Preamp comparison - Rogue Perseus and ARC LS25 MKII

The Rogue preamps of that era have a really nice full bodied sound, like a warm sweater on a cool fall day. The Athena and Hera were the top of the line back then, and imo were their best offerings by a SIGNIFICANT margin. These preamps use 6H30 and glean its advantages (linearity, detail, speed, bandwidth), but also retain all of that rich full-bodied dynamic sound - and then some!

The Hera II has a LOT of gain, so keep that in mind. It’s not the best match for highly sensitive speakers + amps. Athena and Hera I have more typical gain levels. The gain switch on these units works by cutting signal, NOT noise, so it doesn’t really help the Hera II’s issue. That said if your system matches it, the Hera II is the best of the 3. But even the Athena is still great, and a super value when they come up used. A modern ARC pre like Ref 6 beats it for transparency and clarity, but for the money - damn these give you a lot.

The current Rogue RP-X series preamps have a different sonic character imo. Sometimes I just have to scratch my head lol.

You don't see the Athena or Hera for sale often.  If I did I might grab one.  I have been very curious about the RP series.  There was one local that I almost bought but snoozed on it.  But, it sounds like you are saying that the newer Rogue pres don't have that full bodied, warm sweater sound.  I like full bodied for sure.  A touch more detail would be appreciated.  I think I am going to try some new tubes.

Thanks

Yes, I am saying exactly that :)

I had a RP9 and it was more detailed than even the Athena & Hera, so I'll give it credit for that. 

The 12AU7 in the Perseus has a lot of options for rolling, and should have a big impact on sound. I'm not a big fan of 12AU7's in general so don't have as much experience rolling there as with 12AX7. But there should be parallels, and in that case the ribbed-plate Telefunkens or silver plates Cifte/Mazda are top recommendations for detail, clarity, dynamics. For a cheaper and easier to find tube on the "detailed, clean" side, the Sylvania 6189 and Philips ECG 6189 are quite good. And from modern Russian production, their Tung-Sol small tubes are a great choice in this vein of sonic character.

Also - I’ve used sets of both EH Gold and Sovtek 6H30 in both the ARC Ref 6 preamp and the Rogue Athena and Hera, going back several years. Not a lot of difference in these tubes, either way. The EH Golds are maaaaaybe a hair warmer. Like 1 - 2% max. Not enough to change your opinion of a preamp. The gold pins are sometimes a bit thicker and grip better in a loose socket, so there’s that. Never noticed much effect from cryo treatments, either. You don’t need to stress about tube-rolling in 6H30 based preamps, unless you want to try the 1970s/80s "DR" supertubes - and good luck finding matched sets of that 😶

Upscale Audio’s Platinum grade matched sets of either Sovteks or EH has always been good enough for me. I have an Athena here and honestly forget which tubes are in it - maybe I'll take a peek now lol.