Kek

Mobile, I agree with you when saying that anyone who has the Audio 1 cap in their CARY- AES equipment should look to other caps. The Cary was a diamond in the rough with the Audio 1's. I had a hard time trying to decide which caps to try. I spent alot of money a few months ago on NOS tubes for the previous preamp, and I could see my wifes frustration building with the 3rd,4th, 5th parcel packages arriving with tubes at my door. To preserve my marriage, my cap quest was limited. The first time I talked to Kirk at Cary, he suggested using their standard caps....mmmmm....without saying it, I felt he really didnt like the Audio 1's sound quality. This hobby is so subjective to indivigual tastes ,that suggestions are only oppinions, and getting it right is trial and error--hit or miss. kek

I knew that this preamp would be a step in the right direction, replacing a AES AE-3 and a Rogue Magnum 99, but having the Cary in the system for a few weeks I was feeling that its sound was not quite right. It sounded thick, foggy, almost lethargic. I was not going to let this happen. The preamp as you are aware came with a cap that is labeled "Audio 1", which is one of Carys upgraded oil caps, and to who makes this cap is a mystery. These caps (Audio 1) seem to be the root of the problem, and many Cary owners have stated the same. I bought a pair a Hovland Musicaps and installed them, and what a huge difference they make--lowend is powerful and dynamic without being soupy, midrange is true to life, and the the top end has a great highend extension thats not constricted as before. These new caps have tranformed the Cary into a totaly new sounding preamp. I do remember Mobile making the comment that you might want to try a different cap such as the Jensen when you had this. Glad you didnt--you might have kept it. I have talked to Kirk at Cary a few times and he has told me that he uses the Hovlands in his reference SLP98-- a cap that they do not offer. They must have bought a truck load of "Audio 1's" at a deal and trying to promote them. The Cary is a work of art with the right caps; its to bad you didnt have the time to hear it with such because you might not have sold it. thanks again, kris

Dean, I arrived home about 6:45 tonight after leaving your house. Rained most of the time during the 2+ hour drive back home. There were a few times that I had to open the window to revive myself, but the trip was well worth it. The first thing I wanted to do when I walked into the door was to hook the Cary up, BUT I knew that I should spend some time with my better half.While we were talking the whole time I was wondering what tubes I should start off with, and I decided to try the 50's NOS RCA gtb's. Fired the 98 up and let the tubes warm, cued up the cd........WOW does this thing sound great. What a great improvement over the Rogue Magnum 99; it brings back that tube signature to the music that the Rogue was lacking. Early comparisions I might say that the Rogue has better sound staging, but the sound was dry as I mentioned before, and the Cary brings it to life. Thanks for everything and have a merry xmas, Kris

Dean, I sent you a email. Sorry that I couldnt respond back sooner. Kris

Louis, yes this is the magnum version. The Rogue is a great sounding preamp, but that tube magic in the midrange is what Im looking for. The AE-3 was the only other tubed preamp that I have used in my system, so you might want to say that it was my "reference". It (AE-3) had a good liquid midrange with superior effortless highend. The Rogue Magnum 99 has such a better sound stage thats deep,wide,layered with great lowend character. The Rogue was bought brand new and has less than 50 hours of play time on it, and I will give it some more time to settle in, only hoping that it is a diamond in rough.

DeanG I have sent you a email. I would like to ask you a few questions.

Im looking for guidance and some expertise. I bought a AE-3 preamp a year and a half ago, to mate with a Bryston 4Bst and a pair of KLF30's. This inexpensive little preamp is a dynamo and I loved its sound ( factory wired, no mods). I found myself wanting to change out the AE-3, upgrading this piece of equipment to a higher end preamp should improve the sound quality. I found this is not always the case. Narrowed down the choices to the Cary SLP98L and the Rogue Magnum 99 line stage. Researched and reviewed both and thought the 99 would help the KLF's with low end and I bought one. Its not what I expected its sound to be....some what of a let down. The Rogue has a great sound stage and firm lowend, but its missing that liquid character in its midrange that I liked in the AE-3; it seems to be "dry" . Rolled tubes 4 times with various results but still comes out like diet pop....starts off tasting good then dies without leaving a trace. How does the Cary Slp98 sound when compared to AES AE-3? How does it sound in general? Likes... dislikes ? Deang dont you own one? P.S. I should mention that I cant go back to the AE-3 because I sold it on Audiogon last week, and I have to much money rapped up in 6sn7's to go to a preamp using different tubes. thanks, Kris

I recently upgraded from a AES AE-3 preamp to a Rogue Magnum 99. I was using a pair of Sylvania chrome dome 6sn7's in the AES and I thought the sound was fantastic. The Rogue was purchased brand new and out of the box with the stock tubes, I found the sound to be disappointing. The Rogue had a much larger sound stage and greater detail and character than the AES; but the AES sounded better. I figured the new preamp needed more time (only 25+ hours to date) to settle in and a new set of NOS to bring it to life. I called Mark Obrien at Rogue and told him of my needs and he sent me some quad NOS RCA to try. They sent me one pair of RCA gtb with side getter and a pair of RCA gta with dual side getters. Put them in and wow what a great difference they made, BUT one of the channels sounded as like a FM station tuning in and out....one of the tubes going bad.....just my luck. Called Mark Obrien back and he said he would send out 4 more RCA's. In the mean time I came across your post on your shoot out of 6sn7's and was intrigued by your comments on the EH6sn7's. I figured that I would give the EH6sn7 Gold Pins a try so I ordered 2 pair. The replacement Rca gtb's came in first so I put them in. These gtb's were different in both looks and sound. The tubes plates(?) were not as long inside the bottle...much shorter, and they did not have the same sound quality of the first order, and their was quite a bit of audible hiss present. Not to my likings. The EH's came to my door the following day, and again I pulled the cover off and installed different tubes. These sounded much better at first over the 2nd set of RCA's. They semed to have a great sound stage and top end, but the lowend came across as over emphasized and the upper mids choked, harsh, constrained. There was a hiss present but not as bad as the 2nd RCA's. Did you find these EH's to sound better after time? I want to tranfer Magnum 99 into a exceptional piece of equipment and need some help. Suggestions are welcomed. My systems main components are Bryston 4Bst, Rogue Magnum 99 preamp, Klipsch KLF30's. kek

Kudret,I will be selling my AES AE-3 very soon. I bought a Rogue Audio Magnum 99 and it is due in 10/22( you helped convince me Kelly). This AE-3 is a factory assembled unit.Fantastic entry into the world of tubes; im asking $350. Email me if your interested. kek

Im looking at purchasing a new(er)preamp. Currently looking at a Cary SLP98 and a Rogue 99 Magnum.This would be mated to a Bryston 4Bst. Has anyone compared the two? kek

Many Ebay accounts are being "hijacked" and are used to place bogus auctions.There were, and still are many of these auctions selling brand new or newer Harley Davidsons. Seller is asking $8500 for a 2003 FatBoy and you can BUY IT NOW and close the deal. The seller wants you to send the money Western Union and once he receives the down payment (20 %) he will send you the bike by FED EX to inspect for 30 days. They are stealing a true add, picture and all from CycleTrader and turning this into their Ebay auction. They avoid giving out a phone# to contact them , because they say that they are out of the country, while the bike is here in the states. Most of these rip-offs are only up for a few days at a time, but now they are placing auctions that are not so suspicious; items asking price is closer to its true value. be careful, Kris

Tom, how do you like the Magnum 99? Im going to look at one tommorow. Kris