Tube Power Amp Reviews

When compared with my reference, the long-discontinued Audio Research Classic 60, the Sonic Frontiers Power 2 presented an interesting tradeoff of strengths and weaknesses. The Classic 60 had the more neutral midrange and midbass presentation, but the Power 2's high frequencies were much more convincing. The ARC did not, however, approach either the low-level or high-level dynamic capabilities of the Power 2. And, although one of the Classic 60's strengths is its resolution of inner detail, the Power 2 exceeded the 60's performance in this area by a great margin. All in all, although the Classic 60's character is more in tune with my own listening biases, I felt that the Power 2's performance was a significant step higher.—Robert J. Reina