Rogue Audio hard to resell, has it fallen out of favor ?

I’ve got I special Rogue two-tube VT99 preamp that I will probably never sell. I think in the case of the Sphynx (being a hybrid tube/class-D design), it has to compete in a rapidly changing and improving segment with saucy new technologies (GANFet). That said, I pair my Rogue preamp with older Ice Power Class-D mono’s, and I also own GANFet monos (driven directly by a streamer), and honestly I initially couldn’t pick one over the other, they each have their strengths and weaknesses.. both are great, but I chose the Rogue Pre paired with my older Ice Powers as my daily listeners because I like to roll, and with the right tubes the top end is more detailed.. yet organic. Some slight noise might be a small issue given a sensitive speaker, but not in my case. It’s very quiet from where I sit.

I think many buyer’s might worry about older class-D products.. whether it be Hypex or Ice Power. Also, selling audio gear in the months leading up to Xmas is a bit challenging given the potential buyer’s wife may not like seeing a present showing up for them right before.. I think many may hold off a couple mos. However, I’d also bet there are people out there somewhere pining for an affordable Sphynx. Some people just want a reasonably priced vessel to roll what has now become a particularly expensive NOS tube inventory.

@phd ...another Metis user. I Love my Metis because It’s only got two tube sockets.. no buffer tubes which means rolling is inexpensive.. and possible.. and gives very different results depending on the tube. NOS such as Tung Sol VT99, older Raytheon 6F8G, Sylvania Grey glass (all w adapters) are all excellent choices however. Transparency is the best quality about any component. I used to use a Steve McCormack passive but the Metis with the right tubes has let me pack that back into the box. Rogue has given me excellent support with my mod requests.

@phd ..good to hear. Used to have 80wpc tube monoblocks driving the top modules of Von Schweikert VR-4’s and the heat was incredible (but so was the sound.. at least up top). Unfort the first time I had to re-tube it required a dozen Sovtek 5881’s and quad NOS Phillips 6SN7 GTB’s. Not sustainable.. and that was the late 1990’s (post-pandemic, I can’t even imagine). To keep a tube signature, a Rogue Metis Magnum pre seemed like an interesting alternative. I didn’t expect much, esp given how cheap the base model was, and even in its Magnum form with stock tubes it was still a bit rough, but after finding the right tubes and a couple mods courtesy of Rogue’s excellent support, it’s actually pretty impressive. The big improvement for me (being an unbuffered dual-tube design) was going to the right 6F8G/VT99 tube (with adapters to separate the power lead from the internals of the standard 6SN7 tube).

I’ve also got new GaNFET mono’s and an older Pass labs Class A amp in other ss system config’s, but the setup having an older class D amp coupled with the humble (but tweaked) Rogue surpasses them both for ambient soundscape with clean natural detail.. recreating the dimensional ambience of a recording in a delicate, non-fatiguing way without sacrificing dynamics, LF texture, extension, etc. My speaker’s designer once told me the 6SN7 is a very low distortion tube.. 7th order distortion, so not the predominately 2nd order you get w 300b’s, etc.. which might explain why the Métis is excelling at detailed ambient retrieval (while still being dynamic).

AFAIK, the later Rogue preamps are supposedly significantly better than the old Metis, esp in base form, but that inexpensive little thing has massive potential if you’ve got the right tubes for it.. it’s just highly sensitive being an unbuffered design.