KT 150 Amp Options

I'm glad to see the interest here in the Quicksilver brand, especially the silver 88's. I'm considering purchasing a pair for my second system. I would more than likely use the KT150 tube option. Any comments about the amps would be appreciated.

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.

Tubegroover,
Well you certainly had a very positive audition with the Quicksilver amplifier. Given your results and Rebbi's terrific impressions using the same speakers is interesting(very different amplifiers). For pure curiosity I'd love to hear the Quicksilver and the Audio Note Kit 300b SET in direct comparison with the De Capos. Seems you couldn't go wrong with either based on what both of you have written.
Charles,

"For pure curiosity I'd love to hear the Quicksilver and the Audio Note Kit 300b SET in direct comparison with the De Capos."

Me too Charles! It's so interesting you brought that up since I was so immersed in that thread and the final outcome and ALSO because I recently had a really enjoyable experience with an 300B SET set-up, not all perfect but just so throughly engaging. I still have this underlying suspicion that 8 watts would not work for me long term with the DeCapo speakers and my overall tastes in music, I just don't believe based on past SET experiences that the speakers are efficient enough for all music and time would bear that out. The Quicksilvers weren't perfect either during the audition but I have a strong suspicion that what I heard was less related to the amps than the overall set-up. This is the question, is that "softness" an intrinsic character of the amp or not and will it play out over long term listening and become a distraction? Initial impressions can often be misleading but what was most telling to me overall was that I was REALLY trying to analyze, as I do during any audition, but couldn't help but be drawn into the music and performance, always a good sign. I brought a large variety of different music that both sounded great and also had recording issues to see how things fared overall. Bad recordings and great recordings but all music that I really enjoy. The Silver 88/DeCapo combo was quite engaging overall.

Tubegroover,
It's certainly within reason that the QS may suit your needs better. Rebbi's experience is very adamant based on extended listening. Brownsfan also reports very similar impressions with the De Capos. He used two 8 watt amplifiers, Coincident Frankenstein and their Dynamo SEP. His findings are very positive as well. This reflects the obvious subjective nature of it all.
Charles,