Replacing Sonic Frontiers Line 3 SE

Jim, the Siemens came with my Line 3 SE from SF, they have falcon logo which should be decent. I have tried a few others in addition to what I mentioned, but none made enough of a difference so I never thought of trying the Telefunken especially the stiff price.

One question is Line 3 SE has a pair of 6GH8A that were never replaced since new. Not sure if an aged 6GH8A will dull the sound and what will be a good source for NOS 6GH8A.

Sutts, do you have a SE or SE+ and have you compared the two? How does it compare to other pre's?

I wish I can go out and buy a BAT 51SE to try while keeping the Line 3 SE, but that's a serious commitment on cash flow.

Tried Siemen, Tungsram, Valvo, Sovtek 6H23, etc.

John, a guy compared BAT 51SE to Line 3SE and preferred the Line 3SE. I know that's one person's opinion, but he did compare both at home extensively. Also, many thought BAT sounded on the dark side?

Keis, I have heard similar feedbacks on BAT VK51SE and Aesthetic.

Since I posted this thread, I ordered some 6GH8 to replaced my worn pair. I experimented with different 6922 and made no significant difference in dynamic, but putting in a pair NOS Zenith 6GH8 and dynamic jumped back to life. Bass, micro dynamic, and detail all improved with the new tubes, wondering what other NOS 6GH8 I should experiment with.

But right after the tube change my Line 3 SE developed the famous volume control failure. According to SFI, it's the simple optical encoder that failed and should be easy to replace. Has anyone done this himself?

Ayre, that's a big surprise. I know V-1X is great, but never would have thought K-1X can beat a world class tube pre.

Another pre I am considering is Nagra, but that has no XLR in/out.