A question about my Rogue Sphinx II amp


Hey all,

Just starting out building a new hi-fi system. I picked up a Rogue Sphinx II second hand after demoing it at a hi-fi store. The amp sounded amazing compared to others so i found a second-hand deal as many of these forms suggested buying second hand as a first system.

Anyway, so I don't have my speakers yet.. so I've been listening to records through the headphone jack on the amp. 

One thing i noticed was after listing for about 10-15 minutes, i feel like i keep needing to bump up the volume on the amp. I know the whole ear fatigue thing, but I'm not really playing the music that loud. I'd start out at about 30% volume, then 10 mins later need to go up to 50%, then eventually im almost at max volume. 

Is this normal? Do i need to change the tubes?


128x128moogroom
((((Hey all,

Just starting out building a new hi-fi system. I picked up a Rogue Sphinx II second hand after demoing it at a hi-fi store. The amp sounded amazing compared to others so I found a second-hand deal as many of these forms suggested buying second hand as a first system.))))So you had the poor Jack ass dealer schlepping amps around for you and then bought it used after he helped you. that is theft of service. I would go back to that dealer and A thank him and maybe a small show token of appreciation so that you could be fair with him and yourself. Perhaps this would help you with also growing a set.
 was probably me anyways.
 Best JohnnyR
Lol theft of service ? You’re not owed anything as a sales rep. It’s sales. Get use to it Johnny. Given your attitude on a simple online form, I could imagine customers dodging your service as a dealer. Perhaps your just projecting your feelings on the subject. 

And that “Poor jack ass dealer” your mentioning, I sent him 3 clients, personal friends of mine, that each spent over 20k on a system. Clearly it wasn’t you. 
If you have something of value to add to this convo please do so. 
I wouldn't go so far as to call it "theft", but using a dealer's time like that and not purchasing from them is definitely not cool.

In regards to your actual question, many integrateds don't have very powerful headphone amps.  I didn't see any specs about the Sphinx's headphone amp.  If your headphones are hard to drive, the internal headphone amp might not be up to the task.  

The tubes are probably fine.  If one or more of them is glowing, or if you hear ringing, or noise, you might have a bad one. 

Wait until you get your speakers and see how it sounds.