[jamato8]

Night here and many appliances in the neighborhood are offline and my electricity here is quiet. The amp is totally quiet. During the day there are many things that can induce noise and issues on the AC, just the nature of it. Also how old are the transformers on your power line and how far from the house? There are many variables.

 

[Vonx]

Running some RCA black plate 1949 12AX7 tubes. Can't get much earlier. I think they came out in 1948. These are NOS and sound excellent, very revealing. The nice thing about the Quicksilver is it doesn't disguise the tubes in use so if you put quality tubes in, you hear it but it doesn't sound warm tube like or mushy bass. Excellent stuff. It seems they have the output transformers set just right. Also plenty of capacitance in reserve to give you very fine dynamics and bass slam!

I've been running 12AT7's of the RCA blackplates which also sound very nice and are my current preference in the QS. Did you pick those up from Brent Jessee? The AT7 tubes are typically quite a bit cheaper in his store than ax7's and also have a bit less gain, which I think to be beneficial for the QS. I think in a later post you mentioned you were running 50's amperex EL84's as well, which just circumstantially is the exact setup I have stuck with for a few weeks Great sound.

I saw you've owned a few other tube amps around (and above) the price range such as some of the LTA amps and the Manley Absolute. I'm not sure if you did already somewhere, but would you mind giving some quick reference comparisons between QS to any of those amps, maybe if just in perceived resolution, overall sound profile characteristics, etc.?

 

[jamato8]

I've been running 12AT7's of the RCA blackplates which also sound very nice and are my current preference in the QS. Did you pick those up from Brent Jessee? The AT7 tubes are typically quite a bit cheaper in his store than ax7's and also have a bit less gain, which I think to be beneficial for the QS. I think in a later post you mentioned you were running 50's amperex EL84's as well, which just circumstantially is the exact setup I have stuck with for a few weeks Great sound.

I saw you've owned a few other tube amps around (and above) the price range such as some of the LTA amps and the Manley Absolute. I'm not sure if you did already somewhere, but would you mind giving some quick reference comparisons between QS to any of those amps, maybe if just in perceived resolution, overall sound profile characteristics, etc.?

The QS competes very well but it is early in the burn in period.

I have had the tubes for years and got the RCA in an original 5 pack. I am running some gold grid Russian tubes right now in the EL84 spot. Excellent tubes and I use them in the LTA 10Ze. The 5751 would be a better sub I would think for the lower gain vs the 12AX7 gain.

 

[Vonx]

I actually have pretty sensitive ears, so taking that into account. I also just have the QS simply plugged into the wall with the cheap, supplied power cable. No fancy UPS or noise eliminating gadget. But just thought at 80 ohms that the Utopia would be silent enough. Guess not :/

Was thinking about ordering an Audioquest RCA cable and NRG-X3 power cord. Hoping that better components help.

What other stuff do you have around the QS generating EMI? Any other audio components with transformers, wireless mice or wired without cable sheilding, bluetooth anything? I try just keeping all my components as separate as possible within my space constraints, especially from my tube amps.

If you still can't remove the EMI source no matter you try, you could also try some copper foil tape wrapped around the transformers for shielding. I've heard of a few other people doing this on other amps with good results, but I haven't had this issue on my QS.

 

[jamato8]

A few of the other amps.

 

[Vonx]

The QS competes very well but it is early in the burn in period.

I have had the tubes for years and got the RCA in an original 5 pack. I am running some gold grid Russian tubes right now in the EL84 spot. Excellent tubes and I use them in the LTA 10Ze. The 5751 would be a better sub I would think for the lower gain vs the 12AX7 gain.

Thanks for the 5751 suggestion! I'll keep a lookout for those, even though I'm currently content with the sound I'm getting from RCA 12AT7's.

Nice to hear the QS competitive with those, I've been finding the QS a really nice pairing with 6XX's in particular.

 

[Vonx]

A few of the other amps.

My room would look a lot like that if I pulled everything out of the closet! I think we may have a problem haha. A pleasant problem though

 

[jamato8]

My room would look a lot like that if I pulled everything out of the closet! I think we may have a problem haha. A pleasant problem though

The iBasso SR2 or the Focal Utopia go very well with it. Open, transparent and dynamic as well as layered.

 

[jamato8]

My room would look a lot like that if I pulled everything out of the closet! I think we may have a problem haha. A pleasant problem though

I have a walk-in closet with around 3000 tubes, mostly all NOS and if the headphones were in there, competing with space for my camera equipment (shoot professionally) they would be a pain to get to and I want easy access.

 

[Vonx]

I have a walk-in closet with around 3000 tubes, mostly all NOS and if the headphones were in there, competing with space for my camera equipment (shoot professionally) they would be a pain to get to and I want easy access.

My god, sounds great. If you find some extra special tube synergy with the QS in the future, would love to hear about it!

 

[joshnor713]

What other stuff do you have around the QS generating EMI? Any other audio components with transformers, wireless mice or wired without cable sheilding, bluetooth anything? I try just keeping all my components as separate as possible within my space constraints, especially from my tube amps.

If you still can't remove the EMI source no matter you try, you could also try some copper foil tape wrapped around the transformers for shielding. I've heard of a few other people doing this on other amps with good results, but I haven't had this issue on my QS.

I actually tried it again with the Utopia last night, this time moving the amp a bit further away from my external monitor and laptop, and made sure the power cable had a clear path, and didn't get any detectable interference this time. It was probably one of those factors. I'm new to this analog game, so bear with me

 

[Deleeh]

I actually tried it again with the Utopia last night, this time moving the amp a bit further away from my external monitor and laptop, and made sure the power cable had a clear path, and didn't get any detectable interference this time. It was probably one of those factors. I'm new to this analog game, so bear with me

Just buy a shielded power cable and Rca cable that is also shielded with sensible plugs, then you have finally buried the issue.

The shielding helps when you have everything together and also protects against an electromagnetic field when everything is close together.

The cables cost a little more but you have peace of mind afterwards.
It doesn't have to be an Audioquest, there are many other manufacturers that offer solid cables without emptying your pocket.

Of course, routers, smartphones and tablets are always suboptimal when they are close to audio equipment.
This has always been the case, even in the early days.

 

[jamato8]

I have noticed the normal bump in detail and openness to the Quicksilver as it runs in more. I let it run all day and overnight and turn it off when I leave home, so off for a few hours every day. I would guess around 80 hours on it now. Opening up very nicely, very good detail and transparency. Doesn't really run very hot at all. Having the EL84s strapped to triode was a good move since you are getting the best out of an already great tube. Using some Mullard 12AX7s and some gold grid EL84s. Holds up well against my LTA Z10e, a nice complement to the electrostatic.

 

[jamato8]

Amp burning is real nice. This amp is a no brainer. Competes with most any amp and at the price, you couldn't build it much cheaper yourself. Really excellent separation and frequency responses. A simple to the point circuit that totally does the job. This really is one of the super deals in audio.

 

[ckhirnigs113]

Every once in a while I start to feel bad for my unused SW51+ sitting next to my Quicksilver. When this happens, I unplug the interconnects from the Quicksilver and plug them into the SW51+. I have a few pleasant listening sessions, and then I go back to the Quicksilver.

It’s a fun little mental exercise because it lets me rediscover how great the Quicksilver is all over again. I never hear anything lacking with the SW51+ while I’m using it, but the Quicksilver always impresses me as a clear improvement when I switch to it. I’ve never regretted my purchase of this great amp, that’s for sure. I’m glad others are still discovering it through this thread.