Thanks for the insights folks. I had not considered some of these points. This forum is truly a blessing to the hobby! The Thiels can not be biamped unfortunately. I suppose Jim Thiel has his reasons. There is no advice in the Bryston owner's manual regarding bridging, but as was pointed out, there is no mention of using the amps with a 4 ohm nominal rating. I will e-mail tech support shortly and if their response is worth a read I will post it here asap. I do not think the Thiel CS 3.6 impedance is a very reactive one, but it is a low impedance regardless. Interestingly I almost purchased a 4B-ST initially, instead of the 3B-St in 1997, but it was clearly sonic overkill for my Thiel CS 2s (now 4 sale) and my listening habits/room size. Perhaps there is a moral in this for those of us that tend to upgrade even periodically. I knew I wanted 3.6s in 1997, but I did not know WHEN I would get them if ever. I did not know we would move and my listening room would double in volume either. In the future I will buy as much amp as I can! I'm in the process of also trying to sell the 3B-ST and find a used 4B-ST or SST. Surprisingly lots of dealers are still selling NEW 4B-STs. I suppose it is not possibe to upgrade to a 4B-SST easily. The 7B-ST monos are out of my budget (happy wife = limits on equipment budget....lol). I had a Krell 250a in house briefly X-mas day. The extra power was noticed, hence the 4B-St will be a welcome addition, but I really didn't warm to the Krell. My c-j tube amp will back from the shop soon....wonder how that will do?
Bridging Bryston 3B-STs a few questions
I have one 3B-ST and am looking to add another 3B-St to drive my Thiel 3.6s... Has anyone had any problems bridging these amps or any negative experiences bridging any other amps that might apply to my situation? Any good results alternatively? Are there any problem with ground loops? Hum? Should I get two dedicated 20 amp lines or will one suffice? Some music (hip hop of my son's choice) can dim the lights in my house on peaks with one 3B-ST already. Nothing I listen to has done this however.