Parasound, Sonic Frontiers, and 1.2TL's?

BuckeyeTim

I am looking at an upgrade. Actually an upgrade to almost everything. What do you all think of a Sonic Frontiers Line 3 pre mated with a Parasound HCA 2200 amp driving a pair of 1.2TL's? And other stuff.


Tim

Dawgfish

That sounds like a nice set-up. Try it!

BuckeyeTim

Ok, I guess I will keep what I have and go back to my corner.

snow

BuckeyeTim wrote: »

I am looking at an upgrade. Actually an upgrade to almost everything. What do you all think of a Sonic Frontiers Line 3 pre mated with a Parasound HCA 2200 amp driving a pair of 1.2TL's? And other stuff.


Tim

Well it should sound very nice, Sonic Frontiers makes some very nice gear the line 3 is a 5k tube pre The Parasound amp is a solid choice and of course the 1.2TL's are great speakers. I cant think of a better idea than a tube pre with a solid state amp and the 1.2TL's



REGARDS SNOW

Dawgfish

Ditto what Snow said. I'm running an Anthem Pre-1L tube amp made by Sonic Frontiers with an Anthem Amp-2 Soilid State/Hybrid amp pushing some SDA-1Cs and I couldn't be happier with the set-up. The Sonic Frontiers Preamp you are looking at is a couple of wrungs up the ladder from my Pre-1L. It should sound fantastic!

Before my current amp, I was running a B&K ST-202+ solid state amp with the PRE-1L and it sounded great also. I think the B&K is slightly warmer sounding than the Parasound you are looking at, but not by a large margin. The Parasound Amp + Sonic Frontiers Pre+ 1.2TLS you are looking at should be a great combo and will be an upgrade from your current set-up (which is a very nice set-up also BTW). Make sure you run some good ICs and speaker cables with it and you'll be in audio heaven!

dcmartinpc

I can't comment on the Pre, but parasound makes VERY nice SS amps... If you are looking at the 2200, just make sure it is the HCA-2200 II. The second version is something special! The first revision wasn't really all that great. I own one personally and it sounds great with SDA's... With the 1.2TL's, you might want to entertain a HCA-3500 depending on the size of your listening space...

Don

BuckeyeTim

Thanks for the input.
I am still waffling back and forth on whether to take the plunge or not. The amp, pre, and speakers are the only things of real value in the setup available. The rest of the stuff isn't worth more than a couple hundred combined judging by audiogon/ebay/etc... sales (carver tuner, nakamichi cd, and phillips cd changer).

I see lots of good reviews on the SF pre. This one still has the original tubes and seeing as there are 12 of them....might not be cheap to re-tube with good tubes. I do not think that the amp is the mkII version but would check at demo time. The speakers are untouched(no mods or changes) and come with original boxes and everything. It also comes with MIT and Kimber cables although I do not know which models.

What do you guys think would be a realistic price for the combo? I am thinking about $3200 would be top dollar and maybe $2500 would be a fairly decent deal. I just don't want to let my upgrade emotions get the best of me and allow me to make a bad deal.

It's like Crack, "The **** be callin' me!"

Tim

doctor r

SF pre 3 is listing on Agon for $2300 and the amp for $600 to $700. If you can deal for $2500 that would be a great deal for the set and speakers. The main 10 tubes (6922s) in the SF pre3 would run from a low of $20/ea to the moon depending on if you search out NOS tubes or modern production. It could be difficult to find 10 matched in anything except new production. Golden Lion is producing some as well as some other modern producers. I do not know the availability of the 6U8A tubes (remaining 2)
If you want to look at this level of preamp (as far as investment) there are many on Agon that would be worth investigating. Specifically the Hovland HP-100, Joule la-150, and the VAC Standard LE (which I am biased toward since I own one.) This level of tube preamp will change your entire system in a way that can be hard to realize possible. (The VAC presently listed also has a MM and MC phono section that can compete with any).

Just my 0.02 worth.

This is a large investment and if you can get this package for a reasonable price go for it.

snow

BuckeyeTim wrote: »

Thanks for the input.
I am still waffling back and forth on whether to take the plunge or not. The amp, pre, and speakers are the only things of real value in the setup available. The rest of the stuff isn't worth more than a couple hundred combined judging by audiogon/ebay/etc... sales (carver tuner, nakamichi cd, and phillips cd changer).

I see lots of good reviews on the SF pre. This one still has the original tubes and seeing as there are 12 of them....might not be cheap to re-tube with good tubes. I do not think that the amp is the mkII version but would check at demo time. The speakers are untouched(no mods or changes) and come with original boxes and everything. It also comes with MIT and Kimber cables although I do not know which models.

What do you guys think would be a realistic price for the combo? I am thinking about $3200 would be top dollar and maybe $2500 would be a fairly decent deal. I just don't want to let my upgrade emotions get the best of me and allow me to make a bad deal.

It's like Crack, "The **** be callin' me!"

Tim

Considering the 1.2tl's should be an easy $1500.00 value if in decent condition, the amp at least $500.00 getting the pre for $500.00 more would be a steal not a deal $3500.00 total would be a good deal if he was to break these up he should be able to get 4k plus pretty easy.

Just my 2 cents



REGARDS SNOW