To Hans Wetzel,
I enjoyed your review of the Rogue Audio Sphinx integrated amp, and I have been debating between that and its bigger brother, the Cronos Magnum. My question is did you ever review the Cronos Magnum anytime in the past for the same publication? And if so, do you remember any marked differences in sound, especially that magic quality called musicality? I would be interested to know. I also think somebody ought to give a listen to both integrated phono stages with a decent turntable and cartridge to get a good idea of the sound quality. Both stages are supposed to be similar in quality to Rogue’s outboard phono stage.
I appreciate your comments.
Thank you,
Larry Novelli
You're the second person to write in on the Cronus Magnum, and, as I stated before, I don't have any experience with it. And I'm not a vinyl guy, unfortunately, so I can't really speak to that end of things, either. But on the musicality front, I suspect the Cronus Magnum is the one you're after. Musicality means different things to different people, unsurprisingly. In your case, however, the fact that you're (presumably) running a vinyl rig, and have interest in tubes, leads me to believe you crave the euphony and warmth that is so often associated with that kind of setup. In that case, go for the Cronus Magnum. But do understand, the Sphinx is a special piece of gear. If you can get past the stereotypes normally associated with class-D amplification, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how good it sounds.
If you have specific questions about the phono stages in the two amps, you might want to contact Mark O'Brien at Rogue via the "e-mail" link at the bottom of Rogue Audio's homepage -- I bet he'd be more than happy to answer them. . . . Hans Wetzel
