For a few years now, I've been using a combo of Thiel's successor to your model, the CS2.2, being driven by the 3rd-generation derivative of your old C-J tube amp, the MV-55, with good results, albeit in a samllish room (technically, a little too small for the 2.2's). I just moved recently to a house with a bigger listening room, but bass was never a problem where I came from - in fact, I had to raise the speakers off the floor a bit to tame the balance the other way.
The 2.2 enjoyed a better reputation and higher sales than the 2 ever did, being lauded as a real step foward for Thiel in many reviews from around the world (John Atkinson at Stereophile bought a pair and used them as his full-sized reference for a time, so you know they measure well). While I am unfamiliar with the older 2 myself, when I bought my 2.2's, I auditioned them against the predecessor to the larger and even more popular 3.6's, the 3.5's, which were of the same generation as your 2's, and much preferred the smaller, more recent design. I don't know what kind of speaker load the old 2's present to an amplifier, but the 2.2 is quite a bit more benign than many Thiel designs (including their replacement the CS2.3), with a rather flat impedance curve that doesn't fall much below 4 ohms and mild phase characteristics, with average sensitivity in the 86-87dB range.
They do decently extended and quite clean and tuneful bass without the external electronic EQ box the 3.5 employed, but not up to earth-shaking levels. The MV-55, which is still a 45wpc design featuring two EL-34 output tubes per channel similar to the MV-50, is a very compatible match here if you can do without concert-level volumes (the speaker can't do that anyway) and have a moderate size room to fill. My previous SS amps that I used with the speakers, an NAD 2200 and a Classe Seventy, were thoroughly outclassed by the C-J, though the Classe did give more bass oomph (too much for me at the time, actually).
The 2.2 is a speaker with a very even response (read: not bright), and has been happy to be partnered to the C-J via un-networked Cardas Cross speaker cables (a big step up from the Cardas Crosslink I was using when I acquired the tube amp; I've always shied away from cables with boxes on them), the easy load meaning it won't be terribly picky about which good cables one chooses with most amps. Now that I've gone to a larger room, I have a pair of higher-powered, and presumably even better-sounding, VTL MB-185 mono's on the way, which should goose the bass 'n' space, but a subwoofer remains a possibility for this room. (In fact, I'll bet you just snagged the Vandy sub that I was lined up to buy last week; the seller emailed that he'd call me to finalize, but my phone didn't ring, and I found a message hours later - bad cell!! I called right back, but he said he'd sold it to the next guy - you?! Enjoy it for me!)
I've heard the 2.2 bettered in some areas by the newer, even smaller CS1.6, but am not thinking about new speakers just yet. I think they can be made to sing with the new amps, based on somewhat indirect experience with other VTL and Thiel models, so I've got my fingers crossed. Even with the MV-55, they still sound darn nice in the bigger space, but the amp does run up against its limits if you want to really jam. In fact, I had even been strongly considering trying to pick up an MF2300 before I auditioned the MV-55 three years ago, and I'm sure that would've been a great match too. For almost all this time, I too have also been using a C-J preamp, the all-tube PV-8, but have recently decided to try out relegating the tubes in my system to the power amps, getting an Innersound remote (ahh!) preamp and a Camelot Technologies phonostage to replace the C-J. The phonostage is definitely a step up and is staying; I'm still auditioning the newer preamp.
Enjoy your system, and do let me know how the sub works out (or send it to me!) Oh, and BTW, I finger-tighten at the amp and break out the socket wrench at the speaker, but that's just because the speaker has better binding posts - then again, my spades seem to fit rather well. And I also second you about the level of Thiel's service. Happy listening!
The 2.2 enjoyed a better reputation and higher sales than the 2 ever did, being lauded as a real step foward for Thiel in many reviews from around the world (John Atkinson at Stereophile bought a pair and used them as his full-sized reference for a time, so you know they measure well). While I am unfamiliar with the older 2 myself, when I bought my 2.2's, I auditioned them against the predecessor to the larger and even more popular 3.6's, the 3.5's, which were of the same generation as your 2's, and much preferred the smaller, more recent design. I don't know what kind of speaker load the old 2's present to an amplifier, but the 2.2 is quite a bit more benign than many Thiel designs (including their replacement the CS2.3), with a rather flat impedance curve that doesn't fall much below 4 ohms and mild phase characteristics, with average sensitivity in the 86-87dB range.
They do decently extended and quite clean and tuneful bass without the external electronic EQ box the 3.5 employed, but not up to earth-shaking levels. The MV-55, which is still a 45wpc design featuring two EL-34 output tubes per channel similar to the MV-50, is a very compatible match here if you can do without concert-level volumes (the speaker can't do that anyway) and have a moderate size room to fill. My previous SS amps that I used with the speakers, an NAD 2200 and a Classe Seventy, were thoroughly outclassed by the C-J, though the Classe did give more bass oomph (too much for me at the time, actually).
The 2.2 is a speaker with a very even response (read: not bright), and has been happy to be partnered to the C-J via un-networked Cardas Cross speaker cables (a big step up from the Cardas Crosslink I was using when I acquired the tube amp; I've always shied away from cables with boxes on them), the easy load meaning it won't be terribly picky about which good cables one chooses with most amps. Now that I've gone to a larger room, I have a pair of higher-powered, and presumably even better-sounding, VTL MB-185 mono's on the way, which should goose the bass 'n' space, but a subwoofer remains a possibility for this room. (In fact, I'll bet you just snagged the Vandy sub that I was lined up to buy last week; the seller emailed that he'd call me to finalize, but my phone didn't ring, and I found a message hours later - bad cell!! I called right back, but he said he'd sold it to the next guy - you?! Enjoy it for me!)
I've heard the 2.2 bettered in some areas by the newer, even smaller CS1.6, but am not thinking about new speakers just yet. I think they can be made to sing with the new amps, based on somewhat indirect experience with other VTL and Thiel models, so I've got my fingers crossed. Even with the MV-55, they still sound darn nice in the bigger space, but the amp does run up against its limits if you want to really jam. In fact, I had even been strongly considering trying to pick up an MF2300 before I auditioned the MV-55 three years ago, and I'm sure that would've been a great match too. For almost all this time, I too have also been using a C-J preamp, the all-tube PV-8, but have recently decided to try out relegating the tubes in my system to the power amps, getting an Innersound remote (ahh!) preamp and a Camelot Technologies phonostage to replace the C-J. The phonostage is definitely a step up and is staying; I'm still auditioning the newer preamp.
Enjoy your system, and do let me know how the sub works out (or send it to me!) Oh, and BTW, I finger-tighten at the amp and break out the socket wrench at the speaker, but that's just because the speaker has better binding posts - then again, my spades seem to fit rather well. And I also second you about the level of Thiel's service. Happy listening!