2. amps-preamps
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Sonic Frontiers - A Score or a Flushing?

I may have scored or I may have flushed $50….

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a Sonic Frontiers Power 2 tube amp at a garage sale for $50.00. It was openly disclosed to me that it did not work and the seller had no idea as to why. So, my question is are there any preliminary tests with a voltage meter (or other instrument) I can use to narrow the problem down?

My hope is that the tubes are bad; my worry is the transformer is bad. But, I don’t know how to make this determination. While I am a handy guy, I am limited in my knowledge of electrical problems. If it is salvageable, I will certainly find a professional to make repairs, but I would really like to make a preliminary determination as locating and lugging it to a shop to tell me
jb8312
jb8312 OP
247 posts
 
Thanks for the comments...I will let you all know how it works out...jtb
jonparkhurst
10 posts
 
I second the chris johnson idea, he always helps
johnsonwu
469 posts
 
Awful sounding amp in stock form.
Beautiful amp if you know how to convert it to triode.
Best of the best workmanship except for a lousy design
which necessitates sacrificial resistors when a tube starts to runaway (READ: aging 6500C tubes)
it will fry 2 resistors at a time leaving the owner scared.
It's an easy fix.
A replacement fuse, and a few resistors (10 Ohms 1Watt and 5.1 Ohms 0.25 Watt) will do the job if its the common problem most users have.
shakeydeal
979 posts
 
>Awful sounding amp in stock form.<

I agree wholeheartedly with the above statement. I've never heard it modified in any way, so can't speak to that.

Shakey
johnsonwu
469 posts
 
I briefly owned a pair of Power 3s 11 years ago and all they did was heat up the room.
Too bad I didnt know any better at the time to run them as dual power 1s (YES you can pull the tubes and run them at half power)
and I didnt dare mod these things.
I am thoroughly enjoying mine that's converted to triode and fitted with 4 Vcaps.
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