Any Thoughts on the Sonic Frontiers power 1?

"I owned the Power 2....briefly". Me to. Mine had every upgrade available. Sold it as fast as I could. Tried it in five different friends systems. It had a very big sound and lots of muscle but overall the tone was not there for me. I did use some gold interconnects to get the mid-range and high frequencies to sound a little better but overall I could not wait to sell that boat anchor. It came with the winged C tubes and I did not try any others. My updated/modified Counterpoint NP-220 walked all over it in every way but the brute strength of it. Should have purchased the BAT Vk-75 instead of the Power 2. Some options for you would be the Golden Tube Audio tube amp versus the SF-1. I has a very musical sound and sells around $400 or look at the used Counterpoint for sale here on Agon (not mine or anyone I know) NP100 with the basic upgrade asking $875 obo. That would be a great amp and you can upgrade it from there for fantastic results.

Jtinn, the importer of many fine audio gears, also like SF Power 2/3 over ARC VT-100/200 of the same era. SF gear is more transparent and extended, they are not too romantic sounding with stock tubes when compared to other usual suspects like ARC, VTL, Cary, or CJ.

ARC also belongs to extended and neutral camp, but it casts an unique tone on top that some likes and some don't. I don't, I did not care for any of their pre amp since LS25 to Ref 3, neither did I care for their power amp from VT-100 Mk 3 to current Ref 300 Mk 2.

On the other hand, I found SF gears sounding silky, extended, and enjoyable in my very high end system. I would not hesistate recommending SF Line 2/3 or Power 2/3 especially at current used price. you will need to spend a lot more to better them.

Hello,
I've have several Counterpoint amps and preamps over the past 20 years. More tubey sounding than SF amps for sure. I also had a AMC CVT2030 EL-34 tube amp that sounded nice considering is was so inexpensive. I currently have a SF Power 2 amp running Winged C KT-88s. It has good dynamics, details, and bass as I've never had before. But as others noted it does not have the silky mids associated with other tube amps. Still overall I'm happy with it. I think careful matching on the preamp and speakers helps. The person that sold me the Power 2 amp stated he did not like the overall sound when using the SF Line 3 preamp. I'm purchasing a VTL 2.5 preamp this weekend so it will be interesting to hear this combination. Good luck.

Pdspecl - the Counterpoint that I am talking about is not the same amp that you had or heard 20 years ago. The new design is a complete change from that amp topology. The newer amps have a warmer sound then the SF but way better top to bottom sound overall. The new versions use 6SN7 tubes - one per channel versus the 6DJ8/6922 tubes.

Thanks to all for your responses. Informative and some good reading. It sounds like the Power 1 is what I am looking for, I have had 300Bs SE and el84 PP and those amps quite didnt do it for me and some of the music I like listening too. Although I still have my Jolida FX10 and probably be keeping that for a while I am looking for some muscle and speed and it sounds like the Sonic Frontiers delivers. Plus the price tag is only $900 in mint condition, a bargain.