Rogue Owners Unite

I heard the Sphinx in an audio shop here in Chicago. And it sounded great. A very impressive unit for the price.

Though, that said, I loved the sound of the Acoustic Zens I heard at Axpona with the tube amps they were paired with. I personally would go with a tubed integrated with the Acoustic Zens. The Rogue tube integrateds aren't too much more than the Sphinx. I would personally use the Sphinx much like I used my Butler 2250: for speakers that are less efficient and thus might make appropriate all-tibe gear cost prohibitive. But for a speaker at 90dB and up I would go all tube instead of hybrid if you are looking for some tube sound.

To Roscoeii. When you say the Acoustic Zen Adagios sounded better with tube amps,how would you describe the sound?? Was the bass taut and dynamic with no compression?? Were the highs smooth, and not edgy or forward.

Currently, I am using a Bel Canto PRe3 line stage and a pair Red Dragon M-500 digital mono blocks, the sound is good to very good, but I believe the speaker can sound smoother, and the bass quicker and tighter with better amplification. The RD amps have unconventional speaker connectors which prevent use of banana plugs or even spades without any security of coming lose This has become a pain in the ass and back for me who must fumble around behind the audio rack to secure them, and later reach for the Ben-Gay and Jack Daniels. I want to eliminate many of these boxes, including my TT and phono line stage... and go simple but high quality.

However, the major question is: is a tube integrated going to best my current separates. The Bel Canto PRe3 is very good, but the Red Dragon monoblocks are just average, and but for the money a great deal.

Do you think the Rogue Magnum Cronos integrated is better than the "The Sphinx"?? They are both the same power. I be interested in the further opinions of Rogue devotees on thess two pieces without distracting from the theme of the thread which is over 10 years old. Thank you, Jimmy

Well I only heard the Acoustic Zens in a show setting, but they were great sounding with the tube amps they were paired with. I would try a tube amp first based on that experience. Rogue tube amps have great bass in my experience. And local Rogue dealers suggested to me that they liked the tubed units better. Based on all of this, I'd try a tube design before a hybrid.

Or if you have a Rogue dealer locally, maybe try to audition both? Perhaps an online Rogue dealer would also give you that option. If not, I would go with tube units first. Some Rogue lovers on Audio Asylum are less enamoured with the hybrids compared to all tube units.

Rosecoeii, Thank you for the comments and advice. I happened to fire off an e-mail to Rogue after reading your message yesterday, and ask them about the Cronos Magnum integrated which is $2295 retail. This is a thousand dollars more than new Sphinx.

Well, the response I got was less than informative about features of the supplied remote, the phono stage, and dynamic power. I felt like saying so what the f--k makes this integrated worth a $1000 more?????

I was told you need to rebias the unit. Big deal!!! Maybe, some Rogue owners of the CM or yourself can enlighten me as to the "possible" difference between the CM and Sphinx, considering the CM prepreceded the new hybrid. Thanks

Who did you hear back from at Rogue? Mark O'Brian often replies to the e-mails sent to them, but he may be at the NYC Audio Show.

Might be worth a follow-up e-mail, or a phone call to Rogue (after the NYC show is over).