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Rogue Apollo v. VAC Phi 300.1a

Anyone heard both of these beasts? I'm curious about differences in sonics, reliability, etc. I've auditioned the VAC and liked it, but I've not heard the Rogue. I welcome opinions about either amp even if you haven't heard the other.

My speakers are PMC IB2i, which crave power, and my preamp is VAC Phi Beta. My current amps are Bryston 28B-SST2.

Thanks,
Bill
wrm57
fanofdq10s
14 posts
 
I cannot speak for the Apollo, and I've not heard VAC amps, however I have heard Rogue M150 and M180 monoblocks and the stereo 90 amplifiers. I can tell you they sound better than anything in or around their price point. I have the Rogue Perseus preamp. It is a great preamp. Rogue Audio makes great products IMO
wrm57 OP
985 posts
 
Thanks, Fanofdq10s. I'm surprised no one has any comments on the Apollo, as it would seem a relative bargain for a U.S.-made amp of its power rating.

My concern about the VAC 300.1 or 300.1a is bass. Some owners have called it somewhat light in the bottom, and my room eats bass waves as it is. Any VAC owners care to comment?
musicmann1
96 posts
 
I was talking with the owner of Synergistic Research last week (Ted Denny) regarding one of their products and he mentioned he was using a pair of modified Apollo's in his home system. The mods were better caps (Mundorf silver/oil) and some other things.
Anyway he feels the Apollo is one of the best tube amps he has heard and especially at their current price point. He even thought they were competitive with some of the 50k megabuck tube amps currently available.
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