[mulveling]

I got an RP-9 as well - actually I think the 1st one by serial #. It's definitely benefited from the first 100 hours burn-in. I've been a bit lackadaisical with the listening and burn-in of this unit, because I already have an ARC Reference 6 fully burned in (around 2,000 hours) that is wonderful. However I've loved Rogue gear for a long time - including their past Hera II preamp, and currently Apollo Dark monoblocks - so I wanted to give their new flagship preamp a chance.

My system is a torture test for preamp noise-floor, with high-power & high-gain Apollo Dark monos and 96 dB/Watt Tannoy Canterbury GR - the ARC is a clear winner here - absolutely dead quiet at any distance from the speakers. VERY impressive! The RP-9, as the Hera II, yields some audible tube rush noise from my seating. It's generally obscured by vinyl groove noise (this is a vinyl-only system), but it's there. I felt the noise floor was much worse before burn-in, but then I'm not sure how burn-in could affect it. Whatever the cause, fortunately it's not a deal breaker anymore, and it now seems a bit quieter than my memory of the Hera II. More importantly, the RP-9 does not act like an antenna for exciting tube microphony - that was a big issue with the Hera II!

The RP-9's soundstage is excellent; I feel roughly on par with the REF6. The detail retrieval is truly excellent; in fact in certain ways I feel details leap out of the speakers a bit MORE than the REF6. Bass in particular is a bit cleaner and punchier than the REF6, with a little more impact too. The overall clarity is stunning, and very impressive. I have to say these aspects have now developed to a level where I'm getting a little addicted to re-listening to my vinyl library with the RP-9.

The RP-9's midrange is very good, but a touch drier and missing the slight kiss of warmth of the very natural sounding REF6. On the other end of the spectrum, I've borrowed a VAC Renaissance V which takes its midrange fully into "romantic" warmth territory, which is simply amazingly beautiful for some music - but this degree & flavor of romanticism worked to the detriment of hard rock and heavy metal music, which I listen to frequently (an aberration fortunately NOT replicated by VAC's phenomenal phono stages, which is why I happily own the Renaissance SE phono). Both the RP-9 and REF6 (and the VAC phono) can rock the hell out!

The RP-9's treble is also very good, but with just a touch more treble energy than I'd like for my current system balance - keep in mind though, my system has been voiced around the REF6 for 1.5 years, and I've grappled with an excess of treble energy on and off through this time. So I do prefer the REF6 in this aspect. The Renaissance V was even a bit more relaxed up top, and even more to my liking here (but the lack of rock-ability was a deal-breaker). If anything kicks me back to the REF6, it will be this. But who knows, maybe a NOS RCA or Mullard tube sub in the phono can kick things back to level with the RP-9?

I don't have any strong external motivation - financial or otherwise - to choose one preamp or the other (that includes the Renaissance V). I simply want to choose the best pre for my listening enjoyment given my system and listening habits, up to 15K MSRP. Hopefully I can narrow back down to one preamp in the next couple months. The REF6 has been a proven winner in its 1.5 years here, and I can't discount that.