Hi Rudge
I did have the opportunity to audition the QS Silver 88 with the KT150 tube with my DeCapo speakers. Front end included a Copeland CD player and a Clearaudio Ovation TT the QS entry linestage. Not sure about cabling or the tube phono stage used. There was a significant difference between the CD playback and vinyl so far as performance but overall I was certainly impressed enough to audition at home which will be in the next month or so. Overall sound is smooth, rich a bit rounded on the leading edge, notably on the CD playback but not at all evident on the vinyl playback. This was my ONLY reservation going forward since I am so used to an incisive leading edge presentation, that balance between too soft and too incisive or crisp. I'm sure some of this impression could have been related to the ancilliary components. Other than that I would say that the overall resolution, dynamics, timbre, depth and the inner harmonic detail and transparency were just top tier and completely engaging. A "forget how it sounds get into the music" particularly with vinyl playback. These amps remind me of good SET playback in their presentation of the beautiful harmonics and tone present in music that is often bleached out by many amplifiers. There is nothing analytical here, just beautiful music. I expect in my system and room, less that wonderful Clearaudio tt set-up, the CD playback will be better than what I heard at the dealer's. I'll be auditioning at home in a month or so when I finish setting up my room.
