Rogue M-180's on the way.

tratliff

After careful consideration I have decided to purchase a pair of Rouge M-180's. This will be quite a change as I have not yet ventured into tubes.

I will have my A21 for the next few weeks and will be performing A/B comparisons as I break them in. So be on the lookout for a SS vs. Tube shootout.

Something continues to pull me back into the rabbit hole. Every time I make it to the top something grabs hold and pulls me back down.

marvda1

you, once you go......ah, tubes you can't go back

tratliff

Marvin, once I get setup you will have to stop by for a listen.

marvda1

i also have some 12au7's that i had up for sale you can try.

tratliff

I'm sure testing various tubes will be on the shortlist of to-do's.

Mike Reeter

Looking forward to your comparisons, I would love to hear both of these options first hand!

nooshinjohn

Congrats... I love Rogue gear.

GlennDog

Congrats!

Since these are used (I bought my M180s used, too and bias was all over the place) I recommend checking the bias after the first hour, then again in 5 hours & then about every 10 hours of listening to make sure the output tube are solid.

I'm sure the Focus SEs will sound fan-frickin-tastic!

G

ps Marvins right, you'll wanna roll some input and driver tubes, too!

brgman

I doubt you'll be disappointed.
Did you grab the pair from Matt out at Echo?

tratliff

No I got them from Josh at The Music Room.

tonyb

One upgrade begets another my friend....congrats. Sweet amps for sure. Start reading up on user reviews to see what tubes are floating their boats. Buy some now, keep extra's on hand. Looking forward to your review.

Joey_V

Congrats man.. I'd love to hear them one day

tratliff

Dang FedEx Freight. I have been tracking the shipment and they have it at the local facility.

The plan all along was for me to pick it up at the FedEx loading doc. But they will not release it today unless an additional $105 are paid. I understand that it was not sent as priority and was originally scheduled for tomorrow but they transported it and will hold it until tomorrow unless I pay the difference for priority shipping. Seems like a bad business model to me but rules are rules. At least thats what the dispatcher told me.

I guess as long as it is ok when I pick it up I can wait another day. I don't want a PFB shipping mishap.

[Deleted User]

"shipped PFB" is a bad thing!

brgman

tratliff wrote: »

Dang FedEx Freight. I have been tracking the shipment and they have it at the local facility.

The plan all along was for me to pick it up at the FedEx loading doc. But they will not release it today unless an additional $105 are paid. I understand that it was not sent as priority and was originally scheduled for tomorrow but they transported it and will hold it until tomorrow unless I pay the difference for priority shipping. Seems like a bad business model to me but rules are rules. At least thats what the dispatcher told me.

I guess as long as it is ok when I pick it up I can wait another day. I don't want a PFB shipping mishap.

Is there anything much worse than waiting for new toys and it's juuuuust out of reach?

brianle

Congrats! I found using the xlr connection was better than rca on the m180

tratliff

Thanks for the feedback. That kinda stinks since I just got new RCA's yesterday but I also have some XLR's I have been using. I will try both.

brianle

When using rca, I had to use the ground lift switch to lower the ground loop hum

polkfarmboy

I always get a ground loop hooking up the larger tube mono's with rca in my listening room.

brianle

I don't get ground loop hum with more expensive tube amp like Mcintosh or Ayon

Joey_V

I got ground loop hum from my Plinius SA102 before. But it has a little switch and wallah, ground loop hum gone.

tratliff

From my experience it is real dependent on the installation, location/house, electrical circuit and equipment. But I don't have any experience with larger tube amps only SS. Based on what everyone is saying tubes are more prone to picking one up.

I'll just install them as planned and start working backwards if needed.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

marvda1

how does that song go? party all the time, party all the time or something like that.
todd, did you ever try pulling the speakers out into the room some more to see how they sound?

tratliff

Nope, everything is apart at this point. Will do that when I get everything back together.

marvda1

the one thing i hate about the rogue amps is that they hide the tubes. watching that glow in the dark is part of the fun.

tratliff

I think I will still be able to see it slightly without being front and center.

tratliff

Well. I picked them up Friday night and spent Saturday rebuilding the setup to accommodate them. I had to rebuild all 3 of my racks. Still waiting on one set of pillars. Had to move the TV up about 3 inches.

I also received the new interconnects from Doug last week. Everything is connected and sounds really good. Not sure how to compare to the A21 yet. It is different. The mids and highs are liquid smooth. The bass is very impactful but not sure at the same level as it was.

Overall I'm pretty impressed. I have to give it some time to settle in.

marvda1

the bass will be different leaning towards the ss amp but put some acoustic music on and then compare.

Joey_V

Yep, it's tough for a tube amp to equal a SS in bass.

tonyb

I dunno Skip, speaking for myself.....reduced bass on big speakers that do bass well isn't an afterthought for me.....it's one of the first thoughts.

I know exactly where Todd is coming from. Maybe some tube rolling is in need here....maybe not. If you want some of that tube tone and flesh with power to grab that lower bass by the balls and squeeze.....McCormack DNA 500.....Bat VK500-600.

Trust me on that, haven't steered anyone wrong yet.

Still, I'd give everything some more time to settle in, roll some tubes, before making final judgments. Your cabling is also going to play a bigger part in all this.

tratliff

I wouldn't say the bass is a problem. It is just different and will take time to get use to.

I am going to give the new amps sometime to settle down and for me to get use to them. Once I get everything figured out I may try both the A21 and the M-180's. A21 on bass, M-180's on mids/highs.