Rogue vs ARC

Sorry to chime in a different light. To some degree ARC's predicament is kind of they're prisoners of their own success, they have a large installed base of products out there. Their products never die and owners keep sending them back to be restored, refurbished, and go back to be used in their systems. So now they have a couple of units that are 20 yrs old and perhaps a newer piece which of course they want to at least visually look like it all goes together.

Under new ownership ARC's challenge going forward is to move on make changes and continue creating classics without upsetting a lot of owners.

I have had both. The Rogue M-180's and the ARC 110. The ARC does not even come close. The bass is so much more there on the Rogues. The Ref 110..what bass..? it has none! For $5500 retail the Rogue M180's are VERY hard to beat. Even against my Lamm M1.2 Reference ($22,690), the Lamm's were better, but not $17,190 better! I would like to know every ones source. an Air Tight PC-1 supreme on a VPI classic turn table is hard to beat. Yes the cartridge is 3 times more money then the TT, but use that through a $25,000 pre and a $12,000 phono stage, and $32,000 Focals, and you would be suprised how the Rogues become giant killers.The Rogues also killed my VAC 300.1's as well. Listen with your ears and not your wallets.

I have never owned ARC gear, but from the several times I have heard ARC based systems, I have been impressed. However, I am an extremely happy owner of a Rogue Audio
Cronus, and it is truly a wonderful amplifier. It's approaching its third birthday, and it makes wonderful music. It's built to extremely high standards, and I have always been treated very well by Nick and Mark at Rogue. They have been there to give me support and advice whenever needed, and I think the company is getting better and better. Happy Listening.

I cant believe that rogue is not selling more m180s because they are a giant killer. You get so much for your money, a true value in today's market. Yes you can get better sound, but usually for a LOT more money.

Agreed. I got a set of the "lowly" M150's and am blown away how good these sound. A friend, who used to sell Rogue (he has a lot of other high-end brands) had trouble selling them due to low brand awareness, but when I mentioned that I was interested in auditioning my M150's against a MC352 McIntosh he had laying around, he said "don't bother, your M150 will blow it out of the water. I would take it over an MC402 as well". And, Mac is his biggest line...I have spent a lot of money auditioning amps in this price range, and this was really the only one that raised the bar of my system instead of just being a lateral move. It truly punches above it's weight, especially with good tubes. Bass, soundstage depth, female vocals all sound as good as I have heard in my system, and clarity is almost as good as a $6k set of solid state monos I recently had on loan.

Whether it is better than ARC, I can't say. A guy in town has the REF 110's, so maybe I can bring my amps to his place and we can A/B them. I know the REF110 has a bigger name and costs more, but in audio, that means less than nothing without hearing them side-by-side.