Tubes or simply the characteristic of the Pre-amp?

I've recently acquired a much covetted piece of gear for myself, a Sonic Frontiers Line 1. With little intro, it has many of the features that I've been "desiring" balanced ins/outs, 2 se line outs, headphone - drool drool drool etc. etc.

Well, I pulled out my beloved Quicksilver Remote Line and replaced it with the SF line 1. What struck me as odd was that the bass seemed "light weight" and the upper bass and lower midrange had less initial presence and lacking lead-in transients.

I swapped out the rear-most tubes of the SF line 1 with the same tubes from my Quicksilver and it improved imaging and tonal balance but still left the upper midbass lacking.

Is this a characteristic of the Line 1? The tubes used are Amperex White Label PQ's from late 50's and they are excellent in the Quicksilver pre.

I know SF makes great gear, I own an Anthem Amp 1 and find parts and build quality leave little to be desired.

Should I shuffle the tubes around? The line 1 has 6 - 6922/6dj8's as opposed to the Quicksilver's 2-6dj8/6922 tube stage.

The current tubes in the line 1 consist of Amperex White Label PQ's, and NOS Tesla Gold pins in the remaining positions from back to front of pre-amp respectively.

Pros of the Line 1? I find air around instruments, width of stage, layers and imaging have increased in a very nice way however, I have lost some of the dynamics from the Quicksilver. The Line 1 is also just the slightest quieter but also seems lower in gain.

Is it the positioning of my tubes, the tubes themselves or the Line 1 itself that has stolen the upper bass and lower mid bass regions?

I can definitely "live" with the sound, the only thing is that I feel that I may be giving up what the Quicksilver was able to give in spades.

I thought that by pulling the Amperex's from the Quicksilver I would hear similar performance from the Line 1.

When I first installed the Amperex White Labels in the Quicksilver the difference was NOT subtle. Bass became almost overwhelming to where I had to move the speakers out in to the room and away from the wall more than the previous tubes.

Thank you to all and sorry if my question is confusing or unclear.

Happy Listening,

Angelo