Sonic Frontiers to Conrad Johnson .


I have a Sonic Frontiers Power 2 amp and Line 1 Pre-amp hooked to B&W 801 III. I want tube sound- warm, rich, liquid. I don't care about accuracy, I want the sound to be inviting like I remember from long ago. I don't want the stereo to drive me from the room. I changed the tubes in the Line 1 to Brimmars- it helped but did'nt go far enough for me. I also hook up the PS Power Plant 300 to the Pre-amp and while making it a little more dimensional seems to lean out the sound. The question is what brand of equiptment would you trade the SOnic Frontiers gear for to give me the warm inviting tube sound that I crave? I'm leaning towards a Conrad Johnson LS16II for a pre-amp. And perhaps replace the Power 2 later w/ a CJ amp. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
riceqx2
I'm glad you have sourced your problem. I discovered the same reason for lack of bass with Quad 63's some years ago. Couldn't stand them, took them off their stands, put them on the floor and they became a "full" range speaker! Mid/upper bass suckout from loss of floor reinforcement which the designer incorporated into the initial design.

Now that you have your attention on the speakers and their placement, if you have not already done so I would suggest that you do some reading up on proper placement of the speakers and listening position, how to avoid or take advantage of room nulls and nodes, taming first reflections, adjusting speaker toe in, ad infinitum. Buy yourself a Radio Shack SPL meter and a test disc and learn how to use it to your advantage.

This should keep you busy for a year or so and in the meantime you won't waste any money on new equipment. When you're done I suspect you will be amazed! :-)
My two cents here - I own a pair of CJ Premier 8 amps (currently with a ML No. 26 preamp) and the sound is terrific. I am sure you will enjoy either of the CJ Premier options out there.

I am still willing to try the Premier 17 at home, I did try the Premier 10 but the ML sounded better in terms of dynamics, transparency and musical involvement.

Hope this helps

Fernando
Hi Riceqx2,

I use to own the PV-10Al with Mullard 12AU7s now I own the 17LS Series 2 with EH6922. Lets put it this way, the 10AL is like a Honda Civic and the 17LS Series 2 is like a Lexus GS430.

Good Luck!