Rogue Audio. Reliability issues? Anyone?


I recently have been loving an Atlas Magnum power amplifier. I had a tube go bad, a fuse blow, and now red-plating. All of this could be related. But I am trying to decide if I want to pay shipping both ways ($90 each way), pay Rogue’s $175 bench fee (minimum) and then spend ungodly amounts on tubes that are hard to find.

I have friends, two to be exact, inform me that Rogue is notorious for this crap and their amplifiers are money pits. Is this normal tube stuff? Should I go for it or cut my losses and buy something else. I really love the way it sounds amd I really want to love Rogue. 

128x128nickrobotron

@nickrobotron matched tubes is of greatly exaggerated value.  Especially if your amp has good bias control.  

Now you're having trouble with bias (is my guess).  This is why I greatly prefer manual bias control.  So don't even consider paying for a matched set until you get everything back under control. Your amp will sound fine.

Finally, if you are using new production tubes they will be very close to the same.  Unmatched NOS tubes that may have even been manufactured in different plants and diferent years can have much more variance.

Jerry

How am I supposed to just replace one tube and throw out all that paid-for attention to detail? I guess maybe the answer is to pony up more money for ANOTHER matched quad. Feels like a very, very expensive endeavor that makes the tube game silly. 

If the power tubes have a lot of hours on them and one tube fails, it's a good clue that the tubes may be near the end of their lifespan and it might be a good time to replace the set. If a single tube fails early on, a single replacement can be found that matches your existing set. Yes, tubes can be expensive. I don't want to replace my dozen six-pac tubes unless I have to. Even cheap tubes times 12 get very expensive.  The cost of running tube gear may not be within your budget, perhaps you should think about going back to solid state. Tubes are not suitable for everybody. 

It’s a very very easy fix. Just one cathode resistor and a new tube. 
amd YES Rogue overbiases their KT88 amps so user beware. 

My opinion, for what it's worth is that Rogue builds very reliable products of which I have owned numerous ones over the years.  Customer support when there is an occasional issue is EXCELLENT and fast.  Tube amps/preamps DO need some regular TLC - like checking the bias every 30 days or so to prevent issues like complete failure.