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Can anyone explain to me the difference in sound quality between the Rogue Audio - Stereo 100 and Atlas Magnum 3. Both have the same tubes, 100 watts, UL and Triode, 4 ohm and 8 ohm taps. Do KT120's give that E34L sound stage? My 100 watt E34L amp has died so I am looking for a new amp. My amp had a wonderful 3 dimensional sound with a layered sound stage. Solid State sounds flat to me. Thank you.
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I have a Stereo 90, which is the predecessor of the Stereo 100. Mine has been modified with better caps and such. The Stereo 100 has better caps and other parts than the 90 and has balanced outputs. I have not heard the Atlas or Stereo 100.
My amp can use pretty much any 8 pin Octal output tube and I believe the 100 and Atlas can as well. KT120 does not sound at all like EL34, I doubt you would like them. I consider it the most "solid state" sounding output tube. Many others disagree and love them. I don't think anyone thinks they sound like EL34. If you want EL34 only, I would look for something else.
If you want to try different output tubes or need to use KT120/KT90/KT88 for higher power output, than the Rogue amps could be what you need.
Good sounding, reasonably priced amps that are reliable and backed by excellent dealer service.
One reason solid state sounds flat is it is flat. Low damping factor amps(all tube amps and a very few solid state amps are not flat into speakers. They typically have two humps below 100 Hz due to bass design and one(or more) at say 2 to 3 kHz due to crossover design. Look at Stereophile tests of tube amp frequency response into a simulated speaker load). You can get rid of most of this affect using very low resistance speaker cable, very short and very thick and probably needs to be custom made.
I think that's a little harsh to damn all SS as flat. I'll admit that I find most new SS amps to lack that something special. But I currently have two SS amps that are on par (tonal quality) with my tube amps.
My Marantz PM8004 as an integrated pretty much sucked. But isolating the amp section it is very "tube like" in sound signature.
The other is my vintage (fully restored) Marantz 250m. It has that airy tube quality as well as the balls to do everything else well.
I also find that there are a few tube amps that honestly, I'm not that crazy about either.
i only can tell that in my atlas magnum mk1 KT120 do not sound as EL34 at all and did not in my other amps either.
if you seek EL34 sound you should use EL34 in your future amp. otherwise you might be disappointed from using KT88/90/120 as those work in a complete different league - more powerful and realsitic performance and less charming than EL34.(perhaps the gold lion KT88 reissue might satisfy your EL34 taste).
i do not know if a rogue stereo 100 can handle EL34 but the atlas magnum should. you only have to lower the bias setting from 35 down to 30 mA.
N.
Thank you.
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