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my new twins arrive (and not a mention of Scarlett Johansson), Quicksilver Mini Mites

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My Quicksilver Mini MItes arrives yesterday... after a prolonged labour at the post office involving both a complete lack of understanding how to charge COD and then the inability to take payment by credit card. This resulted in a harum scarum dash into the city to secure cash money and and equal dash back.
Finally I got them home and unpacked only to have th window cleaner arrive and want to know all about them (guitar playing tube fan).
A half hour of unwrapping and connecting.
INsert CD and... nothing but a little buzz... Try again. Same result.
Then I noticed the lack of a light on my pre... it's been in a cupboard for 6 months and when I say 6 I probably mean 10...
OK, I'll have to get it checked... frantic pacing the house waiting for the WCs to finish.Then One last try... and I noticed the problem... I hadn't switched on at the wall...
Big Egg, small face.
5 minutes later and they were away.
First impressions: nice... warm... detailed... dead at the top... OK bass... OK but nothing exciting.
The window cleaner liked them though!
Oh, Good!
I left them burning all day and tried again last night. Better... much better, more detail but still dull...
THis morning and an hour of warming and they are opening up.Or perhaps my pre is opening up.Whatever.
The sound is expanding up and down. Nice bass, deeper and natural sounding. Cool. High end opening and just a touch of edge at the moment.
I wonder when they will take their first steps...
I reckon they could be flying by the weekend.

Follow Ups:

Be patient - Frihed89 11:14:04 03/23/07 (7)
It will happen! It's like a date where you aren't sure if you'll score or not and then, and then, and then...........it all happens at once.
Go away for a week.
- burning up - dave c 13:26:01 03/23/07 (6)
  Yes its a weird and frustrating period as different frequencies seem to open at different rates across different components...
  But as everything has been used before, I am thinking it won't take as long as with unused things...
  Although I am open to alternative lifestyle opinions on how and why this is or isn't the case!
  For new components I have frequently heard differences at around the 200 hour mark. And sometimes a big change almost instantaneously.
  I really have no explanation for it, just the observation. It's too long since i studied this stuff to have any hope of understanding it.
  - If it doesn't sound good after a week, it's broken - Frihed89 11:00:26 03/24/07 (5)
    Call Quicksilver direct.
    - I may have phrased that badly - dave c 19:51:06 03/24/07 (4)
      There's nothing wrong with them, it's just the burning in opening up the sound.
      My pre-amp has sat in a cupboard for months, as has the 2 metre Eicjmann interconnect between the pre and the Quicksilvers.
      Add whatever time those Quicksilvers have spend between the shop and me via my friend's holiday and I think it all sounds remarkable.
      I found time yesterday to apply the contact liquid and that has, as I always find, taken a slight edge off the sound.
      It was getting to the "damn that's good" level last night.
      - Re: I may have phrased that badly - peaceseeker12@hotmail.com 10:15:43 04/03/07 (0)
        
        In Reply to: I may have phrased that badly posted by dave c on March 24, 2007 at 19:51:06:
        
        Give the Quicksilver Mini mites a chance. They really bloom after a few days.
        I purchased a pair a few months back, and use them with a vintage Electrocompaniet Preampliwire -- run into a pair of Linn Kans.
        The sound is quite full and detailed with an expansive midrange.
        A short run of speaker wire (Mike Sanders recommends a 4' pair) -- 16 gauge or thicker is best, optimizes these low powered amps.
        For comparison sake I also purchased a pair of Antique Sound Lab Wave AV 25 monoblocks -- again, excellent little amplifiers that sound extremely lush after a few days break-in-time.
        And both the Quickies and Wave 25's have plenty of low end grunt when paired with an efficient speaker.
        Both amp's are a bargain new, and provided they're in good shape an even better bargain when purchased on the used market.
      - Try KT88s and EL34s - Frihed89 15:16:48 03/25/07 (1)
        
        In Reply to: I may have phrased that badly posted by dave c on March 24, 2007 at 19:51:06:
        
        It sounds like maybe this is a brain thing and you're solution now lies in tube rolling to get the sound you want. With such a fine amp, I would not hesitate to try some EL34s and KT88s to start with. This amp can take many different outputs. I picked the EL34 and KT88 because they are quite a bit different (depending on the brand, etc). I am not familiar with the 6L6.
        
        Re: Try KT88s and EL34s - Mechans 16:42:51 03/25/07 (0)
        
        In Reply to: Try KT88s and EL34s posted by Frihed89 on March 25, 2007 at 15:16:48:
        
        I agree with Frihed both are very musical especially the EL34. They generally have the most midrange good tone, tenor, timbre especially the JJ EL34L which you don't like, they aren't slammers and do give up something on both extremes. If your a slam guy go all the way and get some KT90s. IMHO magic of music is in the midrange.
      - I was going to suggest - nightdoggy 14:15:08 03/25/07 (0)
        
