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New Preamp arrived....

So a few short hours ago my Quicksilver Line Stage Preamp arrived. It will be replacing a Schiit SYS passive that was bought to be able to implement the first piece of the puzzle, the power amp, and be able to sell my cheapo integrated.

its been 20 months since the power amp arrived so today was super exciting.
I hook it all up (and reverse the speaker connections as it says it inverts phase) and...

Well its every bit as clean and clear as the Schiit. Bass is a little better. The volume knob can actually be turned further to get as loud as the Schiit which was surprising. The treble has some sizzle on the very top end which I’m assuming will work itself out over time. Not much different in the bass department.

My fear going in was it’d sound the same which would add a heavy dose of buyer’s remorse ($1300 vs $50). It’s got the stock JJ 12AT7 tubes and I have a pair of NOS RCA black plates coming next week.

So what kinds of things can I expect for the first few days/weeks?
gochurchgo
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
gochurchgo
The volume knob can actually be turned further to get as loud as the Schiit which was surprising.
Wouldn’t worry about this, because the Sys has no gain, Schiit probably use a linear volume pot, (which will have better L to R tracking matching) than a logarithmic volume pot.
Where the Quicksilver is almost certain the be a logarithmic volume pot because of the added active gain stage, which if it had a linear volume pot you wouldn't have been able to get passed 8-9am for loud listening.

Cheers George
gochurchgo OP
923 posts
 
Thanks. It’s a brand new unit so everything is doing it’s thing. I’m hopeful that the sound will warm up and fill in so to speak.

also to confirm, the sheet included with it noted that it does invert phase so I swapped the - and + of both speakers. I don’t hear a difference but from what I read that’s what one should do.

i guess I’m surprised that they sound more alike than different.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
also to confirm, the sheet included with it noted that it does invert phase so I swapped the - and + of both speakers. I don’t hear a difference but from what I read that’s what one should do.
Bit of a funny one that to whether you hear anything.
The initial speaker cone movement in phase is outward, out of phase is inwards, your eardrum is inwards, or then outwards.????
They say the initial outwards (in phase) is better to hear the "leading edge" to the transient note. Comme ci, comme ça

Cheers George

noromance's avatar
noromance
9,956 posts
 
Leave it running for a few days and come back to it. Out of the box listening, while exciting, can be frustrating.
gochurchgo OP
923 posts
 
@noromance thanks. I figured things will change but I guess my expectations were too high as to where they’d start from. Going from a $50 passive to tube it seemed to me o should be starting in a better position and improving from there.

I’ve only 4-5 hours on it so I’ll keep going. NOS tubes will be here Monday. Then I’ll have to decide on whether to stick it out with the JJ’s and see how they evolve or go right to the RCA’s. 

My buyer’s remorse (which I get if I buy anything for myself at all) is huge right now.
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