Rogue RP 1 preamp curious incident


Last year I bought a Rogue RP 1 preamp from a very reputable AD that was a store demo. I had read that the early models had a gain issue that was corrected in later models and the dealer said this one was fine, as it was. I used the unit for a year and was extremely delighted with the sound. The dealer did leave some vintage Amperex tubes in the unit that sounded rough so he gave me a set of modern tubes that worked fine. 

I recently sold the RP 1 because I am using my Exogal Comet DAC as a preamp. The Comet sounds great and I am happy to have one less box on the shelf. The sound, in my opinion, was moderately better. 

The buyer told me that the performance of the RP 1 that I had been using for a year suffered from "white noise." He further stated that he called Rogue and they identified the unit as the 13th ever made and that these early models had a white noise issue. Being an excellent company as they are, Rogue volunteered to fix this free of charge.

Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? I am developing a complex over not hearing this supposed defect. OK, I am 68 and listen to classical chamber music, but the preamp sounded great. Do I have tin ears or is this some anomaly? Also, the fact that the unit was a successful demo from a fine dealer argues against white noise. Very strange.
128x128rtorchia
White noise? So we're talking about a very faint hiss.

So you listen with your amp and speakers at a level that pleases you with your classical chamber music and its so faint its down there in the noise floor and you never even notice. Then the next guy with his system and music he cranks the volume a lot more and maybe his associated gear has a lower noise floor or maybe its just a lot louder or maybe with his amp he needs more volume, any combination like that where the pre-amp noise becomes more noticeable.

Or it just got noisier from being bounced around in shipping. Whatever. The point is, lots of perfectly plausible explanations other than your hearing.


Thanks. The guy has the same amplifier as I do, the Medusa. I really cranked the system a few times super loud and heard slight hiss which I assumed was due to the volume. Probably anyone who is sensitive to so-called white noise ought to forget tube equipment. My digital system is dead quiet.