Great review of the upgraded threshold SA-4e!

Thanks John !
Did you use the U-T2 preamp with the amp?

Not for the time being: Florent has reviewed the Upgraded SA-4e (hereafter U-SA/4e) with his JADIS JP80MC preamp.
I plan to to his home with the U-T2 in a couple of months, so he will have plenty of time to lesson to the U-SA/4e with the U-T2.
You can read about the sonic differences between the U-T2 and the JP80MC by reading the U-T2 review. To make it short, we can say that the U-T2 provides more details and more punch than the JP80MC, whereas the JP80MC is unreachable on the female jazz voices: the JP80 is sweeter, more seducer than the U-T2, but is less rigorous, less "true" and less detailed.
Which sounded better single ended interconnects or
balanced interconnects between the preamp and amp?
Using only 3 meter run, of course.

The JADIS JP80 has only RCA outputs, so the SA/4e was reviewed with RCA inputs.
The U-T2 has both RCA and XLR outputs, but the results seem slightly better with the RCA outputs (small margin), unless you have a very long length.
Generally, the THRESHOLD amps belonging to the SA serie deliver very similar performance on the RCA /XLR outputs when they are driven by an excellent preamp (for ex the old Threshold ones, ML or ARC). The problem comes more from the sources (D/A converters) that offer, most of the time, a better sound on their RCA outputs.
What kind of platform and cones did you use under the
U-T2 and the SA-4e?

This point is explained on our site, in the "Threshold amps optimization" article, here:
http://thresholdlovers.free.fr/articles.php?lng=en%20&pg=85
You should always use a thick (>= 3cm) plate of Granit (nothing else unless specialized designed products), with a minimum of 15kg per devices.
The cones should be robust, I personnally found the EUPHONIA cones to be amongst the very best with a high mechanical quality and a very reasonnable price (particularly compared to some well known brad that simply offer very common cones).
More details are provided in the abovementionned article.
Keep the reviews coming!

We will ! the coming review is the Threshold Fet/Ten He preamp , that beats the U-T2....(without being upgraded...: simpler is better).

Thanks
Nounours18200 - Webmaster.