i know where this comes from but i cant be alone in hearing all positions having equal contribution to the sound. the user will be rewarded by picking quality small signal tubes for all five sockets that work well together.
Don't get me wrong, I've changed all 5 tubes to pretty good stuff. Two La Radio Technique NOS 12AU7, a Mazda Cifte NOS 12AU7 in the center and 2 new issue Mullard 12AX7's. Much better than stock tubes. But I personally hear the most difference by rolling the center tube.
I originall rolled in 3 LRT 12AU7's. That was good. Changing the center one to the Mazda/Cifte made a huge improvement.
Nice -- I don't use the headphone amp or the phono so I'm not sure it's worth it for my CMII, but I'm really interested in thoughts on the ultralinear vs. triode mode options, as well as how quiet it is with the new grounding scheme. If I were heavily relying on the headphone/phono, I'd probably definitely be in.
I believe i was told it's a $1400 upgrade. Sucks that I bought a noisy mkII only two months before the III was released.
the CM III is quiet. Not a peep through the CD or AUX ports. I however am having some trouble with the phono side. I would not attribute it to the amp yet though. the tt is B&O Beogram 9000. It might be with the grounding or the cartridge. When I plug in the source cable for the tt I get a hum. When I connect the ground wire I get an awful noise. Disconnect that and i am back to the hum but the amp is great!! I have been using the triode for the most part. I switched over the other night just to see if there is a difference. I found the turnatble enjoyed the linear power! Hum is still there, but no different The sound seemed crisper with a larger sound stage. Louis
I just traded my Cary SLI-80 for the CMIII. I'm a previous owner of the CMI and CMII and thought those amps rocked. Swapping tubes in the CM amps really yields some nice audible changes and you can achieve any sound your heart desires. I can't wait to hear the triode mode. With Rogue Audio running their business 15 minutes from my home, I never felt right moving away from them to Cary. I like to support local business and it makes any repair trips very cheap without 100.00 shipping costs! With the new model and a few added unadvertised upgrades Rogue offers I am hopeful it will match or even beat the Cary. Although I suspect it will not be "one is better than the other" but more of a "which sound do you prefer?" I should have it this week or next and will certainly report in this thread.
I have a CMI. The two features that I would have liked to see would have been the triode mode. So curious as the how the KT-120 sound in the triode mode, as compared to the KT88's on the Rogue M150 monoblock's running in the triode mode. In the ultralinear mode, they both do sound a lot alike. That is saying a lot, because the monoblock's, if they were still a current product, would be about twice the price as the CMI was. I like to see a pre-amp bypass in integrated's, so you can use it like an Atlas power amplifier, if you decide to put a preamp in the system. I have run it with a preamp, but It might sound a little bit better with a bypass in place.
I picked up my III from Rogue yesterday. Those guys are super nice. Nick spent 1/2 an hour with me showing me their soon to be listening room and just talking gear. So great that they are 20 minutes from my house. My unit is the Rogue Cronus Magnum III Special Edition which gets you upgraded caps and resistors. Obviously the unit needs some break in but after a full day of listening (one advantage of being unemployed!) I am not sorry I traded the Cary. Neither is a better unit than the other and most would be happy with both I would bet. Taylor at Goldprint Audio summed it up nicely. The Cary puts you back in the 7th row, Rogue puts you in the front row. There is no wrong answer but man do I like the front row! They also offer different sounds and I am sure I could get close to the lushness of the Cary with some tube swapping. Right now though in triode mode this version of the Cronus Magnum sounds terrific. Detail is off the charts. It pairs really, really, really well with the LS50's. I'll offer up more thoughts as she calms down some and gets comfortable in her new surroundings. One thing I notice is that the Rogue really shines with good material whereas the Cary seemed less fussy. Cary had better bass thump but that could change once the tubes break in. I've owned all three versions of the Cronus Magnum and this one definitely is a step up again for Rogue.
Definitely. I tried to get as much info from it as possible from Nick. It is not a Triton. It is more of a little brother of the one they use in their pre-amps. Hopefully later today.
