Taking it up a notch: Cary SLI-80, Cambridge 840C, Clearaudio Performance and Proac D2 speakers. Room treatments have helped a lot, as has power conditioning, even after installing dedicated outlets. My listening room is the main living/dining room in a condo. Most components were purchased as demo units at local audio stores. This is my second real system after my terrific NAD 742/Arcam 73T/Paradigm Studio 20 combo.
I like the Rogue a lot. To be honest, it's my first phono stage, and I don't know how it stacks up to others, including the Triton, but I'd say it's fairly detailed, neutral, and full bodied with some grain and not especially dynamic. The bass and treble are very good, and the midrange is good but not especially lush or sweet. I'm looking at spending about double it's price for my next one, and I'm going for tubes, but I'd say it is/was definitely worth the money.
Do you still have this system. I was admiring your choice of equipment. Cary tube integrated, CA cd, Clearaudio tt, and ProAc speakers. Not much to improve on here.
65mA. Cary recommended 75mA, but I found that a little dry and not as sweet. They said anything +/- 10 mA from 75 should work fine. I biased the 6550s at 83 mA for similar reasons. It's cool to have the option to change bias, even if it does throw another level of experimentation into the mix; based on this experience I don't think I'd want an autobias tube amp. I'll probably try 85 mA at some point.
I actually didn't choose 6CA7. I bought replacement 6550s and the vendor sent me the wrong tubes! Instead of sending them back, I decided to try them out, and liked them enough to keep them.
System edited: Just put in a quad of EH 6CA7 power tubes (an EL34 variant). Really like them so far! Sweet and rich, not big imaging yet but they're only 10 hours old.
I agree the 4tc has excellent balance w/ 8tc a little bass heavy in some systems. I had the best sound w/ one run of 8tc used as a bi-wire w/ 6 or the 8 leads for the lows and the other 2 leads for the highs. Yes you are spoiled in Chicago. I've frequented all the audio salons you mentioned. I got Van L. to bring on the Cary line just after I left and he will negotiate w/ you. He is a Kimber dealer too.
Good luck w/ your system.
(I only list my vintage system on A'gon, but I have a higher end system w/ Audio Elec (Cary), PS audio, and DIY high-end speakers that is not complete enough to include yet.)
Hey thanks, Mjcmt. Yes, Kimber is a good match with Cary stuff. I liked SR and JPS speaker wire too, but the Kimber won. I tried 4TC, 8TC, 4TC/8TC biwire, Bifocal X, but the 4TC/4TC biwire made the most sense. The JPS Ultra had spooky realism with piano and vocals, though.
Van L. Speakerworks is great. I auditioned John's Quartet in 2008 and was very impressed. In Chicago we're spoiled for choice in audio dealers. Most of my stuff is from Decibel, my previous system was from ProMusica, my speakers are from Quintessence. The folks at all three were really great to work with. I also liked Holm Audio way out in Woodridge, among others. Which is also to say this whole system took a long time to build and some patience on their part.
I've had Cary products off and on for years and think that Kimber Kabling is a great match w/ Cary. Cary wires their amps w/ Kimber hook-up wire too. I'm currently using a Audio Electronics (Cary's sister company) Super Amp 2 tube power amp and it too sounds great w/ Kimber cabling as well.
I had Cary's CD308 cd player a few years back and their players throw an amazing 3D soundstage. Their cdp may be a nice upgrade down the road.
(A side note, I'm from Chicago and now live in NC. I lived in Uptown and Mayfair Pk. and worked at Van L. Speakerworks for a short time. Chicago is one of the best cities IMHO)
