“I’ve owned my Rogue Sphinx for about a year and a half, running it with a pair of Tannoy speakers and two REL T/9x subwoofers. In that time, I’ve rolled through a solid variety of tubes: NOS Mullards, NOS Brimar, NOS Radiotechnique French tubes, the stock JJs, and Gold Lions. The differences between them are not subtle. The preamp section is where the amp’s character lives, and the tubes you choose define its tonality entirely.
That preamp section is simply the star of the show. The power stage is Class D, worth knowing going in, which means it’s fast and precise without being overly analytical. Pair it with bright, fast tubes and you’ll get impressive resolution and detail retrieval. But there’s a tradeoff: strip away too much of the warmth and color that the right tubes provide, and poorly recorded material will become genuinely hard to listen to. Choose your tubes with intention.
I listen primarily in the 65 to 73 dB range, and the amp handles it effortlessly. No strain, no congestion, just steady, confident performance. Headroom has never been a concern.
If you’re drawn to tube rolling on the preamp side and want a gateway into serious hi-fi, I don’t think you can go wrong here. It does a lot, and it does all of it well”
