I couldn't disagree with hifiguy more. I used to own the Thiel 3.5's and solid state gear is awful with these speakers. The Thiel's are bright! I also have always found the Parasound gear to be bright. If you want your ears to bleed then go that route. Right here at Audiogon in a Demo gear ad there is a AQ1003 for sale for $620. That is a great piece and you get it with a warrenty. They are big sounding tube watts and it can drive low impedance loads. Pick up a Sony SACD Crutchfield for$250, also new with warrenty. You're not going to get remote at this price but after buying the amp and CD player that leaves you about $100 for cabling. The guys selling the amp can help you there. The Thiel's really are beasts and the only way to tame them in my opinion is to use tubes. In your price range I don't think you can do better than the AQ1003.
Build me a killer Rock/Metal Rig for 1K
my old rig is history..devoured by a audio eating species called AudiogoN'ers All I could save were a pair of Thiel 3.5's that have many good years left on them.They are 89 dB and 4 ohm of hunger.Help me..for less than $1000 show me an amp to tame the Thiel beasts,a pre(tubed/remote) to sweeten the Thiel beast.A CDP or SACDP to sing to the Thiel beast.My cage is 14'X20'X8' I listen to classic rock/metalmodern rock/metal lots of classic pop and some heavy metal rap.I dont need window shattering SPL's just decent volume with great bass and transparency. Oh yeah,I also need recommendations for cables to keep the Thiel beast from wandering away and some wires to tie the electronics together.A grand aint much to work on so, vintage gear?