Deang Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 I'm getting the itch again, and talking to Dennis on the phone didn't help. I am considering, with great trepidation -- selling off my Quicksilvers. They are without question the best sounding amps I have had on my RF-7's. Most of you know the amp merry-go-round I was on. I stepped off when the Quicksilvers landed in my system -- quite by chance actually. The primary reason I bought them was because I needed something with higher power to drive the Dahlquists for testing purposes. I ended up falling in love with them. I somewhat have a relationship with Dennis, and he really wants me to try his new amps. He knows what I like, and feels very strongly that these amps will give me what I had in the AE-25 DJH plus more. The AE-25 DJH is based on the KT-88, but what I really like is the EL-34, and the new amps are designed around this tube. I'm going from parallel push-pull to parallel push-pull, and trading watt for watt. The major difference will be from Pentode to Triode mode. I'm going to bend here. I have mixed feelings about it, but Craig likes it, and I trust him and Dennis both. If it wasn't for the fact that the amps crank out 50 watts each -- I wouldn't even consider it. This will be my first new amp purchase in 12 years. I'm am not going to go into a long drawn out sales pitch. Most of you know how I feel about these amps. I'll just say that I think Mike Sanders designs great products, and voices them on his Klipschorns. There is a synergy between the Quicksilvers and my RF-7's that is quite evident. The amps are near mint, and come with two sets of Tesla matched quads. The first set, which came with the amps, have about 1500 hours on them. The second set have about 300 hours on them, and were matched by Mike himself. I only bought the second set to evaluate the first (set). There was no difference that I could detect between the two sets, and believe the original seller was truthful with me about the usage hours. 12AX7's are Telefunkens, and the 12BH7's are NOS GE. The 12AX7's were tested as almost new by Craig. The NOS GE 12BH7's are new. Mike also sent me his last set of 750uF caps to replace the 300uF caps sitting on the B+ voltage. This really improved the control on the bottom. While I was at it, I had him send me two new 300uFs for the other side -- so, all of the electrolytics are new. I have a little money tied up in these, say real close to $1400. I'd let them go to a Klipsch Family Member for $975. A part of me wants someone to talk me out of this possibly idiotic move. Craig, Leo, where the hell are you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 17, 2003 Author Share Posted July 17, 2003 Craig loves the blue caps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 17, 2003 Author Share Posted July 17, 2003 More glass than in the windows of my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 17, 2003 Author Share Posted July 17, 2003 last outside pic. Got nice pictures of underneath if I can find them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 Wow! DeanG those are sure very nice looking amplifiers! Someday I will venture into the tube arena. But I would like to hear a pair on my Klipschorn's or other Klipsch speaker before I dive in. Too bad I live so far in the NorthEast (VT) I wish I was close to a forum member that had a tube setup that I could audition. Pretty brave to sell your amplifiers to purchase the others that you have not even auditioned yet. I think I saw the photos of the new amps you are considering in another thread and they look stunning as well. Hope it works out to your expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 19, 2003 Author Share Posted July 19, 2003 C'mon people, help me spend more money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 Dean; Craig is gonna whoop on you. Which Qucksilvers are they? Mini or Horn or something else. Keep them. What pre are you using? BY the way the Aerosmith box does not say how it was mastered. Aclose out from Costco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 19, 2003 Author Share Posted July 19, 2003 Yes, I have no brain. I will probably keep them. I don't have the energy to mess with Audiogon right now, and I definitely don't want to ebay them. They are the Mono-60's. I run them with a Cary SL-90 using the SL-94 topology (four 12AU7's and two EZ81's for the rectifiers). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 What a Hypocrite ! For someone that constantly rants about how great your system is explain to me why your constantly changing it ?? Also you were all done with Cary because of the feedback switch and now your going to buy the very same amp ?? I'm %*(^()^%P_ with you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 Is that called "whooping"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheltie dave Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 Dean, you have mail. Craig, you will have UPS soon. I got tied up calibrating instruments at work and repainting my two homes. I need a little info on your hotrodding of Dee's 299c, and might want you to duplicate it with this one to have a mirrored set And those blue caps look cool. I saw one of them vaporize on the submarine one morning when I was tired. Made me glad I was not an electrician that day Thanks, Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkrop Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 Dean: what are the semi-circular hula-hoops you have residing on your tubes? Some sort of dampener? Do they work? WTF? