Constant noisy tubes maybe go solid state?

Worth a try if you already have a set and you may or may not hear a difference with one of the Pro Audio versions. I only had one combo where I thought there was a slight dulling of the top end but that was a different brand of amp than Odyssey.

As to the SYS, who cares about sexy if it works and fits in your current budget.

If down the road you decide to swap preamps and don’t want to deal with a tube one a great option with your speakers is to find a used Wyred4Sound STP-SE which is a really good combo with the Odyssey amps. The first two thirds of it’s volume control is passive and then the active buffer kicks in. I never had it kick in with the Odyssey amps or even get anywhere close even with 83db Vandersteen Treo CT’s.

Also if you haven't heard back from Mike about using 12AU7's in place of the 12AT7's via e-mail pick up the phone and call him as that's the preferred method of communication for a lot of the "old timers" in the industry. 

@decooney 

And it's still true over two years later.

@gochurchgo 

Until you can resolve in your mind what to do going forward about your gain mismatch once you get a pair of clean tubes then there are two relatively inexpensive things you can try between the Quicksilver and the Khartago that will help resolve your problem.  Number one is an inexpensive passive like the Schitt Sys and the other a set of passive attenuators.  Neither one will "greatly effect" the sound you are getting and both will buy you some time while letting you enjoy what you have now.  I have used the Rothwell attenuators from the UK with many different gear combo's and never found any "dramatic" effect on the sound but there are also less expensive versions from the Pro Audio world available at places like Guitar Center and Sweetwater. I have used Odyssey amps since 1999 with a number of tube preamps based on 12AU7, 6DJ8 and 6SN7 tubes and the issue was always the same if there was a gain mismatch between the preamp and the particular Odyssey amp and the speaker sensitivity got close to or over 90 db.  Just  how it is.

@gochurchgo 

No experience with EJ's phono stage just the preamp which I still have around and a pair of amps from about five years ago.

@gochurchgo 

If the 10db attenuators work and don't effect the sound to your ears I wouldn't waste anymore money on attenuators.  If you haven't tried the 12AU7 tubes yet that might be a better avenue.  Also my personal opinion but if you want to continue to deal in NOS tubes without getting duds I would stick with Andy at Vintage Tube Services. There are still a couple of reliable dealers on Ebay that fully test and back their tubes but they are few and far between. 

A guideline to what Klaus thinks is an acceptable gain tube preamp would be the Candela at 14db so with speakers of "normal" sensitivity the QS would be fine.  But unfortunately you bought speakers than don't fit in that definition so you are going to have to mitigate the situation for now unless you want to start selling and buying.  If for now the attenuators allow you to listen to your system with no appreciable loss of fidelity then resolve your tube vendor issues get a good pair of AT7's and let it be.  You can get a good and quiet pair of NOS AU7 tubes for not a lot of money but it won't be from the usual suspects like Kevin, Brent or Andy as I've done it recently.  Contact me by PM if you want to know where.