New Toys - Rogue Audio Apollo Monoblocks

toucanet

My craving for tubes was too great to ignore. These are Rogue Audio Apollo tube monoblocks. With the assistance of beemers417 and Nick (at Rogue Audio), we realized that no AI-1 Interface was needed, nor the need to connect the negatives in order to connect my 1.2TLs. I've been listening to them most of the day. I have only had to bias the tubes twice since unpacking them from their box.

I am currently using a Carver Lightstar preamp, as I wait for my tube preamp to arrive.

I now know why people enjoy the sound of tubes.

At 250 watts per block, they make the Polks come alive. Very nice detailed music at a low volume. I thought Diana Krall was actually playing live in my home.

inspiredsports

Very nice, in fact, awesome! I'm curious as to how you are able to skip AI-1.

(Maybe the blue line in your first photo is acting as a common ground )

toucanet

"Thou shall not tell a lie," I do not know how to explain the common ground (or non) details.

Ern Dog

Nice grab. 250 watts is a **** load of tube love :eek:

I had a Rogue 90 tube amp and loved it.

Congrats!

nooshinjohn

:DThe first picture clearly shows a wireless AI-1 connection... Tesla would be proud!:D

Awesome amps my friend. Congrats.


I look forward to a full and complete review.


John

inspiredsports

toucanet wrote: »

"Thou shall not tell a lie," I do not know how to explain the common ground (or non) details.

Those amps are in a different league. I was curious and found their website and the specs are absolutely superlative. Let us know how it goes when the new preamp arrives and everything gets to season a bit.

Face

Nice toasters. Enjoy!

toucanet

Here is a photo of the switches that are used to bias the six KT-90 tubes. I am new to tubes, however, they did a good job with the simplicity of biasing the tubes.

I thought the bass was going to be relatively soft coming from tubes. I was dead wrong, the bass is very tight.

So far, I'm loving the combination of the Rogue and Polks.

Deathjester

I am soooooo drooling over those.. Now if my Onkyo's could only make lightning!!!

toucanet

Deathjester wrote: »

I am soooooo drooling over those.. Now if my Onkyo's could only make lightning!!!

I knew that 1st photo was going to be a hit:)

I used the night feature on my camera.

zingo

Nice amps!

danz1906

Congrats!

Ern Dog

I would get a bunch of extra fuses. For whatever reason I went through lots of fuses with my Rogue.

Ricardo

Common ground is a requirement for the speakers to work properly. There is no way out of it. Either a common ground amp, tying together the negative outputs of the amp, tying together the negative posts of the speakers, or using the special AI-1 interconnect. If you're not doing this (and you are using the normal inteconnect between the speakers), the speakers are not working propperly, you are not getting the SDA effect as it should be, and you might fry something.

Had to say it.

Very nice amps by the way.

heiney9

Ricardo wrote: »

Common ground is a requirement for the speakers to work properly. There is no way out of it. Either a common ground amp, tying together the negative outputs of the amp, tying together the negative posts of the speakers, or using the special AI-1 interconnect. If you're not doing this (and you are using the normal inteconnect between the speakers), the speakers are not working propperly, you are not getting the SDA effect as it should be, and you might fry something.

Had to say it.

Very nice amps by the way.

Absolutely true...............I would be VERY interested to see how it was determined they didn't have to be common ground. You might not be doing damage instantly, but I bet some issues will crop up later with both the amps and/or speakers.

There really is no way around it.

H9

beemers417

Great amps, Chris!!!

toucanet

Thanks for the advice inspiredsports, Ricardo, heiney9 (and all others). You guys are a wealth of knowledge! I took my equipment to a service shop and had them to run diagnostics just to be safe. No damage to anything.

I've connected my RTi12s to these blocks while I await "written" correspondence from both manufacturers. They too, sound very nice with these blocks (much brighter than the 1.2TLs).

In the meantime, to err on the side of caution, I will get an AI-1 made and go from there.

Cheers

heiney9

toucanet wrote: »

Thanks for the advice inspiredsports, Ricardo, heiney9 (and all others). You guys are a wealth of knowledge! I took my equipment to a service shop and had them to run diagnostics just to be safe. No damage to anything.

I've connected my RTi12s to these blocks while I await "written" correspondence from both manufacturers. They too, sound very nice with these blocks (much brighter than the 1.2TLs).

In the meantime, to err on the side of caution, I will get an AI-1 made and go from there.

Cheers

Did you send the manufacturer's a FULL set of schematics both L and R channels so they understand what is going on? The term "common ground" can mean a few different things in the audio world. We are familiar with it in relation to SDA's, but many aren't.

The schematics can be found here:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55888

H9

madmax

Very nice!

organ

Awesome. Congrats on your new toys.

schwarcw

Get yourself a Rogue Model 99 Preamp with the Magnum upgrades. Then you'll really be cooking!

GlennDog

Dead but not buried. The OP was last active Nov 23, so I hope Chris.sees this . . .

Was the AI-1 mandatory, as suspected?

treitz3

I was actually happy to see his moniker pop up. I don't recall seeing him post in quite some time.

Tom

toucanet

@GlennDog,

Sorry for responding years later. I've been away for a minute, dealing with this thing called life... and its unexpected curves. The AI-1 was mandatory. Rogue was extremely helpful with assistance.

I can't believe I posted the original post 11 years ago. Since then, Rogue Audio has performed the "DARK" upgrades to the monoblocks. The upgrades, albeit very expensive, made a significant difference in overall sound. Not too long ago, I had these monoblocks connected to a pair of Wilson Audio Sasha Series 2 speakers. I really liked the sound of those speakers, once they were properly dialed in. However, lately, they (monoblocks) have been connected to a pair of vintage Sony SS-M9 speakers since I am living in two states these days. My gear has been moved frequently as I travel back and forth. My pre-amplifier is a Rogue Audio Hera II that was also upgraded by Rogue Audio.

The 1.2TL speakers have been connected to either a Carver TFM-55 or Carver A763 (switching them up occasionally) for a number of years. Trey (@VR3) recently upgraded the crossovers for me. Let's just say that I'm glad I had him to work his magic on my speakers' crossovers.

I do foresee moving the 1.2TLs back in the main part of house and re-connecting them to the Rogue Audio monoblocks, or the McIntosh MC501 monoblocks, if my son does not decide to take the MC501's to his house, since I offered them (and some other audio gear) to him as a college graduation and home-buying present.

toucanet

Sorry for responding almost 2 years later. The AI-1 was mandatory.

pitdogg2

toucanet wrote: »

Sorry for responding almost 2 years later. The AI-1 was mandatory.

Dang !
Welcome back 😂

VR3

I had a chance to hear these on the Sonys, they do sound excellent!