Paradigm S4 Quicksilver amplification

Which Quicksilvers and what preamp?

Quicksilver mono blocks (valved), approx 15ys old with a new Vincent hybrid SA-T1 pre-amp.
Cheers

The Quicksilvers are the 8417 mono's.
Cheers

Did you try the 4 ohm tap?

Just my opinion, but I had the Paradigm S6 v.2 and I could not stand how the mid range sounded. It was so closed in and unmusical. I then tried the Klipsch LaScala and was amazed at the huge change. Now I have the Volti Audio Vittoras. Simply amazing and ultimately satisfying. I have been told by others that their opinions of the S6 was that they were grainy. Don't blame it on the Quicksilvers, they are a wonderful company.

Thanks for the amp advice. I am happy with both the Quicksilvers and the Paradigms' - just not in combination. Your description of the mid range is exactly my experience.

I confess I didn't know about the 4/8 ohm option until your post Rrog. I did a bit more web surfing - certainly sounds well worth trying. Thanks for the advice - keen to give it a go when I get back home tonight.

Thanks guys, really appreciated.

Many thanks
Phil

The 4 ohm tap should give you more detail and tighten things up. You should be able to get reasonable sound quality with the Paradigm speakers. I am not familiar with your preamp and how well it mates with your amplifiers. If you are still not satisfied with the sound after making some adjustments I recommend finding a used Quicksilver preamp.

I can not comment on your exact set up. But I have had quicksilvers for the past 8 years and Paradyms in the past. The quicksilvers are nothing but smooth and detailed. They are a grate amp. The Paradygm are also a good speaker but not my favorite I never had your model but the ones I had where bright not very accurate. As stated above make sure you are using the 4 ohm tap if that is what your speakers are. What cables are you running? SOmething is a muck and I think what is happening is you are getting into the level of equipnment that is letting you hear it. Or you are just use to a different sound.

Broke a few speed limits getting home to try the 4ohm tap - a huge difference and a big relief. The midrange in particular is much improved. Many thanks for the advice Rrog. However I have to go along with your comments Programmergeek; the speakers are still not as "bright" as I was hoping and as bright as I heard them in the demo lab (sounded great). Something still not quite right but a whole lot better now I have swapped to 4 ohm.
Cheers guys

NB the speaker wire is top of the line high content silver !

Geko
Your Quicksilver 8417 amps are about 24 years old not 15
The advise Frog offered with the Quicksilve pre amp is a good one
Quicksilver pre inverts
cheers johnnyr

Thanks johnny, sounds like I should start a serach for a 20 yr old pre-amp!
(-:
Cheers

Just wanted to keep you informed on the Caps age and so forth
these amps are probably fine....
A good pre owned late model Quicksilver line stage with fresh tubes would perform as quicksilver Audio intended and that with other great gear can turn your music into an event.
Best Johnnyr

Geko
It just occurred to me
You amps have non polarized AC plugs which give you a 50 /50 chance of having the amps plugged in correctly
You will want to make sure you have both AC plugs in the wall with both polarized correctly.
If you look at the AC wires you will see little ribs on the power cords wire.
Try plugging both amps ribs to the right or in the positive ac wall slit and then try ribs to the left see what sounds best with a female voice.
You can confirm you are optimized with an AC Volt meter Measure AC volts then plug each amp one at a time into the ac wall outlet with the amps turned off and no interconnects to amps...
Now measure the amps ground voltage by taking VM probes from the amps ground chassis to ac wall sockets Ground
which is the round hole. Remove plug from wall and re insert it the other way and measure again
The lower the chassis ground the better the sound
Now mark the cords and always plug them in this way
Keep in mind these mono block amps work best with shorter runs of speaker wire 3 to 4 feet is ideal even if your uncle fritz gave you some hi Cap anaconda peker wire
try some basic shorties
If you still aint happy try a vintage pair or later Vandersteen 2 series that have a faster response in phase mid range and have a blast.
Cheers Johnnyr

I'm impressed that anaconda's have such long pekers, though I don't envy the folk who's job it is to collect them !!!

Thanks for the advice on both the polarity and wire lengths. I'll be back home on Friday and check as I suspect that this has not previously been considered. The wires are around 5 feet so I will experiment with these at the same time.

If this approach doesn't work I'll dip into the pocket for the line stage amp as suggested.

Thanks again for the great advice.

Cheers