SUMMER	2004
Page Two

New Stuff

 QUICKSILVER: It’s been a while since I’ve spent quality time with my old friends, the products of Quicksilver audio. New offerings from other manufacturers have required my time of late, pushing Quicksilver back into the shadows. I thought it was time to revisit the designs from Mike Sanders to see how they fared against some of the new competitors.
            Mike Sanders has been quietly designing and building Quicksilver products since 1981. He’s taken a different path than most, building a business strictly by word of mouth. You’ll see no advertising for Quicksilver and they don’t go after the reviews - a time consuming and expensive process. This tack reduces overhead and allows Quicksilver to offer exceptionally high value products. The Quicksilver business model has proven successful, evidenced by the fact their products are continually backordered. Mike refuses to compromise quality by increasing his staff of loyal and conscientious workers, preferring instead to remain small, stable and solvent.

          
            Pick any product in the line and you’ll discover a component that sounds great, is well made, exceptionally reliable and maintains good resale value. Quicksilver isn’t constantly changing their designs and rarely discontinues products. This helps protect your resale value, preserving more of your investment.
            The Quicksilver philosophy follows the adage, simple is better. Their designs are straightforward and practical, which also translates into reliability. In the fourteen years I’ve been a Quicksilver dealer, I’ve sent back a total of four products for repair. One of them may not have been faulty, but we’ll never know as it was lost in transit. This may very well be best reliability record of any product line I handle, and for tube gear, a remarkable feat indeed. I’ll get off my soapbox now and give you my impressions of the sound.
            I’ve been spending quality time of late with the V4 120 watt mono block amps ($3995pr), the Line Stage preamp and Phono Preamp. The sound from this combo is hearty and rich, with midrange you can really sink your teeth into. Don’t take that description to mean that the sound is rolled off or euphonic in any way. It isn’t. Tonal content is neutrally balanced, but the harmonic richness and timbral attributes are fully developed. There’s no question you’re listening to tubes here. The delicacy and dimensionality are palpable, but there’s no blatant attempt to sugar coat the music with a false or unnatural presentation. No need, the gear is clean and true, lacking grain or glare that needs to be hidden.

            Paul Seydor of the Absolute Sound writes: "The V4 recreates a musical event on a scale and with a solidity, roundedness, and three-dimensionality matched by few and surpassed by no other amplifiers, with sensational dynamic-range to boot."

            The Line Preamp and Phono Preamp echo the strengths of the amplifiers – high performance, high value, and high reliability. At their modest prices, the preamps are a steal. As good as they are, they aren’t quite up to level of performance offered by the V4 amplifiers (and above). Those amplifiers justify a pairing with state of the art preamp.
            In addition to the V4 and preamps mentioned above, Quicksilver offers a range of amplifiers (all mono blocks) ranging in price from $995 a pair up to their newly introduced Triode Amplifiers at $5800 per pair. All are hand wired. There’s also a Remote Controlled line stage offered at $1395 and a nifty moving coil Step-Up Transformer (24db gain) for $585. It comes with pigtail leads, so no additional cables are required.
            It’s refreshing to work with a company like Quicksilver; one so committed to customer service, quality and value. All Quicksilver products are handcrafted right here in the USA. Though I have nothing against imported gear, it’s gratifying to know that our Dollars support the American businessman and the domestic manufacturers who struggle to compete with cheap labor abroad. Hat’s off to Quicksilver for their perseverance and dedication to the craft of quality audio, hand built in the USA.

ANTIQUE SOUND LABS: After a lengthy delay, the new Mk III version of the popular ASL MG Head DT/OTL headphone amplifier has arrived. The Mk III looks great, sporting a handsome new faceplate and refined chassis, topped off with an attractive chrome wire cage. The power supply shed its former plastic box in favor of a full size metal chassis. I understand there have been further tweaks inside, but no details are available at this time. The great sound we've all loved is still there.
         The MG Head DT/OTL Mk III can be switched between transformer coupled outputs and true output transformer less operation. Both sound wonderful but most listeners prefer the smooth, silky quality of OTL operation. Overall performance can be enhanced by upgrading tubes and replacing the stock power cord. Surprisingly, the price remains unchanged (for now) at $359. We like. You like.

REFERENCE 3A: After the mountains of great press, (and the constant prodding of our clients!), we decided to bring in the line of outstanding speakers from Reference 3A. We’re looking forward to the arrival of our first unit soon.
            The Reference 3A speakers are unusual in their design which uses no crossover. Many feel the crossover is the biggest limiting fact in loudspeakers, stealing away much of music’s subtle detail. Read what the reviewers have to say.

"In every other meaningful way, the Reference 3A MM de Capo i is as unforgettable as your favorite song,.... ", "This is one hell of a nice thing....", "What accounts for that sort of performance?"
Stereophile/ Equipment Room/ Art Dudley

"I could easily live with this," ... "You'd have to be tied to your chair not to react to this,"..."For the second recording in a row, Reine put aside her notebook and simply listened." ... "You can hear that lineage with every note it plays." UHF MAGAZINE

The Absolute Sound - Volume #19 Issue #100 The Best Components of 1994 Tough Choices!

"Among the best speakers in the world..."HI-FI Journal - from Korea

"For "only" $2,500/pr these piano black mini-monitors are the best value in their category in my opinion. Nothing I have heard over the past years comes close to being so harmonically right
and offer great speed and detail."... "there is a great deal of rightness to the sound of instruments." ...
"Here we have a modern day mini-monitor classic." ENJOY THE MUSIC

"No crossover means being joined at the hip and when you lock onto an amp that does not have current limiting circuitry like the Edge's, you will be shocked. I'm talking snare drum in the chest." ... "This is the speaker I've been looking for five years." ... "Upon the first couple of passages heard, I new this was a winner." ..."Value Rating: 5 STAR  Overall Rating: 5 STAR" AUDIO REVIEW

The list goes on and on, but you get the idea.

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