Yeah as a Cronus II owner I want to know: How quiet is the PHONO when running both MM (45dB gain) and wide open for MC (60dB? gain).? How quiet is the entire unit on regular line inputs for CD etc.? How powerful is the headphone amp this time? My Cronus II is almost dead quiet at the line inputs the way I have it set up using an isolation power plug which floats the ground. Plus I replaced the center AU7 with a Mullard for better tone AND lower noise. You can just barely hear residual circuit noise (a mixture of hum and hiss) but it is so low as to be inaudible at my chair at full blast. My Cronus II phono section has the same noise as line but LOUDER by a factor of DOUBLE when running the extra gain phono section (45dB gain) for MM. You CAN hear this at my chair but you have to have a dead quiet room and switch the phono stage in and out to pick up on it. I call the current built in phono stage on my Cronus II "superior" and except for the slight bit of noise I never criticize it even though I am running LOMC and transformers into it that are top drawer and even. perhaps, out of its "class." As for the headphone section on my Cronus II it is poor. Weak. It can run my Sennheiser 650s but just barely as they are somewhat power hungry. Anyway THOSE are the areas Mark at Rogue was aiming to improve with the III. Did he DO it?
Ok good news and bad news. I always like the bad news first: The headphone stage seems to have an issue. I can turn the volume almost all the way up and it is barely what I would consider loud. I called and talked with Mark and he confirmed the III he was testing with the same phones I was using got loud at 11 o'clock. For me 11 was barely audible. I had to go to 4 or even 5 o'clock to get decent volume. I tried Grado SR80's and HD600's. No joy on either. He said he can make it louder if I bring the unit back. I'm annoyed because it just left there and should have been tested. I cannot see how this was tested. Now I have to get my somewhat large body back into that little space and unhook everything. Ugh! Ok good news now: Color me impressed. Very impressed. After 1 song I was seriously blown away by the CMIII Phonostage. It's been 2 hours now and that opinion has not changed. The CMI stage was barely acceptable in my humble opinion. The CMII was better but most of the stand alone stages I tried beat it easily. Now this stage is another story. No it is not the Herron. But it matches and or betters just about any stage I have tried and yes I mean any. It freaking rocks. It reminds me of the BCSEII only better. Much better actually. I wish someone else would comment on it to confirm what I am hearing because it is that damn good. The audible detail on this rig is stunning. I'm going to let her break in some more before cementing these statements but so far so good other than the headphone issue.
That's good to hear. I want to upgrade my I to a III and was wondering if the phono could meet or beat my Jolida JD9, which would allow me to sell it to help fund the upgrade. I have a Dynavector 10X5 that I run at about 55db of gain. That's a little high but it sounds best to me. The high gain on the III may be too much for that cart.
hello All, update on the CMIII. After 4 months of use, and a lot of it, the amp sounds wonderful! Plenty of power for the tt even in triode mode. The CDs have never sounded better! Gotta give some credit to the new TEAC deck I guess. I am still battling the phono hum. The bottom line at this time; everything unplugged from power source and all sources unplugged from amp. the amp plugged into 12ov with an adapter to remove the ground. The tt not plugged in to power or the amp, just sitting there. There is no hum. I plug in the tt source cables. plug in one side, no hum, plug in the other side, the HUM IS back. I have tried all the variations of grounded, not grounded; power on, power off; by it self and with all equipment powered up. I have spent a small fortune on B&O to RCA adapters with and without grounding wires. Also plug ins to defeat the ground loop symptom and of course power units to condition the feed Of course I have tried the "correct way", that is hook up everything as expected, connect the RCA plugs from the tt and then connect the grnd wire to the grnd lug on the amp. Well, that doesn't work at all as a harsh buzz comes over the speakares when grnded that way. Remove the grnd wire and I'm back with the hum. I have purchased a Mullard 12AU7 NOS to substitute in the middle. That will happen tonight. We will see what happens there Even with the hum, the phono system through the CMIII is great. I will defeat this yet Last thought is to run a complete new ground wire to a separate grounding rod outside the house.
I'll add another update. I swapped out the JJ's and tried a couple of combinations. I ended up with the following: Front row: (2) 12AX7 GE Longplates Backrow: (2) RCA Foil Getter 5963 Black Plates Center 12AU7: Mazda CIFTE 6189 12AU7WA-H MILITARY TRIPLE MICA The JJ's are great for the price and provide gobs of detail, but they are just a bit too sterile for me. The combo I have in there now is one of the best I've heard. It really is. Bass is no longer lacking and fills the room nicely. Tight and thumping, just how I like it. Detail in spades with the center Cifte and the supporting cast of Black Plates. Midrange is right where it should be. Anyone with a CM needs to give this combo a serious consideration. Soundstage is always portrayed properly for what the music/recording is attempting to portray. There is nothing syrupy going on here, so if that is your thing (and it is a nice thing) I highly recommend the Cary. The Cronus is dead neutral in a very. very good way. I love this amp.