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 19, 2003 Author Share Posted July 19, 2003 "What a Hypocrite ! For someone that constantly rants about how great your system is explain to me why your constantly changing it ?? Also you were all done with Cary because of the feedback switch and now your going to buy the very same amp ?? I'm %*(^()^%P_ with you." Whoa there dude, you really need to relax a little. I don't want you to pop a blood vessel. Mine wouldn't have the feedback switch. Dennis said he would remove it if I didn't want it. Yeah, I was ticked at Dennis for adding that stupid thing, but he DID answer my email within 24 hours, then CALLED me long distance from his office, offered up a REASONABLE explanation, and then spent over a 1/2 hour with me fielding all of my retarded questions. The Quicksilvers DO sound great, which is one of the reasons I wanted to sell them to a forum member. There is a much better chance of getting them back down the road. Hey, it's all your fault anyways -- putting all that crap in my head about the evils of cathode biasing and how much better triode is. Personally, I still think your full of ****. At any rate, if I want to try high power triode, what are my options? Who else makes monoblocks with 50 watts of Class A in triode mode, running my favorite tube? There might be a few things out there, but I don't have $4000. Hey, I haven't committed to Dennis yet. Any and all are more than welcome to talk me out of these amps. Now, as far as my ranting goes -- well hell yeah, of course I rant about how good my system sounds. We ALL rant. Do I really have to address the changing things around thing AGAIN. Do you have any idea how old that gets? It's part of the hobby with me, I do it because I enjoy it. I like the experience gained by doing it, and I like seeing if it nets improvements. For cryin out loud, I've rebuilt my crossovers, have had three or four preamps and 3 or four different amps -- in a span of two or three years. It's not like I'm changing out things in my system every month. Anyways, it all sounded great. Hopefully this will sound great too. I'll tell you what. Owning these Quicksilvers has really solidified my thinking on some things, and it's no accident that I'm staying with parallel push-pull and the EL-34. So, go ahead. Beat me up. I can take it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 19, 2003 Author Share Posted July 19, 2003 Yes, those are Halo Dampers. They work good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 I think it was a pretty good whoopin' Dean just chill it aint bad stuff. Consider imposing a 4-6 month moratorium to get really used to what you have. Or do that after the next amp. BUT, I have seen people with worse hobbies. $ 30,000 classic cars they only drive 100 miles per year; YUCK. I am sure you put hours of playback into the stuff you run; it does not collect dust. AND STILL!...you will not get the full effect of what you have created without trying VINYL! My whoopin' for the night! ----------------------- I ran the stock LK-48 for 5 months continouos without getting to twitchy to change. And 4 of the 5 with the same cartridge. The rest of the system was constant for CD playback. And now I go for the mod by Craig. I will certainly know what changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 19, 2003 Author Share Posted July 19, 2003 Gotcha beat. I've been running the Quicksilvers for 7 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkrop Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 the halo dampers what do they do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 That long... time flies. Altered judgeement due to old age! When did you sell the Scott? Edited my last post, check it out HEHE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 19, 2003 Author Share Posted July 19, 2003 They provide some damping to the tube to stop the glass from resonating, which helps stop the internals from vibrating. All tubes are mircophonic to one degree or another. The damping rings seem to have more of an effect on small signal preamp tubes than amplifier output tubes. I haven't figured out why yet. One would think that the tubes with bigger envelopes would be more susceptible. This is really only an issue if the speakers are relatively close to the rack, or if playing at the higher SPLs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 19, 2003 Author Share Posted July 19, 2003 The Scott...hmmm. Shortley before Dave came and got the Cornwalls. Maybe three months? Dee would know for sure. I think I'm going to get one of those turntables that fit under the dash of my car. That sounds like a must have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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