Hunting for an integrated for thiels cs 2.3. Anthem, Hegel, Bel Canto?


Hello all, I am looking for some advice/wisdom. I found a pair of delicious Thiel CS 2.3 that now adorn a vacation home in France. I am hunting for a good integrated to make them sing, on a skinny budget. Sticking with integrated as preamp/poweramp is likely more expensive. Aiming to stay above 100 wpc/8 ohms to have distort-free headroom. This is what I found on the used market in possible financial reach:

Bel Canto écoute 2i (The seller states the amplificator module was upgraded in 2020 by a distributor)

Hegel 160

Anthem int 225 (I have this driving cs2.2 in my US home, this would work quite nicely)

I know and enjoy the Anthem. I have never heard the Hegel but reviews seem quite enthusiastic, this is also a more recent unit with airplay and built dac, downside is limited inputs. Never heard a Bel Canto, this one is an older design (2002 I believe). 

Before anyone says Krell for Thiels, that is vastly over budget ;)

thank you for your wisdom!

nicolasm

If you can find a Coda CSiB integrated amp within budget, perhaps used, that would be a delicious pairing. I currently employ a Coda CSiB v1 (150 watts  into 8 ohms, doubling down as you halve the impedance, with first 18 watts in Class A) to drive my Thiel CS 2.4 speakers.

Thank you all. I finally nabbed the anthem 225. Delighted with the bang for the buck of my “vintage-y” audiophile scavenger hunt, my ears are quite ravished by the song of the Thiels. I suppose I am becoming quite enthralled by the anthem sound, I hope to find a str in a few years when these become a little more common/affordable on the second hand market!

nicolasm

Nice score! The Anthem 225 is a fine Integrated.

 

Happy Listening!