sonicfrontiers pre-amps reliable or not?

I can't speak to the reliability of the newest stuff, but I owned and SFL-1 which I purchased used for over three years and it performed flawlessly. And, believe you me, it got A LOT of use. My wife stays at home and would often leave music on ALL day long. It probably averaged over 5 hours of daily use. Maybe 6000 hours of use during my time with the piece.

I bought a used SFL-3 and never had any problems with reliability.

I have had an Sonic Fronteers Antheum AVM-2 for about a year. It has performed flawlesly.

Line 3 works fabulously, sounds even better. 3 years now and lots of hours! reliable...good luck in your decision

I seem to recall from earlier posts that they have had some problems with one of the chips that controls the Line series preamps. I don't think that it was very common. I have been using a Line 1 for about a year and am very happy with it sonicly and have had no reliability problems.

dbear, apparently the initial run of line series had a volume control problem that drove the volume not down, but up to failure. the version i have is corrected...i suggest an email to SF to clarify the fix if there is concern...as stated earlier mine works and sounds wonderfully.

I have had Line One for over three years with no probs. SF builds with premium brand name parts which adds to reliablility.

Has anyone compared the SF pres to the ARC´s? I have auditioned the ARC LS16 but so far I have not had the chance to listen to the SF gear. I have a McCormack DNA-1 dlx/ Maggie 3.6 combo. Your input would be greatly appreciated.

sfl-1 for 8 years. no problems

I've been using a Line 3 for about a year. I did have problems with it, but there were due specifically due to the presence of the PS Audio 300 power plant in my system (sometimes there was a significant hum from the Line power supply and it blew a fuse in my Line power supply once). When I got SF on the phone it was the first question they asked me - 'got a PS 300?'. Apparently this is a common problem. However, I blame PS Audio and not SF. Without the powerplant, it performs flawlessly. I'm very happy with the Line 3. Also, their tech support was eager to help - great support. I sent them an e-mail and their technition phoned me five minutes later to help out. One thing I'd mention, if you're looking for a balanced preamp, you may want to check out BAT as well. Best of luck.
John.