This is an update of an earlier review. The sound quality of this pre-amp is even better than before, great detail, awsome soundstage and clearity with the upgrades mentioned below.

NONE!

I have now upgraded my system with the Rogue Magnum 88 Power Amp and the improvement is fantastic. Also I have added a Rega P2 TT with a Dynavector 10x4 ,and Lehmann upgrade Black cube, for excellent LP listening.
The rest of system is: Paradigm Ref. 60 v2 speakers/ Adcom 750 CD player.
This system is something I can be happy with for a long time.

Low noise floor, tight bass, soundstage is brilliant!

A little laid back at the highest octave with the stock tubes.

I also have Martin Logan Odysseys, a LLANO A-100 amp, and Sony SCD-333es soon to get Audiocom mods, silver IC's.

This pre-amp has made my system sound much better. Now I look at changeing everything but the Rogue. I've tried a variety of tubes. National Unions, Red Base and Brown Base RCA's, Sylvanial Chrome Dome's, Sylvania 1952 vintage, AWA Radiotrons, and a few others that aren't worth mentioning.

I've found that the stock tubes in the Magnum Version are extremely close to my two favorites and much more stable. The best tubes I've found are the 52 Syl's and the NU black glass. I like the 5692's but they were to forward for me and lacked the warmth and bass of my favorites. With all that said Mark has done an amazing job with the tube selection.

I haven't found a flaw yet and the 52's brought the highs up a notch. I researched a tube pre-amp for almost a year and was about to buy a BAT VK-5i when I talked to a few people at the assylum who had compared the 99 to the BAT the CAT as well as an air tight. They said the Rogue was just as good, and this was with the stock tubes. So I came here and read the reviews. Next I called Rogue and both Mark's were very honest and kind so I went ahead and bought the Magnum 99.

I will not sale this piece ever! Good looks, the build quality is superior and the customer service is first class.
Look no further, they get more expensive, but I doubt they get much better.

Any interest in starting a 99 owners page so we can swap tubes and such?

Similar Products Used:

None

Great sound stage, detail, sweet, mid-range

none at this price

I brought this demo unit at the dealer. At this price range (even the original price at HK$18,000), it outperforms many competitors.

Compared to my Cary, it provides more detail and better sound stage. I ab tested with Matisse Fantasy at home, both are great pre-amps and have similar timbre. Matisse is fast and more bass whereas Rogue is softer comparatively, more detail and wider sound stage. The separation of musical instruments is great in this unit. The vocal is sweet and the bass is just adequate for my listening area.

I replaced the original tubes with 2 RCA 5692 and 2 CBS 5692. The result is stunning. The CBS is good at high and RCA has better punch. Both are exellent tube but very expensive. I think they are worth it.

Remote control is another plus. The build quality is excellent. It can't compare with any plastic remote.

Overall I am very happy with this piece of equipment and thanks to Mark O'Brien and Robert. Mark is a very responsive person and Robert allows me to borrow the unit and play it at home before purchase.

My equipments are:

Theta Data Basic II (Transport)
Assemblage D2D (Upsampler)
MSB Gold Link (DAC)
Rogue 99 (Pre-amp)
Papworth Technology M100 Mono-Block (Power Amp)
Proac Response 2.5 (Speakers)

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Conrad Johnson Premier 3, Cary SLP 100 Mk II (SLP 98 Mk II in U.S.)

Dead quiet line section
Sweet, full, natural midrange, firm bass

n.a.

I actually ordered this unit from overseas (with phono board) based on the forerunning reviews. Previously I owned a Musical Fidelity A3, but I was really tired of all the solid state sound. So I decided to soften up with the tubes and called Rogue. Without previous listening! something I don't often do but something I am not about to regret!

My system: - Martin Logan - Odyssey
- Taylor Acoustics Gyrophon (Sumiko BPS)
- Aragon 4004 MK II
- Sony DTC 2000 ES DAT

I upgraded the tubes in the phono to 12AX7. If you are seriously into LP I suggest you do the same upfront.
This preamp has strengthened my firm belief in the superiority of analogue music whats more made digital source sound acceptable (by analogue standards). I have not heard so far such a musically involving representation of string instruments (check-out the violins) and a similarly full bodied recreation of a symphonic orchestra (LP Wagner; Tannhauser). It simply blew away anything I heard before. For sake of curiosity I have also tried DVD-A (Ravel, Bolero: Telarc). Well it sounded really great, just a bit worse than LP.
The 99 makes a large well defined soundstage with fixed representation of instruments, and extremely credible analogue sound.

PS: and Mark O'Brian is really a great salesman (as well)

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VTL, Musical Fidelity A3CR,

awesome detail, soundstage ,price

none

This is the best addition I have ever made to my system. The quality of sound was improved dramatically.Brought everthing to life, both cd and vinyl formats.My system has Paradigm ref. 60 v2 speakers, adcom 555 amp, nad 541 cd. I plan to get the new Rogue 88 magnum amp very soon, cant wait. Mark O'brien at Rogue provides great personal support for his products. Highly recommended!

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adcom 555 preamp

The only complaint I can find is sometimes my fingers are slippery and knurling would be nice on the knobs.

Don't bother looking any further.This pre-amp is killer.The voices are crystal clear,very silky,not sharp or harsh.The imaging is excellent.I've listened to more expensive systems and the Rogue99 is hands down the best.I just added the Rogue M120 mono-blocks and just can't quit listening to it.This is the best investment I've made in years.

Has a ultra-wide bandwidth, excellent highs, none of the overly lush tones that some tube gear have. Simply great music, excellent customer support

None so far.

