Hegel Amps with Thiels

Agreed,

natural timbre and separation of instruments(air and decay) are imperative!
Keep searching. Keep me posted.

Happy Listening!

Well for what it is worth, I am deciding that the Hegel H20 amp just does not cut it for me with the Thiel CS5's.

The bass is great and there is a lot of detail, however, I am not hearing quite the separation of instruments in the mix that I want. Also, there is an occasional edgy treble note that was not present with the Pass X350. 

Still ranking the Pass first even though I think that it is a bit polite. It provided a lot of detail, nuance, and texture.

Still have not tried a Krell. So so far, I am at Krell?, Pass, or maybe McCormack and am not sure about any of this.

I agreed with unsound as the choice of amp for Thiel cs 5i . I have been pairing it with many amps in the past until i went back to read the original review of cs5 from stereophile . the amp used at the time was krell 250. I never regret to  follow their choice. I was happy for many many years!!!!

I heard Hegel (not sure what model) paired with CS 3.7s at RMAF a number of years back and really loved the room.  I've since sold my Thiels, but am still convinced the two can create a great match.

^I can very well understand how you might feel about the above pairings. But, the Vandy's though sharing similar design paramters, are voiced differently than the Thiels, and the c-j's run in the same direction as the Vandys. Some of the McCormack amps have a very similar design to some c-j amps, but are again voiced differently. The McCormacks might just work for you, especially more so with the CS 5's, with their rather extreme load. I happen to like the X series Pass amps with Thiels, but can understand your misgivings. I hate to be so redundant, but the bipolar output Krells are in my mind the perfect match for the CS 5's, more so than the mosfet output competition. Maybe it's due the devices chosen or maybe not,  but the big Krells work better with the CS 5's than any other amps I've heard with them.

^IMHO, the McCormack's are very nice amps, with tight rhythmic bass, and smooth liquid treble, unfortunately their somewhat forward nature can make them a bit shouty with Thiels. A lovely and near perfect match with Vandersteens.

Hi,  Can anyone comment on McCormack amps with Thiels?

Accurate indeed, skfy57. There are many Thiel lovers here on the 'Gon.
Happy Listening!

As a Thiel CS5i owner, I found a tube preamp driven by krell KSA 250 matching well. Warm 
midrange  and solid low bass are nothing I heard from other speakers. The thiels are very 
accurate to the recordings.

Thanks! for starting this thread- dsper.
I am a Thiel owner myself and may be looking into an integrated amp.
I have spent much time w/ both Pass Labs + Mark Levinson, in fact, quite interested in the new ML integrated amp No. 585

Hopefully more Hegel users will chime in here.