Rogers Cadet III

[dantheman91]

Hello Lads

Been offered one of these but strictly for restoration :) What are they like and are they worth getting as a first step into valves :). Interesting the price is cheapish just not sure as when plugged in the owner said it blew a fuse so i don't know if i should take a risk as it maybe something simple but their again it could be a money pit

Advice needed. :)

Thanks
Dan

[spendorman]

Fantastic sound with efficient speakers, weak point are the output transformers that can, and do fail.

[Jonboy]

Fantastic sound with efficient speakers, weak point are the output transformers that can, and do fail.

i'll second that, would sound very nice on your AN speakers, great value for money or sound per pound.... i have owned cadet 2 and 3 ( cadet 2's are slightly better ) can help with servicing and testing if required,

[spendorman]

HG88 is a nice amp too, all Mk's, bit more power than the Cadet

[The Barbarian]

I have a Cadet III Power amp. With duff Output Transformers.. these amps have a certain mystique in the way that what ever replacement you fit they never sound the same.

:rolleyes:

[The Barbarian]

HG88 is a nice amp too, all Mk's, bit more power than the Cadet

Yeh i much prefer the 'HG-88,Mk.III'

[spendorman]

I have a Cadet III Power amp. With duff Output Transformers.. these amps have a certain mystique in the way that what ever replacement you fit they never sound the same.

:rolleyes:

Yes, that is what I found so far. I have one such Cadet here, one original transformer, one so called: "replacement transformer". New transformer channel is inferior.

[The Barbarian]

It's not just me then Alex..

[DSJR]

The Cadet III may have a 'fantastic sound,' but be warned - High Fidelity in the proper sense it certainly ain't :lol: Warm, lush toned, soft treble and incredibly beguiling, I don't know if a restored one could cope with modern wide-range recordings in all honesty. A lovely thing to own though :)

I changed my Cadet III for an HG88 III. Sadly, it was on its way home and, back in '76, nobody wanted to bother putting it right :( I ended up with a 22/II combo and later, a Radford 25 with preamp, which was the best of the lot (I'd love to hear a restored 25 with modern preamp).

[spendorman]

It's not just me then Alex..

I bought the replacement transformer from G W Smith in the late 70's, it was specified for the Cadet III, even swapped it on to the other channel, then that side sounded bad, and the other side was OK, so that proved that it was the new transformer that was not up to it.

[spendorman]

The Cadet III may have a 'fantastic sound,' but be warned - High Fidelity in the proper sense it certainly ain't :lol: Warm, lush toned, soft treble and incredibly beguiling, I don't know if a restored one could cope with modern wide-range recordings in all honesty. A lovely thing to own though :)

I changed my Cadet III for an HG88 III. Sadly, it was on its way home and, back in '76, nobody wanted to bother putting it right :( I ended up with a 22/II combo and later, a Radford 25 with preamp, which was the best of the lot (I'd love to hear a restored 25 with modern preamp).

I agree with most of this, but "soft treble", not really. The treble is good, fairly extended, and not gritty like some poor transistor amps.

I recently set up my Radford STA25 III with Rogers LS3/6's (well almost, as the original bass units have been replaced with Dalesford units, the rebuild is described on the Yahoo Spendor Group), and the sound is something special. Several Hi Fi and musician friends love the sound. The rebuilt LS3/6 sounds better than Spendor BC1's in good condition. I had these in the same room and all preferred the LS3/6's