[ckhirnigs113]

The tube went bad, pulled too much current and blew a resistor.

I assume that means I’ll have to send my amp in to Mike for repair. That’s going to be an ordeal I’m sure.

I literally just bought these Tungsram EL84s a few weeks ago. I liked them so much that I immediately started trying to find some backups. Things have definitely taken a turn.

 

[jamato8]

I assume that means I’ll have to send my amp in to Mike for repair. That’s going to be an ordeal I’m sure.

I literally just bought these Tungsram EL84s a few weeks ago. I liked them so much that I immediately started trying to find some backups. Things have definitely taken a turn.

You could also have a professional service it. It is easy to replace resistors. You could ask Mike which one most likely blew, and then a tech can check them. It would be open, burnt out, and would need to be replaced. A schematic would tell you (knowing how to read a schematic) which resistor but possibly Mike can take an image. Or a tech can open it up and easily check some values.

It could also be something else. If a capacitor, there would be smell and sometimes a hiss as it blows. Then Mike would be the best to do all the tests etc. Sometimes a fuse blows but you said one side works.

 

[ckhirnigs113]

I’m probably showing my ignorance here, but is it important to use the exact same resistor that Mike used in the amp originally, as in brand, model, etc, or will any resistor with the correct specs be fine. I have no idea if resistors affect the sound of an amp.

 

[jamato8]

I’m probably showing my ignorance here, but is it important to use the exact same resistor that Mike used in the amp originally, as in brand, model, etc, or will any resistor with the correct specs be fine. I have no idea if resistors affect the sound of an amp.

Generally it is good to use the same resistors. It depends upon where they are. Wattage is important as some resistors are meant to blow, like a fuse if a tube has catastrophic failure. Will it hurt anything to use a different brand of resistor? No.

 

[ckhirnigs113]

I bought the amp from an authorized dealer that’s relatively close to me. I’m going to email Mike at Quicksilver and see if the dealer might be able to do the repair on site. They sell a lot of guitar amps, so perhaps they can also do repairs. It’s worth a shot.

Thanks for your help @jamato8

 

[nachtihsahn]

I ordered mine on the weekend and received it today. Even without burn-in, the amp sounds fantastic on my ZMF VC Stabilized. I'm feeding my Marantz HD-DAC1 into it with Blue Jeans RCA Cables as recommended by others in this thread. There's zero tube noise even though it's right beside my gaming computer. I was apprehensive about tube amps because I was afraid of potential noise issues like others had complained about before. I think this stemmed from my purchase of a Little Dot MKII back in 2016, which had a lot of ground loop noise. Very satisfied with this Quicksilver! The build quality is awesome.

 

[LanceSaintPaul]

I bought the amp from an authorized dealer that’s relatively close to me. I’m going to email Mike at Quicksilver and see if the dealer might be able to do the repair on site. They sell a lot of guitar amps, so perhaps they can also do repairs. It’s worth a shot.

Thanks for your help @jamato8

The repair will be simple. If you have any experience with a soldering iron, building electronic kits, you could get the parts from Mike & do it yourself. Certainly anyone doing repairs on guitar amps professionally will have an easy time - a capacitor & a resistor to replace and that should be it.
I had to do it once - the supplied JJ EL84's had one go out this way. Since it was supplied & under warranty the parts were free to me. You chose to go off script so it's on you, but the parts won't be expensive. The circuit is very simple. Just remember to preserve the polarity of the capacitor.
Good luck with this.
(And now I'm a bit nervous about trying out my latest Tungsram EL84 acquisition...right now it's a pair of Mazda EL84's.)

 

[Pharmaboy]

I bought the amp from an authorized dealer that’s relatively close to me. I’m going to email Mike at Quicksilver and see if the dealer might be able to do the repair on site. They sell a lot of guitar amps, so perhaps they can also do repairs. It’s worth a shot.

Thanks for your help @jamato8

GOOD LUCK with getting this resolved.

From everything I read, the QSR is a terrific headphone amp. Still tubes are finicky devices, and now and then one flames out. I've been extremely lucky to not have this happen, but my luck could change unexpectedly...

 

[ckhirnigs113]

Well the amp has to go back to Mike at Quicksilver after all. The dealer I bought it from wasn’t up for doing any repairs. I’m nervous about shipping this thing across the country, but I really don’t have another choice at this point. It’s pretty ironic that my favorite tube is the thing that killed my amp.

I am inquiring with Mike about whether he would consider upgrading the tube sockets while he has the amp in for repairs. I’m not sure if he stocks any higher quality sockets, but I thought it couldn’t hurt to ask.

 

[David A Silva]

Sorry you have to ship to my neck of the woods. It should ship fine. Keeping my fingers xed!

 

[gefski]

Well the amp has to go back to Mike at Quicksilver after all. The dealer I bought it from wasn’t up for doing any repairs. I’m nervous about shipping this thing across the country, but I really don’t have another choice at this point. It’s pretty ironic that my favorite tube is the thing that killed my amp.

