I decided to plunge all my resources in what it seems like a audio crusade last year. SF gear is great, but it can be the best with the right tubes. i urge you, if you have or are considering ANY sf gear, SWAP THE TUBES! i've done the same thing in my SFCD-1 cd player, same results. it's sweet, musical, natural and absolutly stunning. for ~$400, this has become a completely different amp. this is the single most sonically meaningful change i have ever made to my system. On the advise of Kevin at Upscale as well as the folks at SF, i upgraded to KT-88's. Wonderful, but not sounding too much like a tube amp. with the Svetlana 6550's, it's just that. SF gear has a reputation of being very linear but somewhat dry sounding. virtually the perfect amp.save one thing. it is extended, has plenty of air, glorious midrange, and tight, deep bass response. i've listened to quite a few amps, and this one has absolutly locked in for my system. Obviously, Sonic Frontiers is well regarded. Don't forget you also have those accessories like gloves, Perl tube coolers, screw drivers etc. Compare to my CJ, Power 2 does sound little flat, not too much music excitement, but nonetheless, it worth every penny of the $5000 retail price. I never felt it fall short to most of the tube power amp I owned before like Cary, Audio Research, McIntosh. Also a lot of feature like standy mode to extend tube life and RCA input(offers both inverted and non-inverted polarity) enhance the versatility of the amp. It pushes 110 w tube power per channel, enough for most of the speaker you care to match with it. I have used Power 2 with several pre amp including Levinson and Audible Illusion M3A, I realize Power 2 sounds little better(more dynamic) with balanced input connection. User friendly, high built quality, and reliability are another factors that make it quite a bargain. The SF Power 2 is a vey neutral sounding tube amp, it does not have the typical tube coloration, the bass is very good for tube amp, certainly not in the same league as Krell. Sure they have more air and also musical mid-range, but you would dump this in NO TIME if you hear the EL84 or 300B based amps in the same price range. If I want tube sound, I won't buy the Power 2/Power 3 neither. If I am into the SS sound, I won't buy the Power 2/Power 3 because they sound slower, and does not have the precision nor vast soundstage that say Krell or Mark Levinson could give me in the same price range. Well they are tube hybrids, but what do that mean to *you*? Not reliability-wise this is almost exact opposite of the Line preamps (which I owned, and hated, due to very bad reliability).īut an forewarning too: The SF Power 2 and Power 3 - imho - does not sound like tubes nor solid state. In retrospect, I think the Stereophile reviews are a sham (those people who owned SF Line series and the Triangle Speakers would know what I meant).Īnyway, not much to add about the sound. So I got this in the desperate hope of having great sound. When I was an invoice, I suckered by the Stereophile Recommended Components virus.
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