Music Reference vs. Quicksilver

Tubes108, I agree with you, but keep in mind that the very same can be said about RM, both the man and the product. Two classic designers, if that can be said of a person.

Drove a pair of Reference 3a MM De Capos with all Quicksilver stuff for a couple of years (Mini Mites, Linestage, and phono preamp). The combination sounded great--far superior to the integrated amps that preceded it (Audio Analogue Puccini, Musical Fidelity A 3.2, and Unison Research Unico).

I ended up selling the De Capos and now need a much bigger amp than the Mini Mites--I only wish I could afford a pair of V4s.

Cytocycle, I'm not clear, did you own the 9 and 200 and now own the 10?

Pubul57: I owned the Music Reference RM9 Mk1, and a Music Reference RM200 which I bought and sold twice over the years and still regret selling.

I considered the RM10 a couple of times but have always owned power hungry speakers, so I never owned a RM10 (yet)

In the next week or so I will be comparing my RM10 MKII with a RM9SE owned by a fella that happens to have my speaker (Merlin VSM-MXe) and preamp (Joule LA 150MKII) and cabling (Cardas GR) AND same size room - hmmm?. It will be very interesting to compare the little 35 watt (EL84) amp with the more powerful (EL34)(100watts?)RM9SE. I typically believe in "less power is better" if it is sufficient to play loud enough with your speakers in your room (less complexity and parts) so it will be an interesting "faceoff" with the easy to drive and fairly sensitive Merlins (89db - very linear 8ohm) - of course I expect the RM9 to drive a much wider choice of speakers. I have also owned Quicksilver 8417, Mid Monos, and V4s. QS and MR are similar - high quality, solid engineering, great value, no BS; and most interestingly you almost never hear someone who has owned either say they did not love them. QS is a bit warmer with a more forward midrange, MR seems faster and more nuetral - both top notch in my book and the choice could easily be made based on the pre and speakers to be used with them.