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Upgrading to Tube; Amp or Preamp

I am currently looking to upgrade my existing system a piece at a time. I currently have a set of Vandersteen 2ce Sigs, VPI mkIII w/RB250 Origin Mod w/Dynavector cartidge, Adcom 565 Preamp, Adcom 555 mkII w/Musical Concept mod, and a Rega Planet CD. I have a rather small listening room, 15x18 w/vaulted ceilings and want to migrate to tube gear. I have heard the Rogue 120 amps and 99 preamp on the Vandersteens and thought they sounded marvelous.

I am into analogue mostly classical, jazz, and some rock. My budget is in the $2000 dollar range and since I want to get as big a bang for the big would it be best to replace the Preamp or Amp. The Adcom gear is a little too bright and the soundstage and imaging are not near (imagine that)what I heard with the Rogue combo. I like the Vandersteens alot but have heard that they get a little too laid back with tube gear. My aim is to put about two to three thousand in my system a year until my wife stops me.

Look forward to the suggestions, oh yeah getting rid of my wife is not an option (ha, ha).
rav1952
seldenr
59 posts
 
Count me in the camp that uses a Rogue 99 pre, but currently driving a Plinius SA-100 Mk III (100 wpc SS amp). I did a lot of listening, also during a search for a system for my brother. I am tremendously satisfied with the Rogue, and the Plinius for that matter (and don't get me started about how much I like the new Coincident Super Eclipse).

Anyway, point is that we compared several pre-amps in the same system (mostly BAT, but unfortunately no ARC), and the only thing that topped the Rogue 99 was an Air Tight unit (point to point wiring, but no remote or phono pre) that was about $4,000 used, as I remember. At that it was only slightly smoother around the edges, with the Rogue definitely holding its own in the lower regions. Moral of story: I will eventually replace the Plinius with tubes (although I am in no hurry since I am enjoying this amplifier quite a bit), but I can't say I feel any need to replace the Rogue 99.

Hope this helps, and best of luck.
leafs
414 posts
 
Seldner,add a Rogue 120 to your system with the Coincident,s its a match made in heaven.Rogue and Coincident have showed toghther a few years back at some local shows.They mate very well.I have a 120/66 combo with a Super Conquest from Coincidents.
gwood
4 posts
 
I bi-amp my Vandie 2C's with a 2 pair of lightly modified Svetlana 6550C driven Dynaco MK III's (Caps upgraded to RTX MultiCaps, slightly beefed up power supply, improved Bias circuit) Was very happy with Audible Illusions Mod 3 preamp until I got a great deal on Sonic Frontiers Line Stage & separate Phono preamp. Definitely lifted another veil. Gorgeous mid-range, imageing, depth, width etc!!!! Also very honest bass if not the ultimate in extension. Yeah, the treble is slightly laid back, but a little silver between Turntable & preamp (Kimber KCAG, [or Kimber select if you have a phono hum problem. My Grado Reference cartridge does]) will brighten it up just ever so slightly & give a nice sheen & snap to cymbals on small group jazz which is the only plalce I miss an extended top end.
stlouisdan
5 posts
 
Vandy's not laid back. I forgot to add that matching the ARC stuff to my Vandy 2C's are anythything but laid back. If you've got muscular, ballsy stuff on the front end, it'll sound stupendous with this combo.

Two examples come to mind. Mercury's old SR with Prokovieff's Love for 3 oranges and Sythian Suite smacks you right in the gut in the lower ranges. I also play a lot of Grateful Dead that come on mere cassette tapes. Amazing how faithful the recreation to concert sound. Rocks great with slamming bass!

Sorry, I'm not much help on what to replace first. I do know that my D-115 II is out now and with my Hillig modified ST 70, I can still get great dynamics, presence, and bass but I have to kick up the preamp a bit more. Still not as good as having both ARC products working though.

Good luck and have fun with your explorations.
prfont
89 posts
 
Another vote for the tube pre first. I think you'll be extremly happy with the upgrade. I also went the tube amp route, later, and was even happier. Obviously, the care and feeding of a tube amp is much higher - something to think about. I love my audible illusions M3 but too much gain can be a problem in some systems. I've heard and liked the VTL 2.5 and have seen these used for about $900-1000.

Good Luck
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