I am inquiring with Mike about whether he would consider upgrading the tube sockets while he has the amp in for repairs. I’m not sure if he stocks any higher quality sockets, but I thought it couldn’t hurt to ask.

Double box and it should be fine. Anyway it’s the best possible place to have it repaired. Is this warranty or on your dime?

 

[ckhirnigs113]

Double box and it should be fine. Anyway it’s the best possible place to have it repaired. Is this warranty or on your dime?

Yeah, I definitely plan on double-boxing it. I don’t know if it will be covered under warranty or not to be honest. If the tube took out the resistors in the amp it’s probably not a warranty issue. The fact that I wasn’t using the stock tubes doesn’t strengthen my case.

 

[gefski]

Yeah, I definitely plan on double-boxing it. I don’t know if it will be covered under warranty or not to be honest. If the tube took out the resistors in the amp it’s probably not a warranty issue. The fact that I wasn’t using the stock tubes doesn’t strengthen my case.

Well hopefully it’s covered. Should be if it’s a 6bq5 or el84. The brand shouldn’t matter as long as it’s a true el84. Like you, I’m using an el84 (Polam from the 50s) that I like better than any others I’ve used. Usually NOS are fine with manufacturers. They have to stick with new production in products they sell because they have to be able to get a few hundred identical tubes.

 

[YtseJamer]

I need some help from all you tube amp experts. Paging @jamato8 @jonathan c @L0rdGwyn @Wes S @Monsterzero

I turned on my Quicksilver tonight and one of my recently-acquired welded plate Tungsram EL84s started flashing wildly like there were fireworks inside the tube and a loud noise came from the headphones (Meze Elites) that were still in the case. I quickly turned off the amp and immediately noticed a burning smell.

For some context, I have been using these same tubes for the last couple weeks with no issues at all. I haven’t made any other changes to the setup since rolling in the tubes either. To be honest, these Tungsrams were quickly becoming my favorite EL84s.

I unplugged the Elites and swapped out both Tungsram EL84s to some Sylvania 6BQ5s. I plugged in some super-cheap headphones and turned on the amp. Both Sylvania tubes lit up and looked to be operating normally. I started playing a song and music only came from the right channel of the headphones. All I could hear from the left channel was some low level distortion/hum. I turned off the amp again.

Then I very nervously plugged my Elites into my SW51+ amp to make sure there was no damage to the drivers. Luckily the headphones appear to be ok.

My question is what happened? Did something happen with the amp that killed the tube or was it the reverse? Did the tube kill the left channel of the amp? I’m going to reach out to Mike at Quicksilver and see if I need to ship the amp to him to see what’s going on.

I appreciate any info you guys can provide. I’m pretty bummed at this point with a fried super-rare Tungsram EL84 that I literally just bought a few weeks ago and a broken amp.

I'm sorry to hear about the issues you had with your Quicksilver. Did you to take a look at the interior to see what was damaged? Because I had a similar issue with my Quicksilver a couple of months ago (with the stock tubes) and one of the capacitors has also exploded.

I sincerely hope that you will be better treated than I was by the owner, because for me this was probably the worst "customer support" experience I ever had in my life. The owner almost accused me to have damaged the amp myself, while I told him many times that the amp started smoking the minute I turned it on, and I turned it off right away. And this would be too long to tell you the rest of the story because I also had other issues with the amp after the repair, I swear I never had a bad experience like that.

And trust me, I hate to say that because the Quicksilver is my favorite amp with my Atrium.

Anyway, I wish you good luck!

 

[ckhirnigs113]

I'm sorry to hear about the issues you had with your Quicksilver. Did you to take a look at the interior to see what was damaged? Because I had a similar issue with my Quicksilver a couple of months ago (with the stock tubes) and one of the capacitors has also exploded.

I sincerely hope that you will be better treated than I was by the owner, because for me this was probably the worst "customer support" experience I ever had in my life. The owner almost accused me to have damaged the amp myself, while I told him many times that the amp started smoking the minute I turned it on, and I turned it off right away. And this would be too long to tell you the rest of the story because I also had other issues with the amp after the repair, I swear I never had a bad experience like that.

And trust me, I hate to say that because the Quicksilver is my favorite amp with my Atrium.

Anyway, I wish you good luck!

I mailed the amp to Mike from Quicksilver today. I hope I have a better customer experience than you! I’m a little nervous after hearing how bad you were treated. Sorry you had to go through that. I’ve never done anything to the amp except occasionally roll in different EL84/6BQ5 and 12AX7 tubes.

I got really unlucky with this Tungsram EL84. It sounded great for a week or so and then managed to take out the left channel of the amp when it bit the bullet. I actually had no idea tubes could damage amps when they go bad. After this experience, I tempted to find a nice solid state amp and forget about how good tubes can sound. I don’t know what I would have done if this tube failure had taken out one of the drivers in my Meze Elite!