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 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. 

@nickrobotron 

Great! I wish you a speedy and satisfactory resolution :)

I got my 1st tube component about 20 years ago, and in that time I've owned over 100 components - more than half of which had tubes. I understand your trepidation with tube gear, especially given this false start. But if anything, I think I've had more issues with the solid state components. Transistors are far less forgiving than tubes when it comes to high heat and high voltage. 

There are 4 fuses, one next to each trim pot.  Did the one with the bad tube blow?