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The new Rogue pharaoh II slams

I recently downsized my stereo to reclaim my apt living room, switching from revel 228 towers to jbl L100 limited additions, and sold my beloved Rogue M180 dark monoblocks and other front end gear, and needed a good intergrated amp to replace all those big boxes. Since I had experience with Rogue I decided to take a chance on the new Rogue Pharaoh II and boy am I glad I did. I cannot comment if or how it’s different sounding than the original but the Mk II kicks ass with the Jbls putting out 400 wpc into the speakers 4 ohm load! The slam and bass control is stunning, AND AT LOW VOLUME LEVELS!!! It’s also amazingly clear and transparent throughout the full frequency spectrum, with a non existent noise floor, The soundstage is huge, and once again you can hear all of this at low volume levels which is very impressive. Rogue knocked it our of the park with this integrated amplifier, although I loved the sound of my old tube monos this integrated actually does somethings better for a lower cost! If you are looking for a new amp/pre amp combo or integrated amp you have to go hear one of these, I bet it will surprise and impress you as much as it me, bravo Rogue Audio, well done!

chrissain
chrissain OP
470 posts
 

I am a big tube guy, and was actually able to compare the Pharaoh directly with Rogues own Cronus magnum 2 and the Marantz limited addition and the pharaoh is in a totally different league. The unfettered resolution and transparency made it sound like the other integrated amps had a blanket over my speakers in comparison, and that bass control!!! Good Lordy  

chrissain OP
470 posts
 

I never thought in a million years I would like a class d amp, but here we are. 

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,198 posts
 

My advice with LEGITIMATE new technologies and designs from REPUTABLE companies that have a lot of backing in terms of R&D dollars spent is never say never and take all opinions with a few grains of salt.

FWIW my local favorite dealer, who has a sterling reputation for selling only quality products that offer good sound AND value, told me the Pharoah was the best sounding amp he sold and that included much pricier models from gold standard high end vendors including Rogue and ARC.   I listened and could not dispute that.  THis was several years ago shortly after Pharoah and SPhinx came out.  THing is these hybrids can drive most any speaker extremely well to their max whereas other products in the same price range are limited in that regard and not the best match for many speakers.   His main speaker lines were Magnepan and Sonus Faber.

russ69's avatar
russ69
3,501 posts
 

I never thought in a million years I would like a class d amp, but here we are. 

Ditto.

mofojo
2,289 posts
 

I didn’t like the Sphinx much at all. Had a few other class d amps and the Lyngdorf was the only one that sounded good ONLY when the room correction was engaged. Otherwise it was just eyyy. It was perfection at times but only with high efficiency speakers. Would be curious to hear some class d  that impresses me.

 

all the other class D I have owned (probably 3-4?) did not scale up right when the volume got cranking despite their high power rating. Don’t know why that was but they got glassy sounding. Bass was pretty damn good though.

 

The Pharaoh is one the intrigues me although I would only spring for the 1st version used.  
 

I have no doubt done right class D can be very good. 

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