Big Greg, no offense taken ! I assure you if you spent some time with either amp you would agree that they are superb performers. Both made in USA by companies with serious audio roots.
You have a unique perspective, you are a DIY guy who can build amps , but you also have some fine toys that are at the top of their class, so you probably see a lot of overpriced crap that just isn't worth the money. That's part of the problem with the headphone category. Lots of cheaply built cans and amps from China. Many which are flavor of the week.
Are amps like the Manley and conrad -johnson worth their asking prices of $4500 and $7500 respectively? I don't know and I'll probably never get to find out. I think in every category you reach the point of diminishing returns, where is that with phones? I don't know....
Neve must be having some success in the home arena or they wouldn't have re-cased the RNHP to look like a slick piece of home gear.... the amp is exactly the same inside, identical. The new Fidelice RNHP goes for $1195. That puts it $200 more than the Quicksilver which is clearly the better amp so they really didn't do their customers any favors. They are targeting the home demographic now with case work.
So I will just say the Neve is great for the money, maybe not TOTL , but it will crush a number of more expensive amps.
The Quicksilver on the other hand is every bit of what I would expect in a top shelf amp. It is built exactly like their amps. In fact the chassis is like a 2/3 scale Mid Mono. Same heavy gauge steel, same beefy power transformer. Beautiful fit and finish The only plastic on the entire case is the fuse holder and IEC receptacle. It's a tank, it weighs 16 lbs. It sounds phenomenal and I would put it up against anything 2 maybe even 3 times the price.
Happy listening
