Anyone have Quicksilver’s line stage preamp?
Look forward to your impressions.
To Fritz, Quicksilver, and all the exceptional makers trying to get the word out
It's been a while since I've posted. When you're in the sandwich generation, life intervenes. I've not had much chance to keep up with the conversations here, but I've managed some changes in my system, including a new set of speakers from a local audio fixer and DIY genius. These new speakers are wide baffle design with JBL woofers (15") and Beyma AMT tweeters. 97db sensitivity. I've put a picture on my system page.
But I've been thinking about Fritz and Quicksilver for an odd reason. There's an interesting guy on YouTube, Andy Edwards. He's a drummer and teacher with interestingly provocative analyses of rock, jazz, and music. Recently in a video entitled "Ten things non-musicians get wrong about music," he was pointing out how the music industry tends to advance very select fractions of talented people. There is a tremendous funneling effect that excludes a huge percentage of talented people. They are better than many of the most popular musicians, but they cannot get a hearing. They have to make a living in other ways -- but they are extraordinarily talented, nonetheless. This tends to skew the public perception of what a good musician is because people hear what they hear and then celebrate it because it's what they know. Subjective bias leads to (false) objective estimations of how good musicians can be. (Take one case in point: Kazuhito Yamashita. Look him up. Staggering genius on the guitar who didn't become a worldwide phenomenon.)
This made me think about two of the pieces in my system -- Fritz speakers and Quicksilver amps. They are complete unknowns to 99% of the buying public, and if you look around on YouTube or other media, it's pretty hard to find much promotion. It's all word of mouth, and even if they did advertise, who would hear them? With Klipsch and Focal and Yamaha et al. taking up most of the available attention economy, how could their message get through?
I am so grateful to the members of this forum for helping guide me to Fritz and Quicksilver. They are the most listenable, comfortable, and high-quality gear I've owned. I've heard amazing things about other brands -- such as Audio Note -- but I'm paying for college, soon for two kids, and that just ain't happening. These are not the best things money can buy, but as value propositions, you really cannot do better, IMHO.
For those whose ears are perking up about Fritz for the first time, I have done two reviews of what I think is his better speaker, the Carbon 7 SE MKII.
Written -- https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/review-fritz-heiler-s-carbon-7-se-mk-2-bookshelf-speakers?
Video -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpI6eAvc4_M
I've tried them with everything: they're tube friendly (Quicksilver, 60w); they're class D friendly (DIY Hypex-based amp, 275W); they're class A friendly (Pass XA-25, about 25-80w); they're class AB friendly (Adcom, Akitika, 60w).
I like them because if I focus in on them, they perform but if I just want them on in the background, they're lovely that way, too.
Hope everyone has a good 2025.
- ...
- 61 posts total
@decooney Thanks for the kind words.
The ribbon tweeter and the soft dome tweeter make one difference; the Fritz are softer up top but not blurry-soft. They tame most recordings that are a bit bright (e.g. Fagen’s Nightfly). The Ascends are clear and brighter -- but not as bright as, say, a Beryllium tweeter (which I cannot stand). The RAAL ribbon is quite high quality and it provides a kind of airy transparency to the highs which are almost always not-too-bright. The bass on both are good, with the Fritz being surprisingly good for a bookshelf. It’s not "fudging" the bass -- it really digs low in an honest way. The Ascends are the same. Fritz’s midrange is perhaps the "killer app" of the speaker. They have this way of putting instruments or voices "in the room" but not in that freaky way that some extremely expensive speakers do. There’s just this presence that seems to be happening without a technological interface. The midrange on the Ascend is excellent, too; honest and not too forward. But it’s not "magical." The soundstage on both is very good and detailed, with extra size and articulation going to the Ascends; if I listened to *mostly* symphonic or large and complex music and I had to choose one speaker, it would be the Ascend. For small ensembles, jazz, I’d say Fritz. For a lot of hard-driving rock, it’s a tie based on your ears. The Fritz are like my good leather jacket; comfortable, nice looking but casual. The Ascends are like my nice peacoat -- sharp looking, stylish, classy but also easy. I had the QS linestage (non-remote) and upgraded it. But after a few months of trying it back and forth with a 6sn7-based preamp, I sold it. It’s solidly made, and quiet as hell, but really doesn’t add much character, even with some nice tube changes. If I had to choose btw a good solid state preamp and the QS line stage, I’d just eliminate the tubes from that stage of my system, altogether. |
Thanks. Great, now I want them both! I agree with you on the beryllium tweeters. I had Fritz's Carrera's and could not take the tweeter no matter what I tried. Mids and lower registers were quite good. also had Ascends Sierra 2's so I have an idea of both house sounds. Question: If you could keep only one pair, between the two which one would you choose? |
@thecarpathian I have the 12at7 line stage. I have owned the original 12ax7 and the 6dj8 remote. I been using it for 10 years so my impression is high compared to many other preamps that I have owned. The only problem is I find the gain (18db ) is on the high side compared to most line stage preamps. BTW, if you need features like mono, remote and balance the QS does not have those options!! |
- 61 posts total