Author Topic: Tube Amplifier in the House (Read 19098 times)

Bunky · « **on:** February 18, 2007, 04:22:47 AM »

i took delivery of my Sonic Frontiers SFS 80 at 11:15 AM yesterday, it arrived via Fedex truck and came in the original double boxes and packaging. it included the owners manual, tube cage ,power cord and white gloves for handling the tubes.the Ei KT 90s were packed in clear plastic sleeves with black end caps and marked with the amplifier positions for each tube,the Sovtec 6DJ8s were packed in boxes marked with thier respective positions on the amplifier.after i hooked up the Loudspeakers and front end i installed the tubes in thier respective tube sockets and turned all of the bias pots to zero and powered her up and using the manual as my guide set the bias for each power tube via the selector knob on the amp. the bias meter is on the front of the amplifier and i found the procedure to be very simple and straight forward. i then proceeded to play music including Michael Hedges-taproot David Bowie-Heathen Johnny Cash-American Recordings and The Police- Zenyata Mondata and i am very Happy with the sound of this Amplifier! i am going to swap out the KT 90s for the KT88s and rebias the Amp and see what if any difference there is in the sound by comparison. thanks....WCW III

WEEZ · « **Reply #1 on:** February 18, 2007, 04:43:10 AM »

Yippie!

bpape · « **Reply #2 on:** February 18, 2007, 06:32:59 AM »

Sounds like fun. Let us know the differences you hear between the 90's and the 88's

Bryan

Bunky · « **Reply #3 on:** February 18, 2007, 12:32:00 PM »

Quote from: "bpape"

Sounds like fun. Let us know the differences you hear between the 90's and the 88's

Bryan

I think that the JJ Tesla "Teslovak" KT 88s sound more tubey and that i prefer the Ei KT 90s as they seem to have a more controlled bottom end with a little more punch. i got a PM this morning from my very talented friend who has designed some very fine sounding Tube Gear and it just so happens that he also owns a Sonic Frontiers tube amp and he has replaced key parts with newer ones that were not available when this amp was new and he says that the resulting changes make it sound glorious and that he is willing to work his magic on mine too. Hell yeah i Love Hot Rods !

thanks....WCW III

miklorsmith · « **Reply #4 on:** February 18, 2007, 01:05:25 PM »

Sweet! Keep a few tube cocktails in the house and you can get a "new" amp for free when you get the itch to hear something different.

WEEZ · « **Reply #5 on:** March 01, 2007, 03:14:42 PM »

Bunky,

Care to write a comparison with your new toy and your...Stratos is it?

I'm sure we would all be interested

WEEZ

Bunky · « **Reply #6 on:** March 01, 2007, 04:13:58 PM »

Quote from: "WEEZ"

Bunky,

Care to write a comparison with your new toy and your...Stratos is it?

I'm sure we would all be interested

WEEZ

My "special order"Stratos mono extreme SE's are really stellar performers from top to bottom and my new Sonic Frontiers SFS 80 is most definately no slouch either. i think that they would make beautiful music together in a Biamp configuration. i am intoxicated by the sound of the SFS 80 as AudioJerry had told me i would be.

as soon as my friend is ready i will send the SFS 80 to him so he can work some of his magic on it

WEEZ · « **Reply #7 on:** March 01, 2007, 04:42:45 PM »

Neat! Be sure to keep us posted

WEEZ