Looking to hear from Thor owners

Baranyi
I have the ta-1000 linestage. I have owned it for maybe 6 weeks to a month. I am very pleased with it. It has changed the whole personality of my system as well as my listening habits. I bought it with quite a few upgrades done and plan on sending it in to Ted at Thor for a clean bill of health soon.
I agree with Leatherneck: Ted is GREAT with customer service.

Leather
What do you think of the TPA 60s? I would love to end up with the 30 or 60 watt.
I am still waiting to swap tubes around in the pre.
Any suggestions? Another proud Thor owner suggested :
Phillips Miniwatt Holland version
GE triple mica black plates

Right now I still have the stock tubes.

Leatherneck
I am currently using
-Sony 5400es cdp
Plan to get the Modwright upgrade
-H/K Citation 16a amplifier
@150wpc Rebuilt by H/K guru
-Focal 918 tower speakers
-Velodyne sub

I have been in the early stages of building a sysem for a number of years now. I had the speakers for about 4 years before I made any major purchases. I am still getting used to the Thor and deciding if I want to keep the Focals. They are very detailed but a bit on the bright side to me.
I dont know if I wanna go down the cable upgrade route,etc to take the edge off of them. I also need to experiment with tubes to really see where I am...kinda like what you said about auditioning the Thor preamp.
I dont have much to reference because I went from a Marantz receiver to the Thor, but this pre is really something! What I like the most is the sound floor is so low now. I dont have to turn it up loud to experience the music...that is saying something for me.haha
Have you ever heard the Modded 5400 by chance? I know a lot of people seem to compare the Oppo to the Sony due to the upgrades available/bang for buck factor.

Russ
What amps were you using before the Thors? I am trying to figure out if my next upgrade should be amps or speakers. I thought about the Merlin VSM if I could get them at a decent price. The Focals seem a bit bright but then again it could just be the total of everything upstream.

L
My cables are entry level and nothing to brag about Im sure. They are Audioquest and Transparent Link.
My music tastes cover almost everything except classical and rap.
A lot of contemporary Christian, females vocals, sprinkle in a bit of old rock. I really enjoy most music, especially well recorded. (Seems to matter more now.)
I spoke with Ted at Thor/Highend about planning a trip up to Dallas since I am in Houston. I may just load up my components and really see where I am overall.
Ted is such a pleasure to deal with. I would like to hear the Thor amps as well as another set of speakers.
Some other Focal ownere have suggested Cardas cables to smoothe things out a bit?? That would be a little later though.
Im anxious to have Ted check this pre out since the upgrades werent done by them. I would like to get the Thor clean bill of health.
Keep me posted about your amps, I guess you should be getting them back soon.

Dave
What speakers were you using with the 30watters? I thought of getting the 30's or 60's later.

You should get the 150's Ted has listed!!!!
Thanks Jayson

Still looking to get into the 30 watt amps. I have started a "short list" of potential speakers.
- Merlin
- Devore
- Tyler
- Deadulus
Any thoughts. Jayson

Baranyi,
Tempting as it is...cant get rid of my ta-1000. I sent it in to Thor for cap upgrades and a new 42 step volume. I havent even taken it out of the box. :)
Have you contacted Ted at Thor?

Just ordered a new set of Merlin TSM. Looking forward to hearing them with Thor.
Anyone else paired Thor/Merlin?

Springbok
Plenty power from the TPA 30 with the Tyler D10's?

My next step is source or amps. What amp did you have before the 30's?

Dave,
Thanks for the information.
I recently picked up a pair a the new Merlin TSM-MMM's. I sold my Focals and Velodyne sub to make room.
Let me stress that I am very pleased. This hobby can be so frustrating at times....it is good to know you made a good decision sometimes.haha
The speaker change was huge. I am currently using a 50 dollar dvd player as a source (sold a sony 5400) and i still have an old H/K Citation 16 amp.
I could live with it now as is...so im very excited to know i will be able to make progress with a cdp and amps.

What qualities do the amps help most with?? I plan to get the 30's in the future....
Any thoughts? Jayson

Sorry for overlooking the ? about the upgrade on the TA-1000. It is hard to compare A/B because i changed everything else in my system except the amp.
The new volume control is great for sure. Gave me much more control over lower range as my gain was too high before.
Sound now is very smooth, my issue before was too bright. None of that now. Between the upgrades and Merlins...things are good. :)

Recently added a Marantz sa-8004 cdp. Very big difference from the cheapo dvdp I was using.
The detail is quite stunning from the Merlin TSM's. Cant wait to add the Thor 30's.

Gjraad: I noticed a reference to using the bias feature on the 60's. Is that to balance any difference in tubes?

Thor owners:
I have a TA-!000 for sale. If interested let me know.