2. amps-preamps
  3. 123433-19008

Upgrade my Sonic Frontiers Line-2, or buy a used solid state Pre?

I bought a pair of Revel M106 speakers to replace some ancient active speakers. I plan on buying a used Pass Labs XA30.5 amp to drive them. FYI, I also have a Velodyne F1200 sub. 

Maybe I'm jumping the gun here, but I suspect the 16 year old Line-2 won't equal the amp or the speakers in terms of resolving power. For $1000, I can have Parts Connexion upgrade my Line-2 to the latest components, which according to Chris Johnson, would yield significant improvements. 

My question is, are there any used solid state preamps that would sound better than the upgraded Sonic Frontiers Line-2 for around $2500?

My other question is, does anyone have an idea how the Line-2 SE Plus would compare to the current crop of products out there, tube or SS? Is it worse or better than a Halo JC2, Pass XP-10, Peachtree Grand Pre X-1?
 
sboje
adg101
1,063 posts
 
Maybe, but I suspect the XA is a little more refined regardless. My Aerial's require a lot of power so I'll stick with the X series. Can't recall if you're running balanced cables from the SF to the Pass as that will lower the noise floor. My X250 is a little noisy but not much even running balanced; it's not my preamp. If you're running a shielded PC on your Line 2 see if you can get a non shielded PC like a Kimber PK10 Gold or whatever they renamed it. The Kimber works great on SF preamps... you'll be amazed.
sboje OP
38 posts
 
I am running balanced all the way through. I never noticed the noise on my old system running single ended, but maybe the 6db boost in the balanced circuit has brought the noise to light. The background noise was always very noticeable on my line-2 through headphones. It's definitely the pre. Everything is dead silent until it engages its output circuit. Parts Connexion told me it isn't uncommon, and that the new volume controller will zap the noise.
adg101
1,063 posts
 
Interesting. My Dad has a Line 1 and running it through his ARC VT50 tube amp, no matter how far you ramp the volume up it is dead silent with ones ear right up on the tweeter. He runs NOS tubes so maybe they're lower noise. No doubt sending it into to Parts Connexion will be well worth it. Great to hear you're enjoying your Pass.
sboje OP
38 posts
 
The hiss is exactly the same at both the lowest and loudest volume levels. You can hear clicking noises as you turn the volume knob also, so I do think it has something to do with the volume chip.
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