Sonic frontiers

Sorry, I meant to say a modified Bruce Moore AUDIO amp. I was thinking back on the MFA amp Moore and Frankland designed together back in the day. Now that's an amp I wish I still had !  I used it with an Audible Illusions Modulus III to drive Thiel speakers ..... Good Times !

I’ve owned a number of Sonic Frontiers components over the years and the surprising negative comments some have submitted compelled me to share my personal experiences with Sonic Frontiers. 

I consistently found Sonic Frontiers to be perhaps the best sounding “Bang for the Buck” brand in home audio in their day.  Not in terms of “Entry Level gear for super cheap”, but in terms of True Audiophile sound for less than crazy insane prices. 

While I’ve never listened to the Power 3, the Power 2 is by far the BEST sounding amp I’ve ever had in my system!   For the record I’ve owned Threshold, Bryston, Audio Research, and BAT amps (among others).  At the time the Power 2 was feeding Von Schweikert VR4-SR Mk II speakers thru a Chris Johnson upgraded Sonic Frontiers Line 2 Signature +. 

I eventually sold the Power 2 because all those tubes heated up my San Antonio home in the summer.  However, I still use the Line 2 preamp in my main system.  I’ve got old stock Amperex PQ and White Globe tubes in it and in terms of sound quality, I’ll put it up against most anything else out there costing 3-times as much.  FYI - it's currently driving a Scott Frankland modified Bruce Moore & Associates D60 amp feeding Return of the Legend MkII speakers.

The great thing about SF today, there is support from Partsconnexion, equipment that is over 30 years old still supported to this day.

Owned Line 3, Processor 3 and Iris CDT in mid 90's, not real tube sound, but very enjoyable.

Test the waters, you have support.

Only issue I had with a SFI preamp were the relays that were used.  They sometimes would get stuck.  Sound, though not tubey, was great.

I forgot to mention I am currently running a Bhk preamp with a Bhk 250 power amp

I have also owned my share of Sonic Frontiers equipment over the years:

SFM 75  Mono Amps

SFM 160 Mono Amps

Power 1 Stereo Amplifier

Line 1 Preamplifier

Line 1 SE Preamp (factory upgrades)

Line 2  SE (Upgraded by Parts Connexion)

I think that the amplifiers were very good. More “solid” than “exciting”.

The preamplifiers were all excellent! They did everything well! An excellent user interface as well as world-class sonics. Definitely had clarity, detail, sparkle, 3-D sense of space. Also that remote was something special. The preamplifiers featured the excellent Head Fi Headphone circuitry.  I purchased some of the equipment right here on Audiogon, some direct from Chris at PCX, And the SFM 160 monos from John R. at Audio Connection.

All of the stuff was built like a tank. They were also beautiful pieces to look at. They had that “cool” factor! I loved the Chrome chassis. The black face plates were attractive and the gold plates were luxurious! The amplifiers featured bias meters or LED bias indicators and were very easy to set the bias.

With Parts Connexion still available I would not hesitate to buy Sonic Frontiers equipment. Chris and the staff at PCX/ACX are terrific and easy to work with! Not only have I had them do upgrades in the past, but I have also purchased new equipment and accessories including cables from them. They are a first class organization!

I've been very happy with my SF Line Stage 2.  Very quiet, solid and well built, good controls, great remote.  No regrets. Parts Connections does service and refurbish if needed which is another huge place.  

I am using the Sonic Frontiers SFL-2 preamp and the Sonic Frontiers Power 2 amp to this day. Both have been upgraded by Parts Connection with wonderful results. I had the preamp upgraded again with Mundorf Silver Gold Oil film caps and Duelund silver foil bypass caps. All other old caps have been changed so both are ready for many more years of service. I can enthusiastically recommend both, just be sure the caps in the amp are replaced.

I have the following Sonic Frontiers equipment:

1. SFCD 1
2. Line 3
3. Line 1
4. Power 2
5. Phone 1

All of them have been upgraded by Chris at Parts Connexion to their full extent or almost full extent. Each one is dead quiet.

Some of this equipment I bought new and some I had bought used over 20 years after their initial release. I only replaced 2 of the units so far:

1. the fully upgraded Line 3 and upgraded to the current Audio Research 6SE (which is slightly more transparent, just as fast but misses out a bit on the musicality of the SF Line 3)
   --- while the AR 6SE does sound absolutely wonderful and does exact more transparency I do miss the musicality of the line 3, was the AR 6SE worth the price? Only because I picked up a barely but gently used one for a fantastic price. Otherwise no, I don't think it was worth the cost to change preamps. Yes, the Line 3 is just that good. 
2. the power 2 stereo amp to 2 Bryston 7B3 (the Bryston's don't give off the tremendous heat of the large tubes of the Power 2, the Bryston's are a bit quicker but loose out in their holographic nature, both have tremendous mid's and bass, both are very quick)
   --- the power 2 does not hum, buzz or sound bad in any way shape or form like others have said. It is a beast that throws an absolutely killer 3D soundstage, with conviction. The only reason I switched it out was because I didn't want to deal with the tubes and their heat any longer. I auditioned the regular suspects to replace it -- Boulder (way over priced for what it is and in a blind test picked the PS Audio BHK amps and the Bryston's 3 out of 3 times as my preferred sound), Parasound (okay), PS Audio BHK, etc., but found the Bryton's to be almost indistinguishable from their competition, better built and running cooler. (this is specifically the cubed series though I would not have bought the older equipment as I don't think it was as good sounding... the cubed series is a leap beyond their older generational equipment)

The SFCD 1 and the Phone 1 are still operational in my main system and sound amazing... the Line 1 is in a secondary system and sounds as musical as ever.

