Enjoy !!! I am listening to my Quicksilver Mid Monos right now.... I never tire of these amps... they sound incredible for their modest price. AND they are super reliable. The value of Mike's gear is very high for the $$$. His stuff kicks a$$
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?
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?
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- 50 posts total
Tubes can easily take 100 hours to burn in and start sounding like they will for most of their life. Also, don't even consider any critical listening for the first 20 minutes the unit is on. I have found with the two tube preamps I have owned that the major difference is going to be in sound stage. You should get a wider and deeper soundstage. You NOS RCAs will likely contribute to this further. If they are the RCAs I am thinking of, you aren't going to hear a lot of "warming" but should get a bit more air and especially depth in terms of staging. You might also need to tweak your speaker placement a hair, especially in terms of how they are towed in. I found moving from a SS to a tube unit I had to alter my towing about an inch. One thing to consider is to take notes on 3 or 4 songs you know well with each preamp. Your memory, even a few minutes apart for listening sessions, is inadequate. I have heard radical differences between speakers where sounds just go away but it is tough to pinpoint it strictly from memory. When music is being played your mind is processing an infinite number of sounds and trying to recall differences is very hard. |
So the units been on for over 200 hours now usually processing some sounds for ~12 hours a day. I do notice the bass and midbass improvements as well as staging. Detail is very enhanced. The sound is very clean! i have not swapped out tubes or put the Schiit back in but rolling around in my noggin’ is the feeling my speakers are limiting the changes I hear. And I suspect that this is more true in the mid bass some tracks have hilariously wide channel separation and great detail. |
- 50 posts total