Mcintosh mc275 or rogue m150/180

Oops. Spoke too soon. Ran out of gas with my 60w. The sound is glorious though, just won't reach 100db. Close though 98.9. Btw no I don't listen at those volumes, but I do listen at 90. At 90 there are peaks at the top of what the Sixpacs can do.

I can tell you I have replaced a pair of pass XA100.5's after A/Bing them agains the M180's. I feel pretty confident suggesting the M180's. I can only imagine what a pair of Apollos sound like!

I am reading that rogues are hard on tubes. At their used price I might be willing to try them, but not if I will be retubing frequently.

I can tell you that the Russian KT120 is a very happy marriage with Rogue power amps. You'll get an appropriately long lifetime out of 'em (having run my last set 3 years), and they sound awesome. Also Rogue may have gotten that rep from the M120 days when their amps were cathode bias -- which runs hot as hell and is definitely hard on power tubes AND circuit boards/components. The M150 and more current models are much cooler and easier on the tubes.

And yeah, 200 lbs for a Zeus is tough to handle without a strong friend. Rogue said that's one of the big reasons for the Apollos. But hey -- it's also real hard for burglars to steal?

Where do you see Rogue being hard on tubes? Did a lot of research before buying my Rogue 90 and don't recall seeing that. And no evidence of it being hard on tubes on my few years of owning the amp.