Hello,
you’re driving me crazy with this thing, 
Actually, I would like to change the dac.
But when you read along as a quiet reader, i get curious.
So, does anyone have a comparison to the Feliks Elise/Euforia?
And probably no one knows if you could get it as a Eu version?
I find it interesting because it is supposed to work well with planar headphones.
Might be a good fit for my necklace.
So here is the thing. You have an euforia correct? I don’t really think the quicksilver is going to be an upgrade or anything if you already like your euforia. I would rate the elise on a similar level to the qs, but the euforia is a step above, and I think if you did want to get a tube amp to drive planar you would be best served with an amp more at the level of the euforia (and also something more feasible to buy in the EU) than the qs. The qs would probably be an amp you would enjoy, but I don’t know if it would be anything more than a side grade or slight downgrade
Would agree by the time you’ve paid shipping and customs, it’s just not going to be worth it, there’s so many EU local tube amp manufacturers, that I really wouldn’t go out of the way to buy a very good entry level American made one with extremely limited distribution.
Yes, it is the Euforia with Vcaps upgrades that I have.
But I have to say that planar headphones are not necessarily the first choice with the Euforia.
The Little Dot 1+ and the Wba hybrid amplifier show me that quite clearly. the Lcd 2 is more powerful on both amplifiers.
In any case, it was a nice mental game with the QS.
And I will take your advice to heart, these are always particularly valuable for me 
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Thank you,Mon & Polygonhell:pray:
Of course I know that there are Eu products.
But I’m also a fan of the Us sound so it suits my taste more mostly or British.
That’s why I’m interested,
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Oh yes with the customs clearance of course you have to weigh.
At the moment it is possible, I have to say, but then there would be another 200-250$.
Oh absolutely makes sense, it’s not what it was designed for
If you felt super compelled to buy a US made tube amp for planar, I’d aim for the big boys like Eddie current, modwright, decware, woo, A&S, what have you to make it more worthwhile than the simple quicksilver. But really there’s so many good eu options, too many to name, so you will get better value for money easily and honestly have just as many options. So I’d start looking around what is more easily available to you and see what’s out there, there are so many cool options
Yes, now that you mention it, the Decware/zmf could still be interesting for the future, modwright also sounds good.
But a second tube amp would still be nice.
I would still prefer to change the dac than to have a second amp now.
I don’t think I’ve reached the end of my reserves with the Euforia.
It was just a thought mind game, because I see the QS almost daily in forums how good it is 
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I’m not a good source for comparisons of the Quicksilver to more expensive tube amps, but I can say this thing has absolutely no trouble driving my Meze Elite or Modhouse Argon. Those are the only two planars I have, so it might be a different story with planars that are much harder to drive. Obviously, it’s great with high impedance dynamics.
I think it’s probably not a good choice for people outside the US. It would require a step-down transformer to work elsewhere since Mike only makes it for the US market with no other voltage offerings.
Yes, definitely.
But there are also ways to be able to operate something like that.
I successfully operate my Japanese toaster, which is only available as a Japanese version, with a transformer that regulates down to the Japanese voltage value.
This also works for audio equipment.
If that was the recommendation of the manufacturer that the amplifier would work better this way, I would have no problem with it.
Are there any OTL tube amps higher up the chain that do planars well or is the otl implementation just not the right tool
I know the Allnic HPA-5000 XL has been mentioned as fitting this bill in the past, but I haven’t gotten to hear one myself.
There are OTL amps that will put 20+Watts into 8 Ohm speakers, so It’s not impossible, it’s just not the easiest thing to do.
Tubes are spectacularly good voltage amplifiers, but they can push a very limited amount of current, transformers convert voltage into current and vice versa, so that doesn’t matter in a transformer coupled design.
In OTL amps you have to take high powered tubes, and drive them in parallel to achieve the same thing, because the current has to run through the tubes, transformer coupled designs are just a better starting point for it.
There is a secondary issue with output impedance for OTL designs, but there are workarounds for that.
So basically an elaborate over build to do a job something else does better.
Hey guys, do you know how the Quicksilver compares with the McIntosh MHA200?
Well the Macintosh is over twice the price, so it’s an odd comparison
Depends.
The Mcintosh is rather overpriced for what it does.
Above all, don’t have a problem with the volume control, which has been much criticised.
The first units last year also experienced defects.
Don’t know if it was fixed or not.
Otherwise, the sound is supposed to be good.
But there are other calibres for the money that are worth looking at.
My friend is considering one or the other, i doubt the Mcintosh does everything better. Honestly, i stopped thinking more expensive gear sound better, that is just not always the case.
While that is true to a point, it’s rare to find something much cheaper that’s definitively better.
Giant killers are very few and far between IME.
The nature of tube amps is that the quality of components matters.
Generally, I’d suggest picking a price point and comparing what’s available in and around it.
Now having said that I’m a Quicksilver fan I own a pair of Quicksilver M135 monoblocks, and Mike isn’t going to mark up items in the same way as Macintosh, he also uses custom wound transformers and has his own Cap’s manufactured, and that will offset some of that.
I also think modern Macintosh gear is overrated and more expensive than it should be.
But in that $2.5K price bracket you have other options than just Quicksilver and Macintosh.
I really think you have to pick a price point, and if your really thinking of spending either $1K or $2.5K, you probably need to decide which first.
There are options at $2.5K for tube amps, but IMO it’s a bit of a no-mans land price wise.
Would agree. I wouldn’t expect the Mac to be the best value, but I also wouldn’t write it off simply because it’s a Mac either. Generally you do get what you pay for, you just pay more for the brand in the case of the Mac stuff than you do with Quicksilver. I’d hope the MHA200 is a better amp given what they charge for it, but as @Polygonhell mentioned there’s probably better or at least more tried and true options in that price point. All depends on what you are looking for
Haven’t heard it so can’t say
I get a feeling the Mac is no longer the giant it was back in the day, but i have never auditioned one myself.
When i see endgame setups with Utopias, Susvaras, etc i never see a Mac, when i see tube amps what i see are Woo Wa33 / Cayin 300B, etc. Never a Mac, that is why i ask, maybe it does not compete anymore?
Classic Macintosh gear deserved it’s rep, but used prices on it are now insane because everyone wants them.
Modern Macintosh gear there is a significant brand premium, I don’t think they are bad products, but your paying a premium for the name.
Macintosh has also never really been a significant player in the headphone space.