anyone have experience w/magnum conversion 4 Rogue

I had a Rogue 88 upgraded to a Stereo 90 and it was an astounding difference in amplifier power and sound quality. In fact, the upgrade was so good that I couldn't tell it from a new Stereo 90. It cost me $1,000 at the time and it was well worth it. The Magnum version is far superior to the standard version. They just use better parts and the quality of sound is apparent because of it. If you really like the Cronus, for $600, I would consider upgrading it instead of investing in some new gear that will probably cost you around $3,000 or more to sound as good as the Cronus Magnum version.

I just upgraded my cronus and am very pleased. I drive Quad ESL988. Noticed better bass control, richer overall sound.

I have shipped my Cronus off for the conversion and haven't gotten it back, but I did spend a few hours listening to a new one at my local dealer driving a pair of Maggie 1.6's just yesterday. It was fresh out of the box, but my impression was that it was a much more refined unit than the basic Cronus. The sound of the new model was in the Audio Research ballpark, which is very nice territory.

Personally I liked the standard Cronus very much. I have had it for about two years now. Like you, I was a little nervous about having it "changed." I was particulary nervous about going to the KT-90's. But after spending a few hours with one of the new ones, I am feeling better about the idea. At this point, I'd have to say it is a lot of amplifier for the money. This is just initial impressions, but I'll write more when I get my unit back and spend some time with it.

Holymackerel, I'm curious why you went from EL34's to the KT90's. I didn't even think that the Cronus circuitry would allow for this substitution. I went from the KT88's (SED Winged C) to the KT90's (EI & EH) in my Stereo 90 and found that the entire musical presentation was more pronounced, especially in the bass frequencies. I thought it was the best tube I ever used until I started to sense that something was missing in the music. After a a month or so, the music sounded congested in the midrange, like some of the music was compressed or missing, like there was a lot of empty space in the soundstage. I went back to the KT88's and I found that although it wasn't as powerful a sound as the KT90, it was a more pleasing presentation to my ears. It was just more musical and palpable and I never went back to the KT90's again. Simply amazing how personal and subjective this hobby can become.