Seas' Thors kit up N runnin

I would appreciate a little more info:
How difficult to assemble? Fit n' Finish?
Can you compare them to other speakers you've owned?
Any other comments you have I'm sure will be appreciated by others.
Thanks

why do they demand a class A amp?

Assemble: ahh, If you know how to solder, not hard at all. The xover is laid out on a board very organized. The diagram shows you the exact points to solder the 2 positive flat wires of the 2 W17 Midbass, the 2 negative wires, the 1 positive wire of the tweeter, the negative wire. Then shows you the points of contact for the tweeter output, points for the woofer output, has dual posts/cups. I had Richard Grey of New Orleans solder mine, he's fast. Took him 30 minutes to solder the wires in both cabinets. I screwed in the drivers. Lets see, the borad that holds the xover on, at the bottom is something we couldn't figure out exactly how it is attached, we just screwed it in with as best we could. Works fine, thats all that matters.
Compared to others I've owned:, well I've only owned the old 2 way Philips, awesome tweeter, and the new B&W's 2 ways. No comparison there. Also have heard at least 50+ speaker systems in the past 20 years. Nothing I heard compares to these. I don't want to go on about these speakers, it'll begin to sound...bias...IOW =hyped. I'll leave that for other posters....
OK, why Class A amp: ... Not an easy question for me to answer, but I'll try, if you'll try to understand my viewpoint. when I first put them up with the Jadis (Jadis' tone on flat, the tone control on the Jadis is like a vol control, but actually only responds as off or on, at full throttle, does it actually kick in 100%, though you can make a tiny adjustment for les, but NOT MUCH)...so the tone was off, I thought the Thors lacked in all areas, bass, mids, treble. So disappointly took the Thors upstairs to the Rotel, 981, "100 class B" watts. First heard it with the NAD cdp, nothing going. Unhooked the NAD, placed in the Cayin tube, a good change. So it clicked that these speakers do RESPOND TO QUALITY. With me so far? ...depressed, but alittle hopeful I took the Thors back to the Jadis+ Cayin. Put in some test cds..stated playing with the Jadis tone controls...BINGO, Dynamics, clarity, GALORE. I'd say the very first time my ears heard a real Class A sound. So Class A/B Jadis did deliver the fq's needed to blossom these drivers. The tubes in the Cayin are Bugle Boys, bought it used here on the Agon 2 months ago. When you loomat the craftmanship/tech aspects of the Seas' drivers + the beauty of the xover with PREMIUM parts (3 big Hovland Music caps for the tweeter), you'll know why these speakers do best with class A. Now as to which amps you consider class A, that's you're call. I already have my eye on another amp, maybe monos+pre. And its NOT Jadis. These speakers are only limited by the amp/cdp you use. If you go over to Madsisound, I've been posting quite abit about the Thor's there recently. I post under paul best. Also seems there is not only Tyler Acoustics that use the Seas drivers, but also a Phil Bamberg also uses the MTM W18+Millenium+W18. As to his xover, not sure how its done. The Thor by Jpseph D'Appolito I can say is "one hell of a design".
If you have questions, you can email me. Paul

No they don't have GIGANTIC bass, but all the tight clear bass I hope for in a speaker. Mids never attack you, the complexity of classical, or say like Gloria Estafan's Mi tiera, just leave you mezmerized, all the instruments have a voice, each has their own space. I'm hearing my music in a toatally new way. For the highs...what do you think I'm going to say...There is no fatigue at all with these speakers. None.

I'm wondering..suppose I had NOT bought the Thors...pure supposition...which other speaker would equal the Thors? All things being equal. Equal being: 1) NOT OVER 75 POUNDS EACH 2) NOT BEING MORE THAN $2K 3) HAVING DYNAMICS WITH A 40 WATT AMP.

I'm wondering..which other speaker would equal the Thors

That's a bit subjective and the Thos is a very nice design (so you CAN pat yrself on the back, so to speak:)); speaking of diy designs, however, I'd mention the Ariel, the Acapella or J Kerkovski's NaO(both open baffle), the Baszilla... many others.
I think yr fine with the Thor. Cheers

gallo nucleus reference, the older two or three ball affair. not sure about the 75 pound weight though. will have dynamics with 26wpc SET. maybe less.

What compares to the Thors? I had Ty of Tyler Acoustics build me a 3 way with the seas speakers. Each weighs 70 lbs, sound superb and while I'm running them with a Vac PA 100 they should sound equally good with 40 watts per channel.

The Madisound "Odin" compares with the "Thor" as it shares the same drivers and crossover. "Odin" is a medium sized bookshelf box, whereas "Thor" is floorstanding. The bass from "Thor" is no doubt better, but from about 150 Hz on up they ought to be identical. If you use a subwoofer, "Odin" might be a good choice.

I recently put two "Odins" in the rear of my multichannel system, where they replaced smaller MTM Dynaudios. (The Dynaudios, with 5-inch woofers, are good speakers, but just could not keep up with my three MG1.6 and subwoofers in the front). The "Odins" can keep up, and I hear no problem with the sonics, although I have not listened to them critically as straight stereo speakers. I drive them with vintage Kenwood LO7M amps. These are DC-coupled with response from DC (yes really) to 100KHz, 200 watts into 4 ohms. Class A need not apply.

Construction was easy, but stripping 32 ends of flat wire was tiresome. I came up about 10 inches short on wire, which Madisound speedily corrected. I spent the extra $200 to get the "premium" crossover.

I would have gone with the "Thor", but space did not permit.

Nice responses. The point of my question was: do you know of any speaker that can match the value you get in the Thor's/Odin's (basically same speaker)?? I find them to have no fatigue, and deliver super bass, mids, highs. Of course as I say, the Jadis engineers know how to make great musical amps, which match the Thors beautifully. My theory about speakers are the most important component, close second is the amp, close 3rd is the cdp. I was thinking about the Cayin MK800 mono blocks, each has 4 GU29's (also called FU29's) + their Top on line preamp. Take a look at those babies. Its the last amp on the page, you can barely see it , almost off the page. Then go to their preamps. But I'm assuming those 2 will cost be $$$, don't know the exact price. I'm guessing around $8K for both. That line has yet to fully hit the US market. So I'll "settle" for the Jadis DA60/used in about a yr. I'll be set for life.

Anyone have any questions, please by all means feel free to ask anything you care to. I'd love to field questions. I've heard my fair share of speakers.

Is there any reason why Audiogon is not posting my posts??

I see this thread has been lying low, but how could it be that nobody could answer Bartokfan's challenge: A speaker as good or better than Seas/Thor, no more than 70 lb, no more than $2000?

Of course, it is unfair to compare a DIY design where you do the assembling with models where someone else, possibly an expert builder, labors on it.

I don't know how much to allow for someone else to assemble the speaker. But to make it fair and to pick a nice round number, can we make it $3000?
This will bring in Salk QW, Zu, a couple of Tylers in the play.