Is Sonic Frontier Power 3 worth buying & keeping?

I used to own Power 3s and if "warm" is the sound you're looking for, I'd suggest demoing some other amps. I didn't find the Power 3s a very good buy. The Power 2 is a much better buy, you can get a new one in the $2500 range.

A good, warm soundinng tube amp (in my opinion) is the ARC VT100 MkII or III. A Mk II can be had for $2300-2500 used.

Good luck.

The Power 3's are available cheap on the used market. I have seen a number for $3500 the pair, which is a third of list price. If you need the power, the Power 3 is a better buy than the Power 2.

The general consensus is that these amps have a more solid state like sound than tube. They have been characterized as lean and with a slightly distant sound, and lacking the tube "bones" of other units. I think the Audio Research VT-100 is generally preferred as more detailed, tube-like in the midrange, and generally sonically superior.

What is this thread doing on the analog section? It should be in the preamps/power amps sections.

i had the power 3s a couple of years ago. i traded them for cj 12s. the cjs were much warmer. as far as tubes vs ss i have micrex tube amps and a sonic frontiers sfl2 preamp for a video system. ss to me is good for subs not mids and highs.

Buy pass aleph 1.2s they have the tube sound but wont die out and have a fair amount of power. They sound just like the very best tubes in almost every way including bass slam which can be a bad thing... None the less if you want to get tube sound without the hastle check these out.