Rogue Audio. Reliability issues? Anyone?

Thanks everybody! This has been a good read.

To the point of affordability of tubes; It’s not about money exclusively. It’s the time they take. I mean, when I get this amp back and throw some tubes in it, is it just going to fail again and blow something else in the amp? And then it’s gone for another two weeks and $475 out on the shipping and repair bill, plus a tube.

If it’s a blind gamble (on a not so cheap part) whether or not it won’t screw something up in your amp, that’s getting into “stupid” territory. Am I misunderstanding the situation? A perfectly functioning amp can be damaged by tube failure? And tube failure is random and not so uncommon?

I’m new to this and I haven’t built a level of trust with tubes so far, but I absolutely love the sound. I guess if I get burned again, I’ll go back to Solid State and donate $500 to starving children every sixth months. That’s better than having holographic sound on and off throughout the year.

As I mentioned in an earlier post I had a Rogue Cronus Magnum a number of years back, never had an issue with it. Sold it only because I wasn’t a fan of the sound of KT 90 tubes , solid state sounding to my ears. I presently have 3 integrated tube amps: an Ayon Audio Spirit 2 originally in my main system now in my 2nd system, zero issues with that for more than 12 years or so; a Line Magnetic 518IA in my main system , zero issues for 7 years; a Finale Audio 7189 MK2 also in my main system, zero issues for 5 1/2 years. Aside from those I have a Modwright Audio Elysee tube DAC in my 2nd system (previously in my main system) , as well as, a Modwright Audio LS100 tube preamp in my main system (hooked to the Modwright SS power amp in my main system). Both of the Modwrights have been trouble free for going on 9 years. Point of all of this is tube equipment isn’t necessarily any more prone to problems than solid state gear. Knowing that the power tubes have less expected life than the preamp tubes or rectifier tubes I change them out when they are nearing that point. The 2 integrated amps that are manual bias I check the bias once a month, and if I find a tube or tubes falling out of bias repeatedly on the high side beyond an acceptable level I replace them. You didn’t note anywhere in your posts the age of the tubes, nor your bias routine and how that measures up to Rogue’s instructions so hard to know if you possibly contributed to your problem or not. That said, given your angst about tubes maybe take some time researching solid state amps that meets your SQ goals coupled with a good reputation of reliability and sit back and enjoy the music instead of fretting over whether or not a tube is going to send your amp repeatedly back to the manufacturer.

@nickrobotron Rogue customer support/service is solid. It’s worth sending it in. They will fix it and make sure it’s up to spec.

I have owned RP1, RP5 and ST100. Rogue products represent great value but as with all tube equipment there’s maintenance and occasional failures happen. 
 

I since switched to Pass Labs preamp and amp and I do not miss tubes at all.

@nickrobotron   Tube systems are for the hobbyists that like to be more involved with their music system. They are not for everybody. I like rolling tubes, checking bias, and keeping my systems running in top form. I have spare gear if one piece of equipment goes down. Perhaps a tube pre-amp and a solidstate amp would get you what you are looking for.

I’m not bent out of shape. Just trying to understand. It’s all good. The amp is with Rogue now and I have new tubes on the way. So we’ll see how this pans out. 
 

I have my solid state amps to hold me over in the meantime, so I’ll certainly live. There's just something really exciting about the tube sound that I’m not ready to give up. This thread helped me understand that I had a stretch of bad luck.