Spent a little time listening to the Rogue Audio Sphinx and the Yamaha A-S801. I’ve had the Yammy for more than a year now and really enjoy it. But while in Japan I read a number of great review for the Sphinx and got very curious about the hybrid solid state/12au7 tube pairing. So bought a used Sphinx with some RCA clear tops and been trying it out, listening to one side of music on one amp and then re-listening to the same side on the other.
Misc.: Rogue has a considerably smaller footprint than the Yamaha but weighs about the same. Very hefty. The Rogue remote is really weak - if I were going to order one new I would more than likely skip it as an add-on, as it costs an extra $100 but only controls volume. The Yamaha’s remote is frankly a work of art as far as amp remotes go - solid, has all the functions you could want and buttons are well laid out. Also, Dear New Audio Manufacturers - Please Stop Blinding Your Customers With Blue LCD Lights. I put a small bit of electrical tape over the Rogue’s blue light to keep it from piercing my eyes and distracting from the music. Luckily with the amp’s black face plate the tape blends right in.
Overall Sound - very, very close in quality if still discernable in characteristics. I think these two amps both sound great and a final decision would just come down to which characteristics below the listener prefers. It is not a case of one being clearly better than the other.
Yamaha is very neutral, very lean. Doesn’t sound like anything is getting in the way of the music at all. Nothing added, and the music has no audio border that I can tell - as in, it doesn't seem to sound rolled off. The Yamaha has a very neutral sound that can be a little dry for some folks at times. But it also supplies an air to the music that can be a taste that, once acquired, is hard to move away from. Other amps can occasionally sound soggy or “boxed in” in comparison.
The Sphinx adds a relatively slight bit of warmth - not enough to be mistaken for a full-on tube amp, to be sure, but definitely puts a little more meat on the bones than the Yamaha. The bass reaches down further and is presented a little more forward in the mix than with the Yamaha. But the Sphinx still keeps the top end nearly - but not quite - as airy as the Yamaha does, which is nice. In all the added meat on the bones provides more dynamism than the Yamaha, gives the music a little more drive. There is still a very, very slight “boxed in” feel to the sound compared to the Yamaha. Just reminds me how much the Yammies really get out of the way of the music.
Inputs - Sphinx built-in phono stage has an edge over the Yamaha. It's definitely “good enough” to use on its own for most folks. My Parks Audio Budgie beats it out some, but the Budgie is also an extra four hundred bucks. Of course, the Yamaha A-S801 has that wonderful built-in DAC, something the Sphinx lacks completely. So basically, a listener building a new system has to figure out whether they’d prefer a serviceable phono stage but a great DAC (Yamaha) or a pretty darn good phono stage but no DAC whatsoever (Sphinx).
Ugh. This is going to be a tough decision on which one to keep. Frankly I preferred whichever amp I was listening to at the time. The only reason I might decide against the Sphinx is that keeping it would force me to get a DAC. While not the end of the world, it would be another box on the audio table that already has the Budgie, and SUT and a mono switch box on it already.