Which Quicksilver to buy

Hey Jordi - Man, I've had more than one offer on those jewels. Everyone whose listened to them at length has asked where they can get a pair. Damn shame that Mike decided not to build SET amps. I just don't get it. I think you may be right that he should have listened to them with the WE 300B's instead of those Chinese light bulbs he listened with!!! I think if we bug him one more time about that he'll cut us out of his will and send a hit man after both of us! If I ever sell them I won't forget the man who sold them to me, and comissioned them in the first place: you'll have first dibs. If my business and the economy continues in the direction it has been you may hear from me about just that my friend!

Marco

Hey Marco,
If you are ever going to part with those prototype 300B's I want first crack at them
Jordi

No David. Most are PP amps. If you want more extensive information on any one of them give Mike Sanders a phone call. He is pretty brief on emails and takes a while to reply sometimes. My ARC LS2B sounded great with my Mini Mites. Not sure, but I'd imagine that combination might be a good way to go with the Vandy's....they're pretty efficient aren't they? I've got a friend running his 100's with Aliante Pininfarina Ones and he loves that combination. I think your Vandy's are 88db efficient so may need a bit of kick from the amps unless you are in a very small room. If you're musical tastes tend toward rock, orchestral, and generally more layered more complex music with a bit of slam, the Silver 90's would be a nice amp. For almost anything else (vocals, acoustic music, smaller arrangements, individual instruments, etc.) I personally prefer the greater finesse and refinement of a PP amp (ultimately SET is what I like for myself, but that would not work well with your speakers). You are looking in the right direction as far as Sander's amps are concerned. Sorry I have no other direct experience to share, but I do think his products offer tremendous bang for the buck and are built like tanks. You may try a few searches here and on Audioasylum to get further input on specific models.

Marco

Marco,
So are all the Quicksilver amps pentode then? The website doesn't specify.
I'm using an AR LS25 MKll preamp and Vandersteen 2C speakers recently rebuilt at Vandersteen, and the next item I'll upgrade in my system.

Thanks,
David

We had a Krell 300i, and I don't really miss the bass slamm too much. About the only time I notice is when I am listening to live amplified heavy metal. I felt the linestage made more of a difference that the amps did with regards to bass slam. One tube linestage that I heard that had excellent slam, was the Transcendent Grounded Grid preamp.

I had a local metal shop build cages for my Quicksilver amps (see my system page). A bit more expensive but not outrageously so. I very much doubt you'll miss anything about SS going to a KT88 based PP or Pentode amp (the silver 90's are Pentode). I've had the 90's and MiniMites as well as two prototype amps Mike Sanders built, one of which I still have and will never part with. I liked the 90's for what they did best (rock and roll and orchestral music.....layered complex music), but for most of what I prefer to listen to I prefer his PP designs. The EL34 is a more delicate sound in comparison to the KT88/90 and there you may notice a bit of low end difference, though I've not perceived it as something I'd yearn for. The V4 are supposed to be excellent amps but I have no experience to convey. Which preamp and speakers are you using and how efficient are the speaker?

Marco

I know my Silver Monos (90wpc) had the option for cages. It's a KT88 amp, but you can run KT90s in it. The KT90s should be more neutral and have taunter bass than most KT88s which sound thicker or tubbier to me. Think of the KT90 as a "heavy duty" EL34 rather than a Kt88. To each his own.

Aaron