Rogue Magnum 99 question

I wish I could help you more, but I loved the sound of the Magnum 99 out of the box. However, this may be due to this being my first piece of tube gear and the fact that it was such a gigantic step up from my Pioneer A/V reciever based system. I have yet to start tube rolling, but I would love to hear about whatever decision you ultimatly make.

As far as break in period, I thought I could really notice a change somewhere between the 50-100 hour mark. I must again however say that I am not sure it was just the preamp breaking in as I upgraded so many pieces at once. (M-120's and PS Audio Statement IC's)

Kek, just put some other NOS in it. You are used to the sound of the Sylvania 6SN7. It is different from the NOS Russians that Rogue includes.

I own a Magnum 99. I am similar to the other repliers, in that I noticed such an improvement over my former tube preamp, that I didn't notice the break in changes. However, I do believe there were improvements. The Rogue 99 is a great preamp.

Worse case scenario, it doesn't match your other equipment, but I wouldn't judge that yet. Play a CD on repeat, or FM station for 72 hours, then you should have it broken in. Let us know your findings.

Really difficult to predict if you will like the sound, even after break in. Unless you have had the preamp before, how to predict something one has never experienced? Eventhough I do not own a Rogue, I have own other pieces of tubed gear, especially preamps. When I first received the units, I could not clearly tell much differences from a former unit, but sometimes, because you are trying to listen for what you PAID for, you might become overly critical and expectant of the sound. It happened to me. The true sound, that you will either LOVE or DESPISE, will become clear way after the supposed to, break in. One day you will clearly notice that something has changed in your system and a song has acquired nuances that you have NEVER heard before, whether you will come to like it or not, that is a totally different question.

Kek,
The 99 needs about 100 hours of break in time to really open up. When I tried any Sylvania tubes in the Rogue, they just came across as bright in my system. I finally settled on Ken Rad black glass in all 4 slots. I'd suggest using the pair of Ken Rad in the 2 right slots and sticking the Russian tubes in the 2 left slots. I talked to Mark O'brian and he mentioned the layout of tubes inside the 99. The 2 on the right are from top to bottom: right channel amp tube and left channel amp tube. He suggested using the best tubes in these 2 slots. The 2 on the left are from top to bottom: right channel mu follower and left channel mu follower. The two tubes on the right are about 70-80% of the sound while the two tubes on the left contribute 20-30% to the sound. You might want to also call Mark O'brian at Rogue and ask what he suggests for tubes as he also sells sets. Good luck and keep us posted!

I called and talked to Mark today at Rogue, to see what other tubes they have in a inventory. In so many words he areed that the 99 can be drastically improved with different tubes other than the russian NOS that were shipped with the unit. To be truthful, when I placed my order with the dealer I expected "NOS" to be a higher quality tube than russian. Mark also told me that I could have selected other NOS tubes at time of order. Had I known this I would have went with better sounding tubes.

Not a problem , this will give me a excuse to start purchasing different sets of tubes. I'll do what the Hunt brothers did in the early 80's when they started to buy and sell large amounts of gold and sent the price to over $800 an ounce....I will do this to the tube world......WAIT A MINUTE....someone beat me to the this already his name is Kevin Deal......aargh.

Back to the 99. Looking a my posting it would seem that I dislike the Rogue which is not the case. I dont care for the sound of its current tubes. Everyone of us that visit Audiogon want to improve the sound we hear, and surely dont want to take steps backwards, and this was my first initial impression with the Rogue, the backward steps.

I will keep you posted on my findings.

thanks, kek

p.s. please keep the suggestions coming....I'm all ears