        In Reply to: I may have phrased that badly posted by dave c on March 24, 2007 at 19:51:06:
        
        that it might be the tubes.
        The Sovtek 6L6GC is not what the factory supplied and Sovtek has not made it for a few years.
        Sometimes when a jerk sells a tube amp they stick old tubes in there. Sometimes it's best to start over with new tubes.
        I like the 6L6 in the minis. That's what I'm using now (Sovtek 6L6WXT+), although I plan to try the others.
thank you for all the answers and the slightly surreal direction the thread has taken... - dave c 16:07:26 03/22/07 (0)
Its a bit noff topic for tubes so it might be better to take the photos to Water Cooler before a moderator finds us... sssshhhhh.
Dave what tubes did it come with? - nightdoggy 04:56:15 03/22/07 (0)
The original Chinese 12AX7 is not sonically bad but the Tesla E34L's were a little lacking across the board. I'm getting great sound out of a matched quad of the Sovtek 6L6WXT+. It's kind of a super 6L6 and bargain priced too. I also tried the 6V6EH on a whim and wow. I have yet to try my KT-88s, 6550s, KT66s, KT77s and other EL34s. They probably all have their good points too.
I asked Mike Sanders which tube "sounded best" in the minis and he replied the KT-88.
FYI!
Re: my new twins arrive (and not a mention of Scarlett Johansson), Quicksilver Mini Mites - Timbo in Oz 17:57:04 03/21/07 (9)
Sounds like they were very rarely used and are still running in.
IME tube power amps run in within a hundred hours.
Specially small ones!
Warmest
Timbo in Oz
The Skyptical Mensurer and Audio Scrounger
And gladly would he learn and gladly teach - Chaucer. ;-)!
'Still not saluting.'
- I have just been to the quicksilver site and they state the PSU has 100 Joules of storage!!!!! - Timbo in Oz 21:48:04 03/21/07 (8)
  That IS a lot, for just a 25 watt mono power amp. The bass should be very slammy, and grunty, in that case. If they used an LCLC ladder, like they used to do in their 8417 amps, it should be very quiet, too.
  Soft 'tubey bass'? no sirree! Sag!! NO, and WHY would you want it in for audio, anyway?!!!
  My 'once was a LEAK St20' mid/bass duty amp stores 116 Joules, for 2 x 20 wpc. And the bass just does not stop. It does NOT sound like a weenie amp.
  Half the capacitance times the square of the HT voltage feeding the caps, divided by a million, gives us the Joules, IIRC.
  Do chokes have storage? eh?
  
  Warmest
  Timbo in Oz
  The Skyptical Mensurer and Audio Scrounger
  And gladly would he learn and gladly teach - Chaucer. ;-)!
  'Still not saluting.'
  - They have great low end and dynamics - nightdoggy 04:42:28 03/22/07 (5)
    I was not prepared for it and did not expect much from their 25 wpc. But they are literally amazing.
    - Re: They have great low end and dynamics - McCormack 08:46:20 03/22/07 (4)
      Oh yeah, the Mini's put out some serious power... I'm running KT 88's in mine, and with a tubed preamp and running through my way sensitive DIY Dynaudio monitors, nine to ten o'clock on the volume knob gives me all the volume that I can handle.
      - great low end and dynamics - dave c 13:58:29 03/22/07 (2)
        
        In Reply to: Re: They have great low end and dynamics posted by McCormack on March 22, 2007 at 08:46:20:
        
        Re: great low end and dynamics - Michael Samra 20:58:16 03/22/07 (1)
        
        In Reply to: great low end and dynamics posted by dave c on March 22, 2007 at 13:58:29:
        
        Dave
        I plead guilty..I definitely love her low end dynamics and her upper end airness comes out very well also. he he.
        
        Re: great low end and dynamics - Mechans 16:35:05 03/25/07 (0)
        
        In Reply to: Re: great low end and dynamics posted by Michael Samra on March 22, 2007 at 20:58:16:
        
        I wish my amp looked like that but one question. Where are the tubes.....I hope she hide them someplace? I like the tubes right up front where they really glow!
      - you're both describing the effects of a truly BIG PSU, with low ESR in the treble as well! - Timbo in Oz 13:29:50 03/22/07 (0)
        
        In Reply to: Re: They have great low end and dynamics posted by McCormack on March 22, 2007 at 08:46:20:
        
        I'd bet they'd deliver well on big orchestral tuttis and transients like in Copland's 'Rodeo' or Strav's 'Rite of Spring!'
        Wham!!!!!
        Warmest
        Timbo in Oz
        The Skyptical Mensurer and Audio Scrounger
        And gladly would he learn and gladly teach - Chaucer. ;-)!
        'Still not saluting.'
  - those are not weedy (still not refering to Scarlett) - dave c 22:45:33 03/21/07 (1)
    The bass is opening both in depth and.. weight.
    Its getting there.
    As I don't know how much use these have had nor how long they have been boxed and my pre has been in the cupboard so long, as has the Eichmann interconnect I am using to get to the Quicksilvers, I figure I will stop trying to work out which bit is burning/reburning in at whatever rate and just wait for the whole picture to fall into place.
    It won't take long and it seems fun getting there... still not talking about Scarlett.
    But, just for fun...
    
    IS that a Quicksilver Mini Mite monoblock in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?
    - Oh My God - nightdoggy 05:17:34 03/22/07 (0)
      gotta put my knee braces on

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