prodj101 Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 ok, so basically I have an oppurtunity to buy a pair of quicksilver 8417 monoblock amplifiers for 750 bucks for the pair (I Talked the guy down from 900 to 750) and they are in near mint condition. I am going to bring them home tomorrow maybe, and I have a 10 day no questions asked return policey if I don't like them. my real concern is the fact that the 8417 tubes are no longer in production, and are like 150 bucks a pair. quciksilver offers a modification to allow the 8417's to take EL84's, but this is also $250, excluding shipping costs. I haven't heard them yet with my RF-5's, so I don't know how good they sound, but if I'm going to have to have them modded to EL84's anyway I don't see why not just get a NEW pair that already use them for not much more (maybe the horn mono's?). so, my questions are, are these amps good enough sounding with the tubes they already have to justify the cost for new tubes, and is 750 dollars a good price (this includes biasing meter, solid state rectifiers, and a few little tweaks)? how will these sound compared to my Mcintosh MC-2105? I have a smaller room (like 12x13) and realised I was never exceeding 5 watts, and 5 watts was really crankin, so I became open to the idea of something with lower power, and the quicksilver seemed to fit right in. will these amplifiers match well with my current speakers and components? I have a B&K PT-3 stereo preamp, Sony NSV-9000 SACD player. I have the RF-5's crossed over at 80hz so the RSW-15 handles everything below, and slightly above (it's set at 90 right now). I do this to take stress off of the amplifier, and the RF-5's as I noticed while playing things like pomps and pipes at higher volumes the midrange seems to get muddled up with the heavy requirements that cd has. I'd rather not buy anything used off of ebay (don't like dealing with shipping, and not being able to return things as I've had bad luck in the past).is there a new amplifer that would rival these for a similar price? thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 I'm no expert...If you've got the patients and the time, then go ahead and buy them and try them out. If they sound good to you, then keep 'em; if not, return them in 10 days. What have you got to lose? The MC2105 is a damn good sounding SS amp, but it's still no tube amp. I think $750 a pair is a fair price, and you can always upgrade to the EL84 mod later on (unless you can swing the extra $250 now). As for a new tube equivilant, maybe something from Antique Sound Labs would fit into your budget. Just a thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodj101 Posted August 18, 2003 Author Share Posted August 18, 2003 yeah, I jsut don't like the idea of having to shell out 300 bucks for tubes every few years. though the 8417's supposedly sound comporable to the 300B's, so I suppose it would be fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 The 8417 is basically dead. Don't even bother taking the amps home unless you have a good source for these tubes, as you will have to replace them every year or two. Mike Sanders ran those 8417's pretty hard from what I understand. If those amps really have SS rectification, then all the more reason to stay away from them. I'm almost positve those amps started with tube rectifiers. I don't know who told you the 8417's sound like 300B's -- but 8417's wired in Ultra-linear should sound really, really different than 300B's in SE. You should take that money and buy a nice tubed preamp. You'll get much better sound than running tubes with a SS preamp. JMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodj101 Posted August 18, 2003 Author Share Posted August 18, 2003 you can still buy 8147's from antique electronics, but they're pricey. he didn't say they sound like them, he said they sound equally as good, which I suppose is saying they sound alike....I think I will try them just to see where quicksilvers rate as a company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painful Reality Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 Just a slight correction... These amps can be modified to accept EL34, not EL84. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodj101 Posted August 19, 2003 Author Share Posted August 19, 2003 what would be a good tube preamp in the 750-1,000 range? I am becoming less and less interested in the quicksilvers, especially after discovering the cost of those 8147's. I think I will get them just to seem credible to the sales guys though, than return them. it will be interesting to compare tubes to solid state anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted August 19, 2003 Share Posted August 19, 2003 ---------------- On 8/19/2003 2:27:04 AM prodj101 wrote: what would be a good tube preamp in the 750-1,000 range? ---------------- Kelly (mobile homeless) did a nice post on this subject back in January or so. You might want to search his posts since last Thanksgiving in this 2-ch forum using the keyword "pre-amp" in header and message. I agree with Dean above about investing in a good, tube rectified pre-amp. The results can be startling. Wright comes to mind as a solid candidate, and can be usually had clean and used around $750. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted August 19, 2003 Share Posted August 19, 2003 I bought a Dynaco PAS3 from kjohnshp recently and that thing is as smooth as silk. They can often be found in the range of 125 - 200. Dodger has a PAS3X for sale at the moment but I don't know what he wants for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike82 Posted August 19, 2003 Share Posted August 19, 2003 I used to own the 8417 monos back in the late 80-early 90s and used an Audible Illusions 2D pre-amp (pretty decent pre). The 8417 had great midrange, but were a tad too flabby in the bass (w/spendor 1/2). As Dean noted, Mike ran them pretty hot (about 120 as I recall) and I went through a pair of power tubes every 18 mos or so. A couple tube sellers still stock the 8417. Parts Connection sold an ungrade kit for ~$120. The kit had new caps and a couple other items. If they are in good shape, $750 is an OK price, but I'd convert them to El34 as tubes are more readily available and affordable. They DID NOT sound like 300Bs. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minn_male42 Posted August 19, 2003 Share Posted August 19, 2003 Audio By Van Alstine.... http://www.avahifi.com/root/equipment/preamplifier/transcendence_five_sl.htm frank makes some great products right here in minnesota...(burnsville)...and the price is $599 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodj101 Posted August 19, 2003 Author Share Posted August 19, 2003 well, it seems I won't be able to get them anyway. someone else bought them beforeI could (they were gone when I went to pick them up today), maybe it's a sign, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted August 19, 2003 Share Posted August 19, 2003 Then a high quality vacuum tube preamp is definately the way to go! I suppose a tube McIntosh preamp is out of the question (too pricey). Maybe a quality used tube preamp from Audio Research, Threshold, Counterpoint, Rogue Audio, conrad-johnson, Cary Audio, et al would do nicely. AudiogoN.com has some great bargains to check out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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