Theta v.s. Sim Audio


I have the Magnepan home theatre setup consisting of 3.6 mains, MGCC2 center, and MMG12 rears, and 2 Velodyne HGS-12 subs. I am considering the Theta Cassablanca/Dreadnaught which I've auditioned or the Sim Audio Attraction/Stellar/Titan. Has anyone heard both of these setups? I've yet to hear any HT amp more musical than the Theta but with all of the favorable reviews of the Sim Audio HT products I simply cannot ignore it. Thanks.

I cannot afford nor am I interested in Meridian or anything in that price range.
ebonyvette
Hello...First, I am a dealer for Simaudio.

These are both excellent choices and you really can't go wrong with either one for THEATER applications.

However, if your system will be used for HT AND 2-chan listening, my choice would ABSOLUTELY be Simaudio. Simaudio has essentially taken all of their 2-chan products and used them as a base design for their theater products.

For example, the Titan is basically a multi-channel W5 (because of the larger power supply, the Titan actually sounds better to my ears than the W5). The Attraction is a theater processor with P5 analog stages.

Regards...Mike - Father & Son Audio
I had the 3.6's for a long time.
they are great speakers... HOWEVER, you need to feed them lots and lots of power to get them to sound good. Or should I say, the more power you feed them, the better they will sound.

I have used/heard the 3.6's with many amplifiers. Including the W-5 and Theta amps. For HT either would be OK. HOWEVER, if you into 2 channel, there are MUCH better amps for driving the maggies than the W-5 and Theta amps.

Amplifiers that can make the Maggies sing:

2 Plinius SA-100 mk3 amps in MONO
1 Plinius SA-250 mk4 amp
2 Plinius SA-250 mk4 amps in MONO
PASS 350X amp or higher in the PASS series
LAMM monoblock amps (solid state)

Do you see a trend?

Basically you need amplification that has amazing current and power to get the most out of the maggies. Most 100-200wpc amps just do not drive the maggies nearly as well as a more powerful 500+ wpc hi current amp.

I once compared the W-5 to 2 Plinius SA100 mk3's in MONO driving the Maggies. There was no comparison. The W-5 just could not get the kinds of dynamics out of the Maggies that the Plinius amps could.

My suggestion would be to get an amp/amps to drive the maggies, and get other amps to drive the other channel. Frankly the rear and side channel amplification are not that important as HT goes. I have experiemented with using high quality amps for rears, and it made LITTLE difference if any at all. The cinter is a different story. The center is a channel that a lot of sound comes out of in HT.

Frankly, I sold my maggies in an effort to get a more dynamic speaker. I have the Vienna Acoustic Mahlers which I use for my 2 channel and L/R in my HT setup. The Mahlers are a much better HT speaker than the Maggies. I think the Mahlers do everything as well or better than the Maggies in two channel except the midrange (and they are just a hair behind the maggies in the midrange.

My 2c.

Keith
I own the Sim trio, never heard the Theta gear. The Theta gear has way more futures, bells and whistles. I don't know what the feature/performance trade off is. Sim is so balls to the wall, they are too cheap to make a different chassis for the pre/dvd player. I guess a buck saved their goes inside, or so the theory would have it.

The Sim gear is quirky at times. I don't know if this is a trait of other high end gear. The amp is a sheer monster, I have the 7ch one. I am nuts for buying this thing, but the guy that created it is really sick. Runs very cool if this really matters, longer life ect. in theory. I can't clip the thing, not sure if I really want to. When the speakers start to give, game over.

I know DVD is a big waste of money, with the newer chip out next week deal, but man... This thing has a very, very good picture. Really close to HDTV feeds.

I think the Sim stuff is for the really sick hardcore freaks out there.... Myself included

Marty
Thanks for the informative posts. I totally agree with Keith that the Maggies need LOTS of power. I guess that I would not do myself justice in the long run if I take the cheap way out with one 5 channel amp. Maybe I will look to the used market as well.
Never heard the Theta. I have the Sim Titan and it replaced
a Bryston 9b. As good as the Bryston was, the Sim is better across the board. Gobs of power and very smooth! I will be keeping this amp for a long, long time.

Jose.