FOCAL CHORUS 716 V or Thiel 1.5 ?


hi, i need choise about this models.
I have tube amp 35 rms
I see a focal 92db and 88DB thiel (but 4 ohms)
Im sorry for my english
mati1979

Showing 2 responses by cmalak

with your tube amp @ 35wpc, you need the high sensitivity of the Focal speakers. The Thiel is not a good match
Mati...does your 35wpc tube amp have a 4ohm tap in the back? Thiel recommends 50-150wpc but Sam Tellig, in his review of the speaker (you can find it in Stereophile's archives), ran it with a 20wpc tube amp with decent results. But his tube amp had 4ohm taps in the back which matched well with the speaker because it's nominally a 4ohm impedance speaker, never dipping below 3ohms or going above 5ohms across the frequency spectrum. So that was a good match. I run Thiel 2.4s (so believe me I like the Thiel sound) with ARC Ref 110 (100wpc) in a moderately sized listening room at moderate sound levels and it's enough to drive the speakers. I just don't know about your tube amp. If it has a 4ohm tap and has solid damping factor (allowing it to drive the woofer with control and no mushiness in the bass), then you should be ok.