What preamp to get to replace my quicksilver?

Think KERRY! I meant Cary.

i would suggest the audible illusion L1 (IIIa if you need phono). awesome pre's that are very well balanced and musical.

also the arc ls-2bmkII is a good one. a little more dynamic and revealing and requires only 1 tube !!!! spend more an pu a arc ls-16mkiii ( requires 2 supertubes, hence easy to retube, but the unit cost more)

the bat3 or 5 vki is a great sounding unit but very $$$$$ to retube properly (requires 6- 6922/7308's).i would avoid this unit for this reason.

pse hl-1 ( my favorite and current piece). very rare / hard to come by hybrid unit. very well rounded, transparent, musical, and dynamic. often comperared to units 3x to 4x the price. requires only 2 6922/7308's and has balanced, remote, and ht bypass.

good luck,

mike

Is the audible illusions really a step-up, or just sonically different? I'm thinking the latter. Same thing possibly with Eldragon's Cary suggestion. He might also consider the MFA Magnus if he wants something different sounding. I don't know if any of these would be a step up. Some of the older tubed ARCs might be a step up, though. I see quicksilver linestage owners switching to ARCs most often. I don't know if that tells us anything or not? YMMV.

If you want to stay with tube pres than I'd choose between SF and ARC. ARC is more quiet than SF.
Also you may add Sunfire tube preamp to your list.