I have a pair of Quicksilver monoblock amps that I'm in the process of restoring. What precipitated me to do this is that my chassis have become corroded. I decided to do one at a time so that I could use the other as a guide (there are no schematics for these amps that I could find). The other night I stripped the first one. Desoldering was the biggest obstacle since it was a lot harder than I expected. I have received some advice from other DIY'ers that will probably make the next amp go smoother. I intend to strip the chassis of all parts/paint, and have them professionally chromed, or, have new ones built using highly polished stainless steel. It depends on which option is least expensive. I will continue informing the group of my progress and, in the meantime, all comments and suggestions are welcome. Cheers!
Quicksilvers
Hi!
I haven't been keeping up with my usergroups for a while, sorry!
I finished my project about 6 months ago (finally). It turned out very well, although not perfect.
I had both chassis professionally chormed, but the result was short of perfect. I guess the fact that the chassis were corroded is not sumething you can overcome easily. I grinded the chassis until the rust was off, but it was impossible to get them perfectly smooth. When I finally got them chormed, it turned out they were only chormed on the outside, not the inside. So the inside of the chassis look scruffy and old. I did clean it out and replaced all rusty or old parts.
I also replaced all the internal wiring, bought new caps directly from Quicksilver, and had all the resistors checked for accurate value and replaced any that were less than optimal. I decided not to replace with boutique-type caps and resistors because I really like the Quicksilver sound and did not want to change it. Frankly I was afraid I wouldn't like it and have to do more work on it, and I was tired of having the amps on a bench.
I did upgrade the tube sockets only because the ones that came with the amp were a little abused. I got some ceramic sockets and new tubes (Svetalan KT88, RCA 5AR4(?) rectifiers I took out of some only amps., and the chinese input tubes that the amp came with because I have not found any upgrades to those.
Oh, I almost forgot, I tried switching to transistor rectification, but after consulting with Mike Sanders and testing around some with a friend, I swithed right back to tube rectification. I can see why some people prefer it, but I still like the sweetness of the 5AR4.
In conclusion, the amplifiers are cosmetically very pleasing. I keep them with the cage off so that the chrome job is noticeable. I had also rechromed the transformer covers, and appied a coat of flat, black spray paint.
I never really think of the amps in terms of whether I think they are the best option for the price or not. But let's just say that if I really wanted I could buy a much more expensive amp and I always end up just buying more music. I guess that means I really like them.
Cheers and thanks for the follow-up.
Hi!
I haven't been keeping up with my usergroups for a while, sorry!
I finished my project about 6 months ago (finally). It turned out very well, although not perfect.
I had both chassis professionally chormed, but the result was short of perfect. I guess the fact that the chassis were corroded is not sumething you can overcome easily. I grinded the chassis until the rust was off, but it was impossible to get them perfectly smooth. When I finally got them chormed, it turned out they were only chormed on the outside, not the inside. So the inside of the chassis look scruffy and old. I did clean it out and replaced all rusty or old parts.
I also replaced all the internal wiring, bought new caps directly from Quicksilver, and had all the resistors checked for accurate value and replaced any that were less than optimal. I decided not to replace with boutique-type caps and resistors because I really like the Quicksilver sound and did not want to change it. Frankly I was afraid I wouldn't like it and have to do more work on it, and I was tired of having the amps on a bench.
I did upgrade the tube sockets only because the ones that came with the amp were a little abused. I got some ceramic sockets and new tubes (Svetalan KT88, RCA 5AR4(?) rectifiers I took out of some only amps., and the chinese input tubes that the amp came with because I have not found any upgrades to those.
Oh, I almost forgot, I tried switching to transistor rectification, but after consulting with Mike Sanders and testing around some with a friend, I swithed right back to tube rectification. I can see why some people prefer it, but I still like the sweetness of the 5AR4.
In conclusion, the amplifiers are cosmetically very pleasing. I keep them with the cage off so that the chrome job is noticeable. I had also rechromed the transformer covers, and appied a coat of flat, black spray paint.
I never really think of the amps in terms of whether I think they are the best option for the price or not. But let's just say that if I really wanted I could buy a much more expensive amp and I always end up just buying more music. I guess that means I really like them.
Cheers and thanks for the follow-up.
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