joey54207 posts05-01-2020 12:58pmAesthetix Calypso or Pallene, Audible Illusions M3 or if you can live without a remote the newest Quicksilver preamp. They all work well with the M120. You might want to reach out to John Rutan at the Audio Connection in Verona NJ. He has a lot of experience with Quicksilver. Agree with Joey54, several preamps sound nice with them, including the underrated QS Linestage with a pair of good 12AT7 tubes. The remote version sounds good too, some prefer the non-remote version sonically. Some other members here running Aesthetix with Mono 120s with success. Dehaviland, Erhard-Audio, AI M3 all potential candidates... I truly enjoy running an upgraded Cary SLP-98 (6SN7 based) tube preamp with my Quicksilver Mono 120s. This combo is very responsive to effective changes on input tubes and RCA interconnect changes. |
@audioconnection 1,121 posts05-02-2020 7:05am
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I would not dismiss the latest 12 AT7 unit from Quicksilver without hearing it you may be doing yourself a disservice as also Quicksilver Phono. JohnnyR Quicksilver Dealer As someone who truly knows, glad to see you posted this JohnnyR. While (he won’t do it because he’s a referral only type of business man), funny, Mike should DOUBLE or even triple the price on the Quicksilver Linestage and remote preamp for price-range buyers to consider it. Most overlook it due to low price... I did for too long. Same goes for the Mono amps. If I did not already have my former preaamp, I would have bought the new LS. Love the nice spaced out layout inside the preamp, low noise, low gain tube usage. Focus on function first is nice. Sounds nice with vintage and even simple PSVANE tubes, was kinda floored after my buddy pulled his NOS and tried the recent PSVANE "T" MKII tubes a few weeks ago. A tad more midrange and more musical than his JAN Military and other NOS tubes. Little Linestage sounds better than a few other preamps I heard on his system. VALUE+ A buddy just displaced his former other brand $5k tube preamp (now up for sale) replacing it with the $1000 QS preamp which sounds better, more musical, better sound stage paired up with his QS Mid Mono tube amps. He can’t get rid of his old preamp soon enough to put money back in the pocket. Synergy! |
@agranttz OP12 posts05-04-2020 6:50pmThank you guys! Just bought QS line stage non remote current version. Very exited! Now need to figure out the tube upgrade. Congrats. Good preamp match and it will smooth out the KT150s a bit too. Maybe let the LS and it’s coupling caps burn in for a few weeks then with the stock tubes - then report how it sounds to your ears on your system with your cables, speakers. It runs a pair of 12AT7s and Mike ships them with decent tubes IE or JJ for starters... not terrible. Based on what you want more/less of, we can get you close. You could try various vintage and a few buddies pulled their vintage tubes and tried newest version PSVANE signal tubes recently with some success. What speakers are you running again with the Mono 120s? |
@agranttz,
I am getting a used LS, should be ready to go for me. Will report back on the sound. I am running JM Labs Utopia Diva Be speakers, 89 dB. Looking at your speakers, efficiency, and knowing the amp/preamp signature in stock and semi-upgraded form, since it's 2nd hand, def worth trying it first and see what tubes and caps are installed now. Thumbs up! |
Yes, it appears on the QS website, specs show both Linestage and Remote control preamps list "inverted", 180+ degrees polarity on output. Some interesting feedback on it and what to do or try, fwiw. Video/Youtube: Paul at PS Audio did a quick video on the topic for a write-in question. The link may get filtered out, but I'll post it here both ways, and with spaces, cut & paste and pull back together, try it. https://youtu.be/HJKshrTGPtI or h t t ps: / / y o u tu.be / H J K s h r T G P t I |
Since you bought the unit 2nd hand, did you check to see if someone possibly changed the tubes and coupling caps, what’s installed now?
How about Audioconnection’s inverted polarity note above, did you try it, and did that help?
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agranttz,
Update: today I swapped back and forth between my very best vintage 1960s Mullard 12AU7s and latest version PSVANE MKIIs in the QS Mono 120s. My buddy did the same in his Linestage last week, replaced the stock low grade JJs you have now. They do sound lean in our rigs too. Both of us gave the lower version JJs away. There are much better JJs up the line into the high $ Black Sable JJ versions but those are more costly than several vintage and 40% more cost than the new MKII PSVANEs which are decent for the $ if you don’t wanna mess with vintage.
Personally, I’ve tried the best from vintage 1960s Mullard, Tungsram, RCA, Sylvania, CIFT, Brimar, Amperex and more in my QS amps. Tried 17 different vintage pairs (some on loan) and 3 different new-reissues pairs in total. Same with my friend with the QS Linestage and QS Mid Monos. Both of us agreed, all so much better than the new low version JJs that came with your QS Linestage new-stock from Quicksilver. And, gotta say the new PSVANE MKII 12A?7 tubes are pretty nice too. Maybe a little fuller upper and lower midrange, maybe a tad more forward than my best Mullard "Blackburn" small signal tubes, but not bad ad all. With more burn-in they are settling back a tad more now. I like both, a lot. The Mullard vintage and the newer PSVANE are my #1a and #1b for different reasons. Have some of the latest "12AT7" PSVANE MKIIs coming this week to re-test those again too.
The QS Linestage and Mono amps are VERY responsive to replacement of quality small signal/driver tube changes, fwiw. And, with really great interconnects we noticed an even bigger difference with changes in the small signal and driver tubes. Hope this helps. |
@argranttz
1) Are your preamplifier and amplifier plugged into the same plug/circuit? If not, try plugging both into the same circuit too.
2) Does it change removing and replacing all small tubes back to originals?
3) Disconnect the RCA cables between amp/preamp and see if it still occurs. A buddy had same issues with a different pair of amps. His new/vintage replacement tubes were bad, but not the entire issue. Turned out to be his preamp causing the hum, had to send it back. He confirmed this trying different preamps
4) Can you plug the amp(s) into a completely different location somewhere else (away from your neighborhood) to isolate if it’s some kind of local electrical induction from power lines that are too close to audio lines. Often referred to as “60-cycle hum.” |
Preamp:
Update: heard back from a few friends with the QS Linestage preamp and a few members here pairing QS preamps with QS Mono amps.
ALL much prefer the sound after installing quality vintage or better boutique 12AT7s in the preamps. ALL required 80+ hrs burn-in on pre, caps, tubes to settle in. Better quality RCA interconnects helped show what the better Input-signal tubes can offer in the QS preamp.
Same results when applied to my other-brand 6SN7 based tube preamp to really bring out the potential of the QS Mono tube amps. |
