Rogue 66 or AES pre?

ya know, dave, in all seriousness - yer dealer recommending the rogue, is kinda funny - perhaps he carried rogue, & wanted sell gnu product? the reason i say this, is one dealer i spoke with - audio connection, in verona, nj (wery helpful, & i'd shop there if i lived there), was trying to help me w/preamps. they carry rogue *and* cary - two pre's besides the melos, that i was considering. (at the time, i was considering the sha-gold, not the ma-333 that i ended-up buying). anyway, i mentioned i was also considering a used sha-gold, & they proceeded to tell me that they used to be a melos dealer, & that if i could find one in decent shape, that i should yust *do* it - that it wood smoke *anything* from cary or rogue. not only did they discourage me from buying someting gnu from 'em, it wasn't even them that had the used melos i was considering! needless to say, i was duly impressed w/their attitude - something along the lines of them rather having *no* customer than one that wasn't satisfied. unusual in this day & age, & i always check out their site to see if they have anyting i mite be interested in - *this* is the type of store where i *wanna* shop. they were willing to have a cary preamp drop-shipped to my house for a no-strings-attached demo, where the local dealer woodn't even let me take his demo-unit home for audition...

regards, doug s.

Dud- Melos/Rogue... all I know is I have one killer preamp that I got new for less than the price of the used Melos (except phono which came later with an even trade for my Black Cube)its been a while,but I think he wanted $1500 (sound right?) for the melos and I got the 99 with added NOS 6SN7's for just < $1400(plus a non $$ favor) and I couldnt be happier.With the right speaker placement and some additional room treatment my 99 and Aleph-3 combo SMOKES on metal and rock which is 75% of what I play.I've read other Aleph-3 owners felt bass was lacking with this fine amp.Also "heard" lack of bass with the 99 :) not here in my treated 15x24x8 foot room! My system is KILLER and Im very happy with my sound.

PS there was a dealer in Florida who offered me a new 99 for $1325 drop shipped from Pa.I still cant figure why some dealers wont budge and others offer deep discounts.

Bradz: You got some weird arguing here, and you just need a great preamp for the $$$. Dude, ignore the arguing outside your topic and start looking for a used Joule. I am. You even get a couple posts from Asa who wrote the damn review of it at Absoute Sound for crissake! I was in your shoes and now have shifted gears away from Rogue, which I was looking at and spend a few more bucks for a used Audiogon Joule. I always thought I couldn't afford more than a Rogue, and the beautiful looking and fancy parts Joule always seemed out of my price until I saw the thread and checked out what it would cost me to get a much better preamp right here on Audiogon. Jeez, you posters here are kinda intense.

Hi David, Could you send me an e-mail and let me know the dealer who you went through? I too have been calling around and most dealers don't want to come down much on the price! Thanks, Brad