anyone heard a Rogue Athena?

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.

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.

Jerico, I did a major downsize and went with the Atlas. I had them build a magnum version wired in triode.

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.

What did you replace your Zeus with, John?

"So to shorten this story ...I sold the M-150's and just bought a Zeus...that thing is BIG...That big boy puts out some sweet sound."

Enjoy it, Keith944t. I just sold mine a few weeks back. You're in for a treat with that amp. It served me well. Do you have KT90s? That made an amazing difference, as did upgraded NOS signal tubes and HiFi Tuning fuses. Good luck.

I have compared the Rogue Athena to the AR 26 the CJ at over $4k and a Joule electra 150mk -2 and the Rogue was much cleaner sounding with better Bass ,also having a seperate power supply makes for way less noise downstream.One thing I did do though and with this it sounds IMO a little Better than thier Hera at $3k less with this Cap upgrade. I replaced the 4 Mundorf supreme capacitors ,with Mundorfs Silveroils and it was a Big improvement as far as involvement and dimentiality around the instruments and several freinds that heard the 2 versions agreed. This is the only thing that was needed, the build quality is Outstanding as well as it's functionality for $5400 with the Mundorf Silver oil caps you loose nothing and gain a tremendous3 dimentional
sounding Preamplifier!

Jerico, glad you're liking the Athena.

Keith - I'm in Atlanta. I only had the lower-lines of Rogue gear available for audition down here. Just took a leap of faith when the Hera showed up in the classifieds this winter (during the most particularly nasty snowstorm). I knew it wouldn't suck since I liked the 99 Magnum/Atlas pairing, and the price was too nice to refuse. I was just starting to budget for a new Athena when that Hera popped up :)

My former local dealer is going in a different direction and will have an option to audition some of the nicer Rogue gear on appointment, soon. Otherwise this stuff has been pretty hard to find, yeah.

Hi Keith - I auditioned the Athena in NY. I've been living with it for about a month now, and it's excellent. No complaints at all.

Hi guys, I know this is a month-old thread...but I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in.

I've been using a Rogue Perseus as my pre through a few amp transitions.
I had M-150s and loved them on my Maggi 1.6's, then I got a pair of 3.6's and they sounded fine as well. Then I tried Bi-amping with a 1000 watt class D on the bottom side...WOW those panels Can make some bass when you feed them power.
So to shorten this story ...I sold the M-150's and just bought a Zeus...that thing is BIG...That big boy puts out some sweet sound.

So now I'm looking into an Athena (I'd Like a Hera, but $$$?) Looking used but very hard to find either one.
Are you both Southern Cal? wondering where you heard the Athena?

Thanks

I went to listen to the Athena over the weekend, and compared it with a VTL TL 5.5 (both connected to the same equipment in the same room - Rogue monoblocks into Spendor speakers - A5s I think - with a PS Audio CDP as source). In this setup, I found the Athena presented a clearer, more precise sound - a bit more sparkle if you will, while the VTL sounded relatively dark and softer (actually a bit mushy to my ears).

Note I'm not badmouthing the VTL, just describing what I heard on a relative basis, for those who may be doing similar research.

Thanks for that awesome response! Totally agree re: dearth of reviews of certain Rogue components.

I have heard quite a bit about how well some Rogue stuff responds to tube rolling. At some point I'll check that out for my M180s.

Cheers!

There is a dearth of reviews/information on the top-level Rogue products, unfortunately. Last few months I was running a 99 Magnum and Atlas (with plenty of NOS tube-rolling done at each position) into Tannoy Kensington SE speakers. 99.9% of my listening is vinyl.

Then a Rogue Hera (not the mk II) was listed here for a nice deal, and the upgrade bug struck me quickly and acutely - otherwise I would have eventually gone for an Athena. I imagine they should be VERY similar. If I were doing it over again and buying new, I might consider the Athena for the savings and the reduced burden for tube replacements (4 vs 8).

The 99 Magnum had been very nice sounding - responded well to tuberolling and projected a more 3D image than I'd previously experienced. The Hera was a revelation. It did more than I expected from a preamp upgrade. The depth of the soundstage increased drastically. It significantly improved microdynamics, and speed. Tonally the Hera is perfectly natural and neutral - with the 99 if always felt a little like hitting around a target through the various NOS tubes, without ever getting exactly there. Still, macrodynamics didn't see a similar improvement and after auditioning my friend's Magnum Stereo 90, it was clear that the Atlas (nice as it is) was now a BIG system bottleneck.

I sold the 99 (along with a ton of other gear) and went all-out for some Apollo monoblocks. Even with as much cash as was was laid down, I'd never dreamed amp/preamp components could make this much difference. The Hera/Apollo combo is a HUGE revelation. It's like hearing my speakers AND music again for the first time. I'm sure that the difference between the Hera/Athena and 99 Magnum would be even more significant now, that when I first heard it. This is all with the stock EH tubes, btw.

From the Rogue gear I've heard, I get the impression that they start out as great bang-for-buck components, and then diminishing returns never really kicks in through the whole lineup - you just keep getting more in significant doses.

One item to note - for the Hera II, Rogue has moved from the motorized stepped attenuator to a motorized TKD pot, in response to customer demand for fine-level volume control. As nice as that pot may be, it's been my experience (with other gear) that a good stepped attenuator is a necessity for gear at this level of transparency. With the 5 gain settings, I've NEVER felt the need for a finer level of control with the Hera. I wouldn't give up the stepper. Not sure if they're doing the same for the Athena, but I'd recommend requesting the stepper.

If you like the 99 Magnum, you'll love the Athena/Hera :)