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Give up on Thiel 3.6 or try another amp again ?

These speakers sound amazing sometimes, especially on small-scale, well recorded material (regardless of genre).

I tried a PS Audio HCA-2 and an Aragon 8002, neither of which sounded particularly good. I'm now driving them with a pair of 90 wpc Quicksilver mono tube amps. I know this is against conventional wisdom, but I like them more than the previous amps as long as I keep the volume moderate.

The problem is that the speakers don't open up and bloom as I turn them up for either large-scale classical or rock music, but rather get hard sounding. It could be the small room overloading, but I suspect it's the amps running out of steam.

Ideally, I would have an unlimited budget to power these speakers with a huge, clean solid state amp. Sadly, I have pretty much no budget at all, so I'd have to sell the Quicksilvers to finance a new amp. This would leave me with $1200 or so for a good, high current, high wattage amp.

I was thinking a used Parasound A21 might fit the bill, but there aren't a whole lot of other options in this price range that seem optimum.

Truthfully, I am starting to think it would more make sense to explore other used speaker options; as nice as the Thiels sound at times, they may simply be too impractical given my financial constraints. Perhaps a pair of Vandersteen 3A signatures or a new pair of 2ce Signature Mk. II? Perhaps the Gallo 3.1s?

What would you do if you were me?

btw, the rest of the system consists of a Quicksilver linestage and a Rega Saturn CD player. Thanks!
jonathan1257

Showing 5 responses by ckoffend

ckoffend
684 posts
 
Samzx12, I agree with your statement on the ML amps. I ran my Thiel 2.2s with the Mark Levinson 331.5 which I felt was a terrific match. This amp had no issues driving the 2.2s and as you state, can also drive the 3.6 (though I cannot say from experience). Another good amp would be the 23.5 from Levinson, though I am not sure it would be any cheaper than the 331.5 (which I liked better than the 331, but that would also be a good choice).
ckoffend
684 posts
 
Thiels are great speakers that are not only power hungry but also quality hungry of all upstream components. I loved my thiels run with Mark Levinson amplification and direct from the Audio Aero Capitole CDP (no preamp).

Based on your statements, room size, budget I think you will be better of switching speakers instead of trying to find the right amp within your budget for the existing Thiels. You may find that after you get a better amp for these speakers, you will then be forced to upgrade your source and cables.

Jonathon, the Thiels are not bright by themselves, but they will magnify synergy issues upstream that with lesser quality equipment. This will make many former owners of them (Thiels) believe the weekness was in the speakers (which of course it wasn't).

Why not figure out what you want in a pair of speakers, offer the rest of your components up and inquiry what will produce the desired results you are seeking.
ckoffend
684 posts
 
The thread should not bum anybody out if it helps them to become aware of synergy issues and upstream equipment importance. Perhaps those on a slightly lower budget should consider the Thiel 2.2s over the 3.6s. They require less power (lower budget) and are very close to the 3.6s in my opinion. Some people even say that the 2.2s were among the best of the Thiel speakers in terms of cost to performance. I would have to agree that there is a degree of truth to this. One can find the 2.2s at a real bargain (I sold a pair not too long ago for about $500, I don't recall exactly). I played these in a small room with nearfield lisening and loved these speakers (other speakers I have owned in the past year = Von Schweikert VR 4 JR, Totem Arro and Forrest, B&W, Wilson Duettes, Wilson Watt Puppies). Behind the Wilson's these lowly $500-600 Thiel 2.2 speakers were the best of the bunch (in that small room 14X14X8, nearfield listening, 125 watt Levinson amp).
ckoffend
684 posts
 
Knowing this thread is old and I had moved on from my 2.2s a long while back (referencing the dates herein). Low and behold, I am back again with Thiels and levinson.

I got the CS6 (which may actually be moderately easier to drive than the 3.6s???) and now have a Levinson 334 amp. Normally, I would say this is under powered, but I can tell you this amp is driving these speakers in my much larger room than the OPs with great results.

A poster above asked about Class D amps. I happen to have a pair of Bel Canto Ref. 1000s - no, they don't mate well with the Thiel speakers (at least the 6s).

Funny thing, in comparison to the much lower powered ML 334 at 250 watts @ 4 ohms, the 1,000 watts at 4 ohms of the Bel Cantos is not nearly powerful enough to drive these speakers. They get harder sounding in a hurry and the soundstage congests. No where near the same level of performance on these speakers - an not even close to an emotional impact with the Bel Cantos on the Thiels.

The Bel Cantos do sound very good on my Maggies though!
ckoffend
684 posts
 
Steve, I love the FPB Series amps. I owned a 300C for a few years and mistakenly sold it when I decided to try a SET based system. Well after listening to a fraction of the musical production via a SET system, I quickly and happily moved away from that avenue.

The 300C is one of my favorite amps. I like the C versions better than the CX versions (because I think the sound is pretty much unchanged and they the C version can be had for less). I sort of felt that the 300C was replaced by the 400CX (not the 300CX, which is what would have made sense to me).

I am actually considering getting some FPB monos - my preference would be the 350MC amps. I love the Krell amps (though not as crazy about the original Evo series which no longer operate in all Class A).
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