What so special about Sonic Frontiers ?


I have been having rather perplexing experience.
I am on my second Sonic Frontier Power 1 amp and it is the only amp in my system that sounds absolutely quiet and powers up very clean.
I also have had some other amps; tube and solid - and they all would exhibit some "issues" that seemed related to power source. Some units would generate pop when powering up, some would generate hiss and some others this deep humming sound like power lines.
SF Power 1 is the only amp that never gave me any of those symptoms.
Is there something unique in the construction of those amps?
Is it that my power line is really bad but other amps are much more susceptible, while SF 1 is just “resistant” to power related issues?
I never tried plugging power conditioner and always run the amps directly from an outlet.
I am looking to upgrade soon but worry that anything I try will again either hum with white noise or pop every time I turn it on.
ether

Showing 1 response by soniqmike

It is well-known that SF gear used very good parts quality and build was excellent. However, I personally had some issues with their Line 1 preamp and on one occasion, with a Power 2 amplifier.

Overall though, there is much to like about SF gear, I would own it again in an instant although more recent gear sound more transparent and resolving in my opinion. I recently compared an Ayon Orion integrated to a Line 2 - Power 2 SF combo - The SF had it on power, but everything else sounded much more refined on the Orion.