Preamps: Rogue v. VTL v. Blue Circle


OK, I am a bit of all over the map in terms of price, but I am looking for best value, not necessarily within a specific budget. WOuld like to be under $2K though. Buying used.
My candidates are:
Rogue 66 and 99 Magnums
VTL 2.5 and 5.5 (someone told me the VTLs have reliability issues. True?)
Blue Circle 21.1

No phono required. Where would you cast your votes in terms of value? I like a transparent enough, but not too revealing preamp, slight tubey character but not too much, and large soundstage depth and width. Good extension on both ends also a factor.
Help?
kck

Showing 1 response by kek23

Kck, I can only comment on the Rogue 99, and will say that this pre is high end audio at a great price new or used. I purchased mine new.

This is my 2nd tubed preamp, so I was always comparing it to the former preamp, and out of the box the Rogue seemed lifeless. After a 100 hours or so of use and replacing the stock tubes, the Magnum 99 is truely a fantastic piece of equipment that should be considered.

I have talked to the owner Mark O'Brien more than a few times and he is always willing to help you. He suggested I try different tubes with the Rogue to compliment the other equiupment in my system. I purchased some NOS from him and they brought out the best for my listening tastes. He was willing to send me different tubes if the NOS were not to my liking. Great customer service.

You mentioned that you see many Rogue 99's for sale on Audiogon and seemed concerned about such. I have looked at the 99 for quite some time and the equiupment that you see for sale is typical of used gear. Cary, ARS, Conrad Johnson, VTL,....you can find them for sale every day but that doesnt mean that one should worry about purchasing them. It would only make sence that more a company sells, could also reflect the used equiupment for sale at any one time. This probally doesnt hold true to the higher priced goods because most people cant afford them so there is few in the consumer market and little to none for sale used.

Good luck and happy listening.

Kek