2. amps-preamps
  3. 1343871243

Where's the trade off?

Hi. I run a Rogue Cronus Magnum with Harbeth C7ES3's and a Audiolab 8200cdq as a source. I love my system with the exception of wishing I had some tighter bass. I find that I don't listen to music as much as I did when I had a solid state amp because I can't leave my amp on all the time. My previous set up was a NAD C317 (loved) with B&W DM 602's (also loved). With that old NAD integrated, I listened to tunes all the time. Now I turn on the TV when I would normally want to listen to music on week nights because of warm up time and tube usage. I find my current system to sound similar to my old system. My question is, does anyone think I can find a solid state amp that sounds similar to my Rogue? Can I go back to solid state and still be happy? I must be able too because I had it before. That NAD amp didn't sound that much different to me than what I have now. The NAD was not bright at all and it was very musical from what I remember. I'm wondering if I should be looking at a Luxman, LFD etc? I've tube rolled and that's helped me out a lot but it doesn't help with the fact that I have to wait for my amp to warm up. I'm not a patient person when it comes to music. My speaker cables are Audioquest Rockefellers and I can't remember who makes my interconnect, although I really don;t think I can hear differences between similar cables.
donjr
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,856 posts
 
I'm not used to have to wait very long for a tube amp to start making music. I start the system up first thing when I get home and within 30 seconds its sounding fine.

There are things that can cause a longer warmup time, like bad filter caps. Any chance the amp just needs service??
sbrownnw
704 posts
 
I put a Rogue Cronus Magnum up against my Audio Refinement separates and stayed with the solid state. I like to leave my gear on also. Have a nice little system page, take a look if you get a chance...
donjr OP
1,335 posts
 
For the record, I'm not thinking of selling my Rogue. I'm just thinking about having both solid state and tube. On a happy note, I just swapped out my 12ax7's with some JJ Electric cheapos that Rogue sent me (long plates) and they have a much more liquid sound than what was in there. I'm not sure what was in my amp prior to these because the paint is wiped off. These new 12ax7's cost about as much as a pack of cigarettes in New York and holy cow they're smooth sounding. I just listened to some Pink Martini and I almost fell asleep as though I was being rocked. Now that's something I love, especially with some Pink Martini or Melody Gardot etc. It's when I want to play Jack White that I feel I need to have a solid state amp. I listen to a wide range of music and tubes aren't the way to go for some of it.
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