Rogue Ninety Nine Preamp is in DA HOUSE....

[Andre Marc]

Rogue Ninety Nine in the house for review.....!

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Nice! How long does it take for you to review something like this?

 

[mep]

Rogue Ninety Nine in the house for review.....!

View attachment 7189

Which version, regular or Magnum? Phono or no phono? Has anything changed in this preamp since it was first introduced?

 

[LL21]

Rogue Ninety Nine in the house for review.....!

View attachment 7189

nice! look forward your thoughts v CJ ET3! i have heard very good things about Rogue Audio, and the very first audio dealer i ever bought from still carries them to this day.

 

[Andre Marc]

Nice! How long does it take for you to review something like this?

I will turn this preamp review around in 4-6 weeks.

It will be compared to the ARC SP16L and a PeachTree Nova Pre.

 

[Andre Marc]

Which version, regular or Magnum? Phono or no phono? Has anything changed in this preamp since it was first introduced?

Regular...no Phono.

I believe there have been some part upgrades but essentially it is the same unit.

 

[Andre Marc]

nice! look forward your thoughts v CJ ET3! i have heard very good things about Rogue Audio, and the very first audio dealer i ever bought from still carries them to this day.

I don't have the CJ in house yet...hoping it comes in during the Rogue review period.

My good friend Jeff Dorgay says the CJ is remarkable for its price point.

 

[mep]

Regular...no Phono.

I believe there have been some part upgrades but essentially it is the same unit.

I forgot that you don't listen to analog anyway.

 

[Andre Marc]

I forgot that you don't listen to analog anyway.

Actually, I do, via reel to reel. Contrary to popular belief..Analog is not just vinyl.

 

[LL21]

Hi Andre - thank you...any feedback even offline is most appreciated. In general, i observe that there are certain brands that play in the world-class arena which are still 'relative good value' compared to the astronomical prices we are seeing which i am absolutely convinced are 50-50...50% worthwhile, and 50% a rip-off for that extra several thousand. CJ, ARC come to mind as tremendous value throughout their product range...even at their reference level, limited edition pieces.

 

[mep]

Actually, I do, via reel to reel. Contrary to popular belief..Analog is not just vinyl.

I'm quite aware of the fact that analog isn't just vinyl. What I didn't know is that you have a R2R. Which one?

 

[Andre Marc]

I'm quite aware of the fact that analog isn't just vinyl. What I didn't know is that you have a R2R. Which one?

Revox A77!!!!

 

[Andre Marc]

Hi Andre - thank you...any feedback even offline is most appreciated. In general, i observe that there are certain brands that play in the world-class arena which are still 'relative good value' compared to the astronomical prices we are seeing which i am absolutely convinced are 50-50...50% worthwhile, and 50% a rip-off for that extra several thousand. CJ, ARC come to mind as tremendous value throughout their product range...even at their reference level, limited edition pieces.

Agree. Rogue, CJ, and a few others take pride in their products, even those built for the 99 Percenters.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Agree. Rogue, CJ, and a few others take pride in their products, even those built for the 99 Percenters.

I think most take pride, but some aren't interested in catering to the 99%ers.

 

[mep]

Revox A77!!!!

Which one? 2 track or 4 track? 3 3/4-7 1/2 ips or 7 1/2-15 ips?

 

[Andre Marc]

Which one? 2 track or 4 track? 3 3/4-7 1/2 ips or 7 1/2-15 ips?

2 track, 7 1/2 to 15 ips.

 

[mep]

Hi Andre - thank you...any feedback even offline is most appreciated. In general, i observe that there are certain brands that play in the world-class arena which are still 'relative good value' compared to the astronomical prices we are seeing which i am absolutely convinced are 50-50...50% worthwhile, and 50% a rip-off for that extra several thousand. CJ, ARC come to mind as tremendous value throughout their product range...even at their reference level, limited edition pieces.

Really Lloyd? I don't think that any preamp or power amp that sells for over $35K represents "tremendous value" to anyone but the dealer. I'm not saying they don't sound great and they won't bring you much joy and happiness, but as the MSRP climbs into the stratosphere and the dealer's margins stay at the same 50%, the buyer is just lining the pockets of his dealer with a lot of his money. You pay $35K for a preamp and the dealer sticks $17.5K in his pocket. Does this represent tremendous value to the buyer? I don't think so. I'm not even sure if the people who can afford to buy super-expensive high-end gear brand new feel they received "tremendous value" for the money they shelled out. Now if someone said buying a new Corvette instead of a Ferrari (insert your own super car here) represented "tremendous value," I would understand that statement. I know that you buy most if not all of your gear secondhand so you let the original owner take a beating on the "tremendous value" they purchased. Once gear is used, the value on the secondary marketplace is nowhere near close to what the gear sold for new, even if it's barely used and was only driven to church on Sunday.

 

[mep]

2 track, 7 1/2 to 15 ips.

That's an *OK* deck. The A-77 was the first R2R I owned.

 

[LL21]

Really Lloyd? I don't think that any preamp or power amp that sells for over $35K represents "tremendous value" to anyone but the dealer. I'm not saying they don't sound great and they won't bring you much joy and happiness, but as the MSRP climbs into the stratosphere and the dealer's margins stay at the same 50%, the buyer is just lining the pockets of his dealer with a lot of his money. You pay $35K for a preamp and the dealer sticks $17.5K in his pocket. Does this represent tremendous value to the buyer? I don't think so. I'm not even sure if the people who can afford to buy super-expensive high-end gear brand new feel they received "tremendous value" for the money they shelled out. Now if someone said buying a new Corvette instead of a Ferrari (insert your own super car here) represented "tremendous value," I would understand that statement. I know that you buy most if not all of your gear secondhand so you let the original owner take a beating on the "tremendous value" they purchased. Once gear is used, the value on the secondary marketplace is nowhere near close to what the gear sold for new, even if it's barely used and was only driven to church on Sunday.

Well, when a preamp retails for $3K-5K and is 1 level below reference, i think that is tremendous value...and even the reference is 12K (ARC Ref 5)...relative to a lot of 25K-35K pieces, i also think that too is good value. Even the limited edition GAT is $20K and that is less than what the ART 3 cost over 5 years ago...hence why i refer to CJ and ARC as delivering 'relative' good value for money. And i am agreeing with you...the extra 15K+ that others are charging for their reference preamps are not always better.

 

[JackD201]

Really Lloyd? I don't think that any preamp or power amp that sells for over $35K represents "tremendous value" to anyone but the dealer. I'm not saying they don't sound great and they won't bring you much joy and happiness, but as the MSRP climbs into the stratosphere and the dealer's margins stay at the same 50%, the buyer is just lining the pockets of his dealer with a lot of his money. You pay $35K for a preamp and the dealer sticks $17.5K in his pocket. Does this represent tremendous value to the buyer? I don't think so. I'm not even sure if the people who can afford to buy super-expensive high-end gear brand new feel they received "tremendous value" for the money they shelled out. Now if someone said buying a new Corvette instead of a Ferrari (insert your own super car here) represented "tremendous value," I would understand that statement. I know that you buy most if not all of your gear secondhand so you let the original owner take a beating on the "tremendous value" they purchased. Once gear is used, the value on the secondary marketplace is nowhere near close to what the gear sold for new, even if it's barely used and was only driven to church on Sunday.

Ouch! Actually it's the government and airfreight companies that the bulk of that dough goes to. The government easily makes twice what we do (Gross not even Net) for our capital and hard work in exchange for their expert services: hassling us in every possible way.