ARC gear is quieter and more immune to noise issues even with their non-balanced gear.

Rogue gear is more like a good home brew design where they ordered circuit boards and metal work to make it more professional. ARC sets a standard for build quality and sound quality that other companies have tried to equal for decades.

Again, none of this means you have to prefer one sound over the other. But to me it is no contest.