Hope this helps.

I had that sonic frontier equipment  about 15 years ago along with the rather unique top loading cd player. I used quad 929 speakers with a subwoofer. I really liked the sound but the amps had a bit of hum. All in all I would not buy them today. . 

I think they will be over priced as is often the case with Power 3 .   I think you could do better for that kind of money with newer equipment .   Its pushing 30 years old 

I bought a used SF Power 2 amp several years ago. It was the second worst sounding amp I’ve ever owned. I so wanted it to work, but it was gone in a couple of weeks.

That said, I also owned an SFD2 dac and that piece was very nice.

I have a Sonic Frontiers SFS40 power amp that I use with a Conrad Johnson PV5 in a secondary system. The SF amp produces an excellent soundstage with lots of low level detail and air around classical and jazz music. Perhaps those complaining about the Sonic Frontier amplifiers had some type of problem which can happen to any gear?

If anyone found a Sonic frontier muffled sounding there was something wrong with a tube most likely or the amp it self. The sonic frontier amps and preamps were very good at tonal balance and resolution. Perhaps a tad slow huge sound stage. Don't be afraid to upgrade the tubes in the cd seperates they se to like the reflector 6922 equivalent. That is worth an ask to Chris Johnson stock they used sovtecs mainly tonal balanced always seemed good to me but many other choices I prefer. I have dealt with audio connection/ parts connection for a number of years that is a straight up kind of place very professional and things have always happened the way they said they would. The fact that it is a little older wouldn't bother me in the least well built and has more life left in it than a bunch of new stuff being sold today. That pair you should be able to buy for about 10000 Canadian or 7500 USD. In fact there are ads on Canuck audio Mart for each piece at the moment. Two different sellers one with the pre the other with the amps. The power three amp has boats loads of power it will be hard to find a speaker that those monoblocks cannot drive. I have the DAC and transport three as well as a anthem six disc changer. The DAC and transport three are at the pinnacle of redbook cd players. One of the five best ever made. Enjoy your purchase I am sure you will. I hope you understand to hear that power pre at it best you are going to need top tier everything else to go with it including wire. 

Regards

I recently had my SFL-1 and SFD processor upgraded by The Parts Connexion. They run a very efficient upgrade process. You can speak with their staff about what you want done and how much you want to spend. They help with the shipping and paperwork to get your stuff to Ontario, Canada and back.

Highly recommended.

I have had the Sonic Frontiers SFS-80 amp then upgraded to the Power-2 and Line-2.  Purchased new long ago and still going strong in my 2nd system.  I turned to SET amps and horns a few years ago in my main.  As someone mentioned Chris is still in the audio world running Parts-Xpress and I understand that he does repairs and upgrades though my setup has been perfect for the last 26ish years.  Buy with confidence as the SF stuff was always known as being built like a truck.

. SFI /ANTHEM /ASSEMBLAGE Products                                 Top of Page

Given our intimate knowledge of these product lines, pcX is proud to make available state-of-the-art updates and modifications to these classic SFI, ANTHEM and ASSMEBLAGE products. These go well beyond the Signature, Special Edition or Platinum Series updates originally offered by SFI and TPC (all of which were originally defined, specified and voiced by acX/pcX’s president, Chris Johnson) we call them our SE+ upgrades. We now have a palate of parts available to us, that SFI did not... thus, we can achieve more with each mod. Moreover, as we don't sell these mods through dealers, they are generally 1/3 to 1/2 below the cost SFI previously charged.

We have pre-defined mod prices on most every SFI, ANTHEM and ASSEMBLAGE piece, but can customize those substantially, according to your sonic tastes and budget. Moreover, we can perform a substantial (but not all I'm afraid) amount of repair work on this gear too... our repair rates are a very reasonable $74.95 USD / $89.95 CAD per hour.

The work is performed by previous SFI technical and design staff -- either Glen Dolick or Vince Siu.

I bought a used SF tube power amp.  I believe it was an Amp3. Very bassy and muffled sounding.  How in the world did Stereophile give it such a good review?  We’re they deaf?

I always had the feeling that their Line preamps were better value soundwise compared to their accompanying power amps.

Still have my Line 2 (modified), and sold my Power 2 easily.

Parts Connexion upgrades are worthwhile improvements.

Some of the worst sounding tube amps I have ever heard. Know less about the preamps, but would avoid the amps. Not to upset anyone but you asked.

Chris Johnson is still in business. You might contact him for possible upgrades

Back in the day Sonic Frontiers made some very good and affordable gear , too bad they decided to get into home theater (Anthem) and discontinue their stereo line. I had a Line 1 and 3 preamps and both were excellent for the money. Their puck shaped remote is my all time favorite. I believe upgrades are still available for the amps and preamps. 

Does it have an external power supply?

Great stuff, but 25 years old.   I have their entry level pre the SFL-1 and its great but I bought it as a spare for $500.   

Those items were Sonic Frontiers best and rarest models,  that said I am guessing the seller wants big $$$