Fleone, your Thiel 2.3's can handle the 557 bridged ONLY if you don't turn the volume up TOO loud. I am currently using 1.2s which are pretty small and can certainly handle less power than the 2.3s. My wife thinks I listen to music too loud (for you Meridian folk - 65-70). I have no doubt that if I turned the volume up to deafening levels (say 85-90), the speaker cones would detach and go sailing across the room. Of course, I might also! That being said, the availability of the extra power to handle transients is just great. The speakers have really opened up. Over the 8 years I have had these speakers, I have gone from an 80 watt Denon integrated to an Acurus A250 to a single 557 to dual 557s. The most obvious improvement was the jump to the Acurus A250, but each subsequent step has yielded an improvement as well. I would not have bought the second 557 except that it was a demo and I got it from a dealer in an after Christmas clearance sale at a very attractive price. Nevertheless, I am quite happy that I did, and now know that I can upgrade to nearly any speaker on the market and have plenty of power and the options of biwiring or biamping. Seek out a used one. There is one listed here at Audiogon for $1200 (no affiliation to me). Depending on the quality of your other components, it might be the best $1200 you could spend.
Opinion of Meridian 557 Amp
Hi, has anyone heard the Meridian 557 Amp. I heard these 2 of these Amps bridged, on the Sonus Faber Extremas. This system with Meridian 557 Amps bridged, sounded so sweet and smooth and articulate. Now i'm not sure, if that was due to the Sonus Faber Extremas, or the Amps. The Amps bridged were 1000 watts. The Preamp being used was the Meridian 502. The Digital system was the Meridian 566 Dac, 518 Jitter reducer and the Meridian 500 Transport. But i must tell you, this system sounded unbelievable. I never heard anything this good. Alot of people know Meridian threw there digital equipment, Dacs, CD Players, Processors. But the 557 Amps and 502 Preamp in this system sounded amazing.
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