Tubes vs. SS

Oh and FYI...I purchased the Rogue because,
1) I wasn't completely happy with the Anthem pre and tubes were suggested
2) The Rogue itself was a recommendation
3) I didn't want to dive in for bigger bucks in case I wasn't happy. I see quite a few classifieds here still sitting, due to the economy I guess.
I didn't go tube just to try something different.

I had a Rogue 66 in my system many years ago when they had just been introduced. As I recall, the 66 sounded pretty well focused but had PHAT bouncy bass which was not too articulate. And overall the sound was not very dimensional.

One thing to consider when using a tube preamp is that many of them invert polarity... so for any comparison to be fair, you need to make sure you have the polarity correct at the speakers. This sometimes means reversing the positive and negative speaker leads on both channels. This will result in a "different" sounding presentation.

I don't remember if the Rogue inverts, but I'm sure you could contact the company and find that out easily.

As a side note, I found the sound of their model 99 tube preamp to be much more to my liking.

Cheers!

I don't know what your budget is,however,I do know the Rogue is not the best example of the tube magic you're seeking.

The real deal is this. The fact that you put tubes in the chain before the power amps will not do the tube magic show. You must go with a tubed poweramp and not some hybrid either.
I struggled for 6 years until I bought tube monoblocks. For less than most good SS units.The whole story was layed open. If you must know what to look for you don't have it. I can say that soundstaging proper tone and sparkle are more prominent with tubes.You will never know that tube magic unless you use them as the outputs.
I would go as far as to say that you can do the opposite with better results. A Solid State pre, which is very quiet, into tubed power amps will do the trick.
I have finally found Nirvana and I don't have the least desire to to change it. No audionervosa here.
The comment pointing at tube amps being a snob appeal product and that people buy the just to roll tubes is ridiculous. That's why I have several hundred different tubes. Actually I have left the stock power tubes 6CA7s in my Consonance Cyber 800s alone and only rolled the inputs and drivers.
The rolling really had very little impact compared to making the switch. The previous set up was a classic 6 tube pre the ARC SP6B and 400wpc SS power amps. I sold the power amps and bought a very simple tube pre, I am as happy as a pig in s**t.
P.S. e-mail me for further advice and help I also bought a DA-60 by Jadis this year.

Mechans..I have to disagree with your statement totally..Runnning a tube pre with solid state power will give you tube magic.I guess it depends on what grade tube pre you are using.It also eleminates the expensive of constant tube replacement in the power section which I got really tired of. Pre-amp tubes last years.Also rolling tubes in the pre-amp can change the layout of the system tremendously at little cost..IMO its the way to go