Rogue Pharoah Integrated Amp, $3500, 185×2
Designed/Built in Pennsylvania
Rogue’s new Pharoah integrated amp was not created JUST to be a steal of a deal. But it is! Integrated amps offer the best electronic value in high end audio. Pharoah gives you a one box solution for very serious audio performance. By pairing a marvelous preamp and amp on a single chassis, it just happens to land at a great price. But please, don’t think the Pharoah isn’t an upper echelon product just because it’s quite the bargain. It’s a combination of tube refinement and big solid state horse power.
First of all, if you’ve dabbled in our hobby for any length of time you’ve learned that there is no substitute for power. You’ve got to have it. Literally every speaker wakes up with a strong kick in the pants instead of modest wattage. The Pharoah weighs in at 185×2 (350×2 for you Maggie owners) and can drive virtually any speaker well. To beat it, you’ll need a power amp alone that runs $5k, for example, the Bryston 4B-SST/2.
Pharoah uses a large Toroidal transformer and Mundorf EVO oil filled coupling caps. It has two 12AU7 tubes in the line section. The phono section is outstanding and will support MM & MC (40-60dB gain). The phono is NOT an afterthought! Pharoah features three high level, RCA inputs. It also has one set of XLR inputs.
Pharoah has an excellent on board tube driven headphone 1/4” jack.
Pharoah has two preamp outs, one variable and one fixed.
Pharoah has a HT bypass loop.
6.5h, 18.5w, 18d, 40 lbs, Built in USA!
Musically, Pharoah sounds incredibly “tubey.” It has that lush, warm sound that tube lovers crave. This is a substantial product at a very fair price. When you consider it can even drive Maggies nicely, Rogue has done a wonderful job!
Magnepan MG 3.7i, $6000, Now on Display!
Magnepan typically goes a decade between changes in speaker models. But they felt they could tweak the 3.7 to make it enough better to justify an “update”- but not a full designation change, like 3.8. Hence the 3.7i. It was announced a couple months back and we have just received our demos and stock. As good as the 3.7 is, 3.7i is a notch better. If you have the 3.7, they’ll even mod yours for $500- the first time Magnepan has ever had a mod option. The improvement results in smoother sound with more bass and detail. Every drop is appreciated!