Quicksilver V4 or Silver 88 advice needed.....


I've compared an older first generation Quicksilver V4 (green LED power switch) and a Quicksilver Silver 70 (blue Led) and am looking to get the best of both worlds....

1. Love the drive and bottom end on the older V4...the drive is simply amazing with my Vandersteen 2ce Sig II speakers.

2. Love the midrange on the Silver 70. It's liquid 3-D.

What combines these two?

....the newer Quicksilver V4 (blue led with newer transformer) or the Silver 88?

Any advice appreciated from the experts out there! Thank you in advance.

Best
Theron
Baltimore
128x128theron_day
If you can get by on the 80 watts of the Silver 88, it will control cone woofers better. It has the lowest output impedance and the highest damping factor of any Quicksilver amp (or compared to the vast majority of tube amps period). It can drive difficult loads. If you need more than 80 watts, go for the V4s--you can't go wrong with either.
I agree with John. Adding a Vandersteen 2W does amazing things to the sound and I don't mean just in the bass. It opens up the 2Ce like you wouldn't believe and makes your amp sound like it has twice as much power.

If you ask Sanders he will tell you its hard to argue with 4 output tubes, although experience tells me "less is more" and there is something special about amplifiers with fewer output devices.
I agree with John. When you say "2.0 for now" does that mean you might at the subs later? Or is that just out of the question? It is hard to argue with 4 output tubes when they provide enough power for a particular speaker - 80 watts seems like alot of power to me, if the amp has enough current to drive impedance dips into the 4 ohm range, an issue with most tube amps. Not sure anyone on the planet knows more about Quicksilver/Vandersteen than John (Audio Connection).