Hi Kevziek; We once clashed on a thread, but I'm over that, and I hope you are too. I like your thread. I've owned or auditioned (in home) all the SF pre-amps you mention. And I presently use the SF Line 2 in my main system, along with a sweet sounding McCormack DNA2DX amp, and the somewhat warm, forgiving Vand. 3Asig. spkrs. (Levinson front end). In my system, the Line 2 is neutral, timbrally accurate, detailed, and holographic, and it's also musical if you like accurate rather than euphonic. I've read the criticisms of the Line series preamps, and none of them have been my experience. I certainly do not find them cold, thin, sterile etc. in my system, but I do agree that it is a matter of system matching and also preferences. Personally, I've decided that I don't care for the "syrupy rich, tubey sound" that characterizes some (especially) older tube equipment, mainly because it sounds to soft to be real to me (I've played guitars, both acoustic and electric for 40 years, and a steel stringed acoustic guitar does not sound soft). In fact I very much agree with the Stereophile review of this pre-amp. IMO, the SFL-2 is the finest sounding pre-amp SF has made, ie it's a bit "richer" than the Line 2, and somewhat more involving, but the one I auditioned had bad transformer hum, and I returned it. Then the Line series came out. The Line 1 sounds much like the Line 2, but it's a little more aggressive, and I use it in a 2nd system. I tried the Line 3, but in my system it was much too forward with a big, bloomy (un-natural) soundstage. The SFL-1 is an excellent older SF hybrid pre-amp with just one tube, and its sound character can easily be changed with just the change of one tube. I used the SFL-1 for several years. A good friend has an older C-J pre-amp that is much more "tubey" sounding, but I prefer the more neutral sound of the Line 2. I haven't heard recent ARC pre-amps, but from what I've read, they are also trending much more towards neutral than their past products. Cheers. Craig.
Sonic Frontiers Preamps - Cold & thin?
In reading reviews on SF preamps, there seem to be two camps: those who think they are among the best tube units out there, & those who think they sound analytical, & thin in the midrange & treble. Would like to hear other's experiences & how they would rate them against AR & CJ. Also, how does the SFL-2 compare to the newer Line models?