Rogue Sphinx Magnum, $2000 (With Metal Remote)

(5h, 17w, 15.5d 100×2 With Tubes in Preamp Stage, Black or Silver)

Rogue Audio has just spruced up one of the best integrated amps on the market, the venerable Sphinx v3.

The new version has a myriad of upgrades and has been dubbed the Sphinx Magnum, a term Rogue has used for years to denote an extra level of TLC. For them to offer this at such an attainable price point… hats off gentlemen!

Rogue is built in Pennsylvania and has always delivered a more luminous message than its Chinese competition. While the imports are building in Bluetooth and DACs, Rogue has stayed the purist route and allocated its resources, which include a pair of tubes, to give you more limpid sound. By not spending money on DACs that could become obsolete, or Bluetooth that imbues noise, Rogue spends more on improved caps, diodes, resistors and tubes.

You can always buy these other features a la carte at whatever level your interest is, from modest to crazy.

Rogue’s Sphinx V3 has been a stalwart at its price point for several years. In fact, v3 is still something you can order for $1700 (with plastic Skeleton remote). But for just $2k, live a little and get the Sphinx Magnum instead, which comes with Rogue’s much more hearty metal remote.

What you’re getting for $2k is more than just a better built remote. There are circuit upgrades and improved parts in Sphinx Magnum. These upgrades provide a sonic advantage that you’ll hear in more impactful bass and superior resolution.

Nuts & Bolts

*Improved linear power supply that features high speed diodes, larger output coupling caps of higher storage capacity.

*PRP resistors in the tube preamp stage and phono stage.

*Cardas binding posts for speaker connections

*JJ Gold Pin tubes from the Slovak Republic, which are warmer sounding and more open on top than

the JJ non gold pins used in v3.

Sphinx Magnum

What makes this guy SPECIAL is its handling of the vocal (human voice & acoustic instruments) region. Its competitors are virtually all feature laden imports with switching power supplies and a stack of chips. They sound like a cloudy day instead of glistening with sunshine.

Rogue delivers a more pellucid, LESS CONGESTED midrange aura to your music. I appreciate it most with all the female singers I love. I appreciate their great phrasing, with a lilt tossed in here and there, to deliver affection to the song that isn’t even on the written page. You hear the airy, breathy quality of the recording that you just can’t get with a flimsy power supply and a stack of chips doing the work.

Sphinx Magnum is a magnifico sounding integrated amp! Please buy Sphinx Magnum instead of yet another Chinese import made by a job house with a bag of generic parts.