Help with Pre-Amps

From the QS website:

"I don't know of a better line stage preamp for around a kilobuck." Sam Tellig, Stereophile,March 2001

The Quicksilver Line Stage Preamp embodies the Quicksilver philosophy of simplicity. It uses only one 12AX7 per channel, resulting in a very direct sound. A precision Alps attenuator, with 41 detents, is used for the volume control. The gold-plated Teflon insert RCA jacks are chassis mounted for long life. Gain is 18 db. Minimum load is 20 Kohms. Price $1095 NEW!

Another one is Mapletree Audio linestage. For about $800 it is a bargain with planty left for the phono amp/stage.
You would have to spend at least twice that much to get meaningful improvments.
keep in mind.......there is planty to choose from.
It all depends on your taste and preferences.
The hardest thing is to figure out what you really want and how much you want to spend to get there.

Cheers
Mariusz

There's an Audible Illusions for sale today-great deal. Otherwise, the Forte, AR or Rogue are all $700 or less and will sound awesome.

Phaseshifter, I had a Benz Ace cartridge on my VPI Scout and liked the combo. I don't have experience with your turntable so its hard to tell if the Benz would work well.

If you bought your tt from a dealer they should know what works well. If not you could ask SOTA what they recommend.

As for the table I made a base for it that I filled with sand. The base was about 10 inches tall, and 20x20 inches wide. Then I put a piece of plywood on top that did'nt touch the sides and put the table for turntable on that.

The biggest improvement I made was when I attached a piece on wood on the outside of the base to support the turntable motor independently of the the table. That got rid of all of the motor noise going thru the turntable. Unfortunately you need a turntable that has its motor seperated from the plinth to do this.

The table I used to set the turntable on was nothing special but the base and the motor stand really helped get the most out of the turntable.

Best
Sean

I would also consider the Audible Illusions Modulus 3 preamp.

Tube rolling is just changing tubes to find the ones you enjoy the most. As a guitar player, you have been doing this in all likelihood with your guitar amps.

Another good grouping of used preamps are many of the Audio Research ones. The list can go on and on, even at this price point.