Rogue Audio Cronus 12AU7-12AX7 tubes choices

Thanks for your suggestions. For sure, I'm also planning to upgrade the power tubes with SED Winged "C". I already had Winged "C" KT88 with another amplifier and the improvement over Valve-Art stock tube was incredible.

I'm very happy with the Cronus. I purchased it new to my local dealer here in Montreal, Canada. For me, it's important to have the warranty with a tube amp because they are not the most reliable machine on earth but the sound they produce worth it.

Already, the "out of the box sound" of the Cronus is great but I know that it can be improved with better tubes.

To Michael, which are the other candidates? On my side, I was interested also by Leben, VTL and Luxman's EL34 based designs.

Finally, anyone tried 12AU7 NOS RCA clear top with the Cronus?

Why don't you take some time to get familiar with the sound of your new Cronus before you start swapping tubes. That way, you can better ascertain what changes you want to make. Just a thought. Enjoy.

I have the Cronus Magnum version which allows for KT 90s - the amp came Sylvanis in both the 12ax and au positions, switched the 12ax to Tungsol 5751s and the 12 aus to RFTs which to me sound similar to some RCAs I have. These added a little more warmth that I was after.

I agree with Tpreaves.....Enjoy your new Cronus "as is" before you start rolling tubes. It sounds really, really good with the stock tubes. Then, once you have the desire to try new tubes, there are a lot of ways to go.

For me, my Cronus, being fed by my Rega P3-24/Exact 2/TTPSU and Rotel RCD-1072, through my Vandersteens, sounds better after I did the following : an RCA NOS 5814 to replace the center EH 12AU7 gain stage tube, a pair of GE NOS Five Star 5751 "goldpins" to replace the Sovtek 12AX7 input tubes, and a pair of GE NOS 12AU7A's to replace the EH 12AU7 driver tubes. I then replaced the original Svetlana EL-34's with a beautiful matched quad of Genelex Gold Lion KT-77's.

All this "tube rolling" was done after some pretty nice conversations with Mark and Nick at Rogue Audio, and I'm glad I followed their advice. They are a pleasure to work with.

Good Luck, and Happy Listening !

I agree with the above comments about enjoying the amp "as is" for a while. I'm doing this since I have it and I already have many hours of intense listening on it.

At that time, I'm looking for tube suggestions from you "Goners" as I want to have an idea about where to go and look and to be ready if a deal pass by. But I'm not on a hurry.

About the center 12AU7, mine is totaly blank. I don't have any idea of what brand and year it is. Should I ask Mr. O'Brien what it is? Do you have the same kind of tube on your Cronus?