anyone heard a Rogue Athena?


Has anyone listened to the Rogue Audio Athena preamp? I've heard the 99 at a dealer while auditioning some amps (powering Rogue M150 monoblocks and then the VTL ST150, into Focal 1027be's) and that setup sounded very nice.

I'm starting to think about a new pre, and doing some prelim research, but I can't find much of anything on the Athena.
jerico
For Athena users: Are you using tube dampers? The pic on Rogue website shows them and I've seen other preamps with 6H30 tubes using dampers as well. I have Magnum 99 and am considering the Athena.
Jerico, I did a major downsize and went with the Atlas. I had them build a magnum version wired in triode.
John - Cool, how does your Atlas sound like that? Pretty good, I'm betting.

Ehaller - I haven't looked inside my Athena, so I don't know if it has dampers on the tubes.
Hey gang - resurrecting this old thread, as a quick update.

I replaced the stock EH 6H30P tubes in my Athena with 6H30P-DRs (purchased from an on-line dealer). When I opened up the preamp, there were no dampers on the tubes as the unit came from Rogue.

The DR's are interesting - the most obvious difference in my system is tighter and more present bass, and they're a little brighter (not what I was expecting actually) - overall very clear and discerning. I haven't listened to any analog through them yet, but with digital sources they sound nice - more pinpointed than the EH's.

For now, I'll say they sound great - but they're certainly not cheap. Hopefully they'll last a good long time.