Solid State Power Amp Reviews

Standby
Following the user manual's order of power-on operations, I turned on my sources, my preamp, and then both DragoNs. Following a warm-up period, I heard two loud "pops" from the loudspeakers. It was not subtle. Since there didn't seem to be any other issue while streaming the local classical station during the roof work, I left them alone. After the first night, I powered down like normal. The next morning, I followed the same startup procedure and heard two more pops, one from each speaker. It happened again on the third morning. I did what people do these days: I made a video. I emailed Fitzsimmons, asking about the pops.

"When you press the front power switch on the DragoN monoblocks, that turns on the high voltage to the tubes. During the warm up process, the output of the amplifier is muted with a relay. When the yellow light turns off, the relay has unmuted the audio circuit, so what you are hearing is the switching of a relay inside the amps, which is normal," he assured me. Why this would result in a surge of power to the loudspeaker with no music playing wasn't clear.

The DragoNs were otherwise as silent as when they were not powered on, and since there was no issue with the sound of the music, I simply left them powered on for the remainder of the review period. I recommend you do the same: It may have an effect on tube life, but these are not power tubes, so the lifetime should still be long.

To the credit of class-D and satisfactory heat dissipation, the chassis never got warm to the touch.

May all the blooms unfold before you
Long winter nights put me in the mood for Type O Negative. The sophomoric, pop-goth metallers from Brooklyn disbanded in April 2010 after bassist/lead singer Peter Steele's death. More prankster than poet, the late broodster has since attained a kind of Jim Morrison, cult-like status, in metal circles and beyond (footnote 5). The band's seven albums over 16 years are well-remembered, even beyond the metal scene. The band is best known for the albums Bloody Kisses from 1993 and October Rust from 1996 (16/44.1 FLAC, Roadrunner Records/Tidal); the former album's radio singles easily cross over into rock.

On "Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)," from Bloody Kisses (16/44.1 FLAC, Roadrunner Records/Tidal), a sanitized, chuggy guitar cut through my space in clear lines, backed by thunderous drums. The synth was airy and light, traversing the space between the centered, buzzy guitars and forceful drum thwacks. Steele's baritone clicks and his tongue spittle's pleading wails faded to a steamy whisper. The presentation was thicker and lusher than I'd previously heard, forcefully forward and evocative.

With October Rust, the band matured in sound and demeanor; for me, this album, when it's well-reproduced, is the audio equivalent of being comfortably smothered by a heavy blanket. The DragoNs excelled. "Love You to Death" and "Too Late: Frozen" had an impact in the lower octaves that I'd previously missed. The midbass unfolded in almost a sugar rush.

I continued with Marrow of the Spirit by Agalloch (16/44.1 FLAC, Dämmerung Arts/Tidal), a folky black-metal band from the Pacific Northwest. The album opens with the sound of birds and a running stream. A cello enters. The DragoNs helped create an enveloping ambiance that served well the stark transition into track 2, "Into the Painted Grey," with its tribal drums and earworm lead guitar solo that shatters the stream scene's serenity.

That gave way to doomy sludge guitars and Gollum-like vocals, revealing these amplifiers' tube-infused Mordor. With the DragoNs, I was, for the first time, able to discern the lyrics. I'm laughing.

Next, I put on a record: Pretty Hate Machine, the 1989 debut of Nine Inch Nails (LP, TVT Records TVT 2610). I heard a wide soundstage with instrument separation I had never heard before on this album. On "Sin," Trent Reznor's vocals were forward and saturated. On "Sanctified," the DragoNs conveyed the cracking, breaking, pleading voice of a young man learning to cope with the emotional pain of his adolescent experience. Vocals carry much of this album's emotion, and the DragoN monoblocks delivered it all: the ferocity and grit, and the wallowing that backs it. Musically, the album's midbass sounded quicker and better defined than with my reference amplifier, with greater impact.

Side A of Alice In Chains's Unplugged presents vocalist Layne Staley at his pensive best. His vocal shone despairingly on the opener, "Nutshell"; this was the last time he sang this song with the band. The side A closer, "Sludge Factory," came across so hauntingly heavy, so syrupy-intense, that if it weren't for the video, I'd suspect guitarist Jerry Cantrell of using a brick to bludgeon his guitar. The vocals and instruments were meatier than I'm used to, in a darkly satisfying way.

Portishead's self-titled album, from 1997 (LP, Go! Beat 539-189-1), has a tubey feel, like it ought to be played on a tubed amplifier. But, as I learned from the DragoNs, it apparently benefits from solid state power, to convey its physical intensity and noir'ish passion—that is to say, a hybrid amplifier is ideal. While listening to "Only You," I wrote in my notes, "The atmospheric texture of the horns, in front of the electronic trip-hop beats, signal the opening of the gates of hell. It's big. The effect is dark in style and tone." This track subtly conveyed the hybrid amps' combination of new and old tech as a union of power and persuasion.

Highest floor
The very online community of younger hi-fi buffs that I'm a part of has shown me that people like me (even those who don't like the music I like) are graduating in ever-greater numbers from the vintage/secondhand market where we started out. Few brands are as well-positioned as Rogue to meet them halfway or on their own turf. Rogue's tube-based and hybrid products are designed and built in America. They come in attractive, distinctive boxes and deliver the high-end experience for less than the price of a 20-year-old Honda.

Speaking of Hondas: Long ago, when I was an automotive journalist, my small team was told not to not think about a vehicle in terms of whether we liked it or whether one was better or worse than another. The foremost questions we were told to consider were: Does the product achieve its intended purpose?

The Rogue Audio DragoN monoblocks unveiled new takes on my favorite noise. The class-D power and dynamics spoke to the younger me, who craves those overwhelming sensations that result, above all, from loudness, and the today me who appreciates the DragoNs' excellence at bringing less dynamic music to life at lower volumes, offering me considerable pleasure within the constraints of everyday real life.

There's much to love here.

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Footnote 5: Steele posed nude for Playgirl, toured daytime talk shows including Ricki Lake and Howard Stern, and for a while maintained a minor career in Hollywood, as writer, actor, and composer.