I've been reading this forum for the last couple of weeks, and finally decided to join the forum today.
I've inherited an old tube amp called "Quicksilver GLA" from my uncle, and am looking to purchase a pair of speakers.
I'm pretty much sold on a pair of Triangle Celius ESW as I've found a local seller with great price on them. At this moment, I dont have any alternative choices. I've tried paradigm studio 60 V3, and couple of others, but nothing really made me enjoy the music as much as Celius ESW did to my ears.
Yesterday, I went to the seller's house with my GLA to try them together, and I really liked the combo, butI wish I had a bit more of punchy (attack?) and overall tigher sound. For this reason, someone told me to look into SS int amp choices).
I really like the sound signiture of these Triangle speakers (and price!!), and want to find an alternative amp choice that I might like better than Quicksilver GLA.
If I dont get to use Quicksilver, I can always give it to my little brother :-)
I can stretch my budget upto $1500(used).
Any advices from more experienced members here would be really appreciated!
How old are the tubes in the Quicksilver? You may just need a new set of tubes. If so, choose tubes that offer more "punch". Otherwise, look through the archives of the amplifier sections of the forum for advice on pairing tubed power amplifiers with appropriate speakers.
Unless you are very careful in your selection you might not enjoy the sound of a solid state amplifier with the high frequency response of the Triangles and you will certainly loose most of what made the Quicksilver a well respected line of amplifiers. The idea of "punchy attack" being the province of only solid state is an old concept that doesn't belong in a modern system.
Along wih the amp, I've received the following tubes
Most of the tubes have been used for about 100-150 hours.
-EL34-
1. Matched Quad set of JJ EL34 2. Matched Quad set of Mullard EL34 (New production) 3. Matched Quad set of Svetlana Winged "C" (SED) EL34 4. Matched Quad set of Electro-Harmonix EL34 EH
-6DJ8-
1. JJ Electronic 2. Sylvania ECG (Philips ECG) 3. 1964 Amperex Bugle Boy 4. 1972 Amperex (Orange/A-Frame) 5. 196X Amperex (Orange/small halo) 5. 1961 Mullard made in Holland 6. 6922 PhilipsECG (Green Label)
Obviously, I wasn't able to try many different combinations of tubes. I need to figure out what combination gives what sound first.
I was suspecting that this tube amp was the reason behind that lack of punchy sound that I was hoping to get.
For a SS amp choice, I've been told that Cairn's 4808/4808NF/4810 would be a great match for these Triangle speakers. I'm trying to find some good reviews on them and the major sonic differences, if any, between 4808, 4808NF, and 4810.
I've heard that Cairn's relationship with Triangle is somewhat similiar to Bryston's to PMC.
Any further advices on tube match, or gears would be grateful.
Thanks for taking time to write up!
Ben
p.s. I almost forgot to add that one of the major reasons that I'm looking at other amps (int amp) is that I would like to add a Turntable set-up later on, but GLA has only one RCA input.
Michael- Yes, I've been looking at used Adcom GFP750 as a candidate for the job, but I'm more interested in Integrated amp right now.
Currently, I'm using Apogee Duet(borrowed it from a friend) via Firewire to my mac, playing lossless files.
I didn't feel the need of preamp as I have this newbie biased view on preamp that less is better. I've been told by many I'm not in need of a preamp if I dont need all those inputs, especially for a better sound. Am I seriously mistaken here?
Thanks in advance for sharing your experience with me.
Try running your triangles with krell equipment. I sold off alot of gear to get the rich bass to the triangles. Running a kav 250a with a krc2 preamp. I tried silver speaker cable and found them far to bright, tried copper cables but lost detail. Went to a copper / silver cable chord rumour 4. It made a significant difference. Female vocals with these speakers is incredible. They do work well with all music types. I am a solid state guy so for me tubes aren't an option. They are a far better speaker than the b and w 604 series 3s I had. I auditioned the speakers on a jolida tube integrated and wasn't impressed.