Sonic Frontiers- Quality and Reliability?

A close friend of mine and fellow Audiogoner had Power 3's for nearly four years that he subjected to heavy use -- he never had to replace a single tube (not even an output tube) or had to have it serviced.

I am also a SF Line 3 owner with 4 years of exceptional performance and completely reliable service. It's a tremendous pre and was a tremendous value when new... at the going used 'gon prices they are a steal for what you're getting. Top quality, ultra refinement, incredible flexibility and superb sound. I'm told there's more difference between the 2 and 3 than there is between the 1 and 2 but I've never made the comparisons personally. I will attest to how pleased I am and can confidently recommend the product(s).

Wow- Great responses guys- I truly appreciate it.

Sounds like the Line 3 is much better than the Line 2...unfortunately, I think the price of a Line 3 exceeds my available hi-fi fun money right now.

Any Happy Line 2 owners out there who haven't moved on to the Line 3 yet?

There are just praises for SF line 2 and 3's so I'll just chime in as a line 1 user. Sonically very good given its price point used, and haven't encountered any reliability problems so far despite some claims by others.

Yes, I have owned a Line 2 for over 4 years now, wow has it been that long? Reliability has been excellent, the power supply is completely overbuilt, construction is heavy duty, all connectors are high quality. The only issue I have had is that somehow I blew a fuse in the power supply and completely wrecked the fuseholder trying to get the fuse out...and I am an EE who knows how to do this. Maybe I'm an idiot. Anyway, I emailed SF (actually Anthem) and they sent replacement fuses, then a replacement fuse and holder, which I soldered in. The point is that these are reliable, sound great, and customer service is still good even after SF went bye bye. I would not worry about reliablity if I were you; have constantly used it for years, many power cycles, much movement, travel, relocation, though I strive to be careful.

Here are the issues: Careful on your tubes, I have found that bad tubes which "hiss" will be audible on sensitive speakers (I have WP5.1, 90 dB sens.) If your tubes are good, I highly recommend the Line 2. Also, the remote was pitted, I had to send it back and get one with a nice smooth aluminum suface.