I recently bought a Rogue Cronos Magnum II. The quality of assembly looked impeccable, but one transformer had a hum that could be heard from 10 feet away when there was no input. I also found that instruments that normally had a nice bite (electric guitars, trumpets, etc.), were irritating/harsh on this sample. Finally, while it had a nice sense of separation of voices and instruments spatially, I often got the sense of them not playing together (PRAT? I hate that term). I probably had a bad sample because it gets glowing reviews, but ended up sending it back. Not easy at 55 lbs.
I ended up getting a Parasound Halo Integrated and could not be happier. It just does everything right in my system. YMMV
One key difference is sound stage. Solid state sound stage is the size of a big screen TV. All tube sound stage is wall to wall, floor to ceiling yet focused and delineated.
Soundstage has more to do with the speakers, placement and ROOM. More than most of the electronics, in my opinion. While good electronics make a difference, speakers make a bigger difference in that regard, followed by the preamp.
I was in the same boat a while back and picked the Rogue CMII. To optimize the sound quality you need to use the correct tap for your speakers- e.g, 4 or 8 ohms. They can sound completely different and the best position should be obvious. You also need to ditch the 5 small signal tubes for some NOS models. There are some great recipes available through online research but the combo I eventually settled on literally transformed the amplifier. Absolutely no comparison to the Halo and as others have reported no comparison to SS or tube gear that is significantly more expensive.
One key difference is sound stage. Solid state sound stage is the size of a big screen TV. All tube sound stage is wall to wall, floor to ceiling yet focused and delineated.
Sorry to offend, let me do some additional qualification.Man, that’s a pretty gross generalization. Verging on offensive.
One of my current systems is a Parasound P5/A23 combo into my Tekton Design Pendragons. The soundstage is freaking huge. It’s the most transparent and the closest to a dissapeering act that the Pens have done to date.
Soundstage has more to do with the speakers, placement and ROOM. More than most of the electronics, in my opinion. While good electronics make a difference, speakers make a bigger difference in that regard, followed by the preamp.
I’ve owned A LOT of great gear. Tubes and SS. While i haven’t heard the Cronus Magnum, I know the HInt is supposed to be great and even better than my P5/A23 combo. I think the Rogue it’s probably pretty good, but needing to start tube rolling immieditaly shouldn’t be a nessessity.
If you want tubes, I’d suggest looking at Primaluna before Rogue. Contact Kevin Deal at Upscale Audio and talk to him about the line. He’s extremely knowledgeable in the tube world and will shoot you straight. For a fantastic SS Integrated, I don’t think you can go wrong with the Halo... it has basically received nothing but praise, Plus it has a killer feature set.
– Woody
I’ve Internet known a lot of people with Rogues, and they all thought their amps required expensive NOS tubes right out the gates. I would never recommend an amp that wasn’t voiced to sound it’s best with modern tubes, but they did like the Rogue stuff once it was retubed.Just another consideration--especially when considering price. The Parasound is going to sound what it is going to sound like right out of the box. I know someone with the Rogue, and the first thing he did (had to do to make it sound good) was spend another couple hundred bucks on the front-end tubes. It's not a bad amp, but not something I would run out and buy--but that is just me.
is there a tube amp made today that would not sound better with NOS tubes? At least with the cronus magnum II you can leave the KT120 power tubes in- they are awesome. it sounds quite good with stock tubes, even better rolling the single preamp 12AU7 for a NOS variety.I’ve Internet known a lot of people with Rogues, and they all thought their amps required expensive NOS tubes right out the gates. I would never recommend an amp that wasn’t voiced to sound it’s best with modern tubes, but they did like the Rogue stuff once it was retubed.
So to each their own.
sorry
Sorry to offend, let me do some additional qualification.
Since the very first moment of switching on my first tube integrated amplifier in my home ~ 3 years ago I was stunned at how much larger the sound stage was compared directly to the solid state amplifier it replaced- all else being equal. Sure the SS amp gave a wide stage based on the different content of the left / right channels but the common content shared equally by each channel- example a vocal performer center stage- seemed to come from this small window of an area on my wall. Contrast that to the tube amp which caused notes and vocals to soar out from the speakers in all directions ans expanded that center stage window into a much larger, deeper space. I was looking for the sweeter sound of tubes but the sound stage was an unexpected bonus. Since then this experience has borne out while listening to dozens of systems and rooms. After living with my system for so long, you can immediately sense the smaller, collapsed sound stage of solid state amplification, whether the amplifier was $1000 or $10,000. The center image seemed to collapse. Even with a tube linestage driving a solid state power amp the center image was collapsed by comparison.
These experiences for me are quite conclusive that all else being equal, tube amplification expands the sound stage vs. even the best solid state amplifiers and I will never have a solid state amp as the center of my main system. Therefore I urge anyone in the market for a new amplifier to give them a try.
After living with my system for so long, you can immediately sense the smaller, collapsed sound stage of solid state amplification, whether the amplifier was $1000 or $10,000. The center image seemed to collapse.