This is an excellent preamp. The music sounds just perfect. There is no emphasis in any particular frequencies. From the low bass to the high treble, the frequency response is flat. Also, needless to say, it has that ‘live’ tube sound. The music is clear and transparent with a wide sound stage. Unlike some of the other preamps I auditioned, the Rogue 99 worked well with all genre of music, classic, rock, new age..etc.

Also the phono stage does a great presentation. I never knew records sounded so good. Now all I need to do is clean the old records so I don't get that 'snap, crackle, pop' sound.

The overall look and construction is also excellent, a very solid and elegant piece. The layout and design is well thought out and implemented. I got mine with a black faceplate.

Enough said; try the Rogue 99!! Especially, if you are checking out preamps in the $2000+ region. (I did and the Rogue consistently beat the others.) Another thing worth mention is that the manufacturer has excellent customer support service. (I’m considering changing my amp to the Rogue model now.)

Thanks Mark O’Brien!

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Quicksilver, KRELL, Joule Electra, Audio Valve, Conrad Johnson, NAD

Not enough proper recognition from the trade magazines.
( these guys at Rogue deserve much props)

While making the rounds at HE2001 last Sunday, I happened upon The Rogue Audio room. I had been curious about their products for some time now.A recent Stereophile review peaked that curiosity. The room was crowded with a variety of audio-geeks,it took me several minutes to work my way up to an aural vantage point. All the while there was music flowing around me.It was an effortless liquid sound that slowly demanded my attention.I'd been to quite a few rooms already and my ears had been repeatedly assaulted by audio pyrotechnics.Instead, an alluring envelope of sound gently tugged at my subconcious.In the old cartoons when the aroma of carrots would lightly whiff at Bugs Bunnys nostrils,he would be drawn towards the direction of the scent transfixed. This was my exact experience. "That must be that
Class B rated(Stereophile)pre-amp",I thought to myself. What a sweet,life-like,detailed sound! As I approached the amp/preamp/cd player set up, I realized,hey this isnt the Rogue66!"No its the model 99",said a voice from behind me.I must of muttered my confusion aloud without thinking about it.At first I felt deceived,I was tricked in front of all those people.I knew my emotional reaction was unfounded but I needed to focus on who to blame. The voice, as
it turns out, was that of Mark O'Brian of Rogue Audio. I complimented him on his products and recent Stereophile recognition. He allured to the difficulty of attracting the attention of main-stream media to new companies and their products.It was then that I asked," The Rogue66 got the good reviews, why should I buy this model 99?". He suddenly took on a serious demeanor his eyes locked onto me. He explained that the Rogue99 pre was an altogether different animal than the Sixty-six.The circuit was different, the tubes were different, a good deal of design effort went into this product as it is their flagship preamplifier.I felt the pride and sincerity that Mr.O'Brian radiated as he spoke. This preamplifier is well worth the extra money over the class B rated Rogue66.I predict that in the near future the current manufacturing icons of tubed audio ( Audio Research, Conrad Johnson,Cary,Audio Note,etc.) will be forced to explain why their products are not economically competitive with this upstart Rogue.I left the Rogue's gallery knowing in my heart that I'd just seen my next pre-amp.And yes it was love at first sight.

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McIntosh,Conrad-J,Nad,Marantz,SAE,....

Stunning 3D imaging, air and palpability, smooth-warm mids, solid rythm and pace, deep bass, smooth highs

I cannot find any .

I recently upgraded for the Rogue 66 to the 99. What a incredible preamp. The 66 Magnum version was already very nice, but the 99 stepped up the 3d imagery by many levels and everything became more palpable. The highs are smooth and float on clouds, the mids warm and euphoric, bass is deep and tight. With the help of 4 6SN7's the Soundstage is huge, even bigger than the 66 which is big! Theres even a remote for volume which I could live without, but is a nice convienience. Other important features include, mute button, mono mode button (yah!), a headphone output, and selectable gain switch which helps optimize your gain for related upstrem and downstream components. My version was the stock version with Russain NOS tubes from Rogue Audio and the NEW power supply design (new an improved no buzzing). *PLEASE NOTE As of this review there is now a Magnum version of the 99 with some important parts upgrades that make it even better! Please contact the folx at Rogue for more info www.rogueaudio.com One last note, the customer service at Rogue is the best around. Mark Obrien , the owner personally answers every email and most phone calls and will talk with you about your needs forever. He will go out of his way everytime to make you happy! What a great sounding preamp, great American company to deal with, and at the price a great bargain.... A true giant slayer Look out audio world , here comes Rogue Audio again!!!!

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Rogue 66, A.I. Mod3, S.F. SFL1sig

Musicality

Wish it had a cool LED volume readout like the BAT's

Let me preface this by saying I originally checked "Audio Enthusiast", but realized that I am so addicted to the hobby that I must resignedly degrade myself to "Audiophile". Now on to the 99. I'm the beer budget guy looking for giant killers and the 99 can kick some serious butt. I have the 66 with upgraded NOS Mullard CV-4003's and love it. I auditioned it against a few highly regarded tube preamps (in the same price range roughly) and it won the shootout. It's closest competitor was the BAT 3VKi which is roughly twice as expensive with the remote option. They were close and it is hard to say which I would pick if price were not a factor. I recently heard the 99 against the same BAT. The 99 humbled the BAT and the dealer agreed. The 99 boogied on all music; on the same tunes the BAT sounded veiled and constricted. Wow. This is the same BAT that was neck and neck with my beloved 66. Moral of the story: I'm pony'ing up the extra $1000 to flip the 66 upside down. Next up - Monoblock Mania (haven't heard them yet so I can't blather on . . .)

Good work Rogue Audio,
Mike

P.S. Upscale Audio gives T-shirts for those funny Dutch CD player reviews, so can I get a bottle of Rogue Ale or something . . .

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Rogue 66