Got another Sony TA-N80ES so now running them as monoblocks in bridged mode.
The extra power (circa 500 wpc) made an audible difference and I wouldn't volunteer to go back to the 270 wpc (into 4 ohm) single amp arrangement.
I'm confident that I could invest in other amps that would upgrade the sound but I've got about $100 in each Sony amp so the cost/benefit equation is very attractive with this setup. |
In my opinion the Mac is not a good choice.
It would sound ok, though not as tight as some others in the bass region. The mac is very smoothe a good thing with the THIEL, but not as controlled as say Classe, Krell (a tad bit grainy) Pass. Of these, I'd pick the Pass.
Good Luck
Larry Staples |
What about Macs? I have a chance of getting me a used CS6. Which Mac will do 'em justice? |
I've got a Sony TA-N80ES driving my Thiels at 270 wpc at 4 ohms.
One upgrade path is to buy another Sony and bridge them, one amp per speaker.
Any experience on this setup or considered opinions? |
At the Thiel factory, they use a FPB Krell 600 and Audio Research Reference gear. They recommeded a Krell 600 with the Thiel 7.2's.
Troy |
I have Thiel 3.6s and used the Simm Audio Moon W-5
it keep blow my tweeter and midrange drive. What wrong to
my system? any one have solution |
You are right Railaudio - the Aragon does sound strained and congested - with a wiriness to voices that is very hard to like. |
I also used to power my 3.6's with an Aragon 4004 MkII, but I upgraded to Krell and what a difference! My Aragon never seemed to let the Thiels open up; They sounded strained and congested except at low volume levels. The Krell has fixed my problem. I am in love with my 6 year old 3.6's again.
I've not found my Krell pre/amp by themselves to be a major source of harsh or bright qualities. Rather, the front end of the system seems to be very important. Bright sounding CD players (all too common these days) really sound bad with the 3.6's regardless of pre/amp. |
Does anyone use a tube amp with 3.6. I have heard many trnsistor aamps with the Thiels and none have pleased as much as an out of production tube AR amp I heard many years ago. Now have Symphonic line and its just OK. Would really like to try tubes. |
I use a classe ca200 with great results and all mit cabling, 330 shotguns and 750 series 3's. Plenty of power as the classe doubles down into 4 ohms. the mits compliment the thiels ability to image really well. I also have tubes in the pre which I think is critical. With optimum synergy from start to finish these speakers are incredible. If 1 thing is out of whack they will scream it!I wouldn't recommend having 1 aggressive component in the chain including cables and pc's. These speakers are also very fast and decay beautifully, they need a fast amp to really shine. |
I have Thiel 3.6s at my beach house, and used the Aragon 4004 at one stage (but not for long, it is very solid state sounding if you know what I mean). I now use a Plinius SA250 Mk IV, and the combination is utterly stunning - after going through a long list of amps including Classe and Krell. I don't recommend the SA250 in all applications as it can sound slow with some speakers, but with the Thiel 3.6 - there is true magic going on. |
Curious about the changing of the guard. Within the past year, there have been at least 4-5 relatively long threads regarding amplification for Thiels. (Worth doing a search and comparing the comments--some of the past threads were fairly detailed and very helpful). Odd thing is, contrary to the ringing recommendation for a Krell / Thiel synergy in this thread, in past threads that combo was the one thing that folks were very consistently warned off of as just plainly a bad mix (with the primary criticism being that the combo was far to analytical and bright). Just goes to show, there aint no arguing with taste. The hands down consensus (brand preferences aside) is that Thiels flourish best with genuinely high current amps. Folks seem to have had the best results with around 200+ wpc from amps that double output into 4ohms (400pwc into a 4 ohm load), which, as I'm sure you know, the 3.6's average. Try to give the Krell & Thiel combo a listen, maybe it's your bag, folks seem to either love it or hate it. Personally, I went with a Bryston. Enjoy. (P.S. despite all of the desperately urgent and genuinely earnest insistence that X + Y = The Best, as long as you let your own ears do the choosing, you really cant go wrong). |
I also have Thiel CS3.6 being driven by a Krell FPB-200 and the combo is just amazing. My uncle have the same amp as you the Aragon 4004 being used for his Thiel 2.2s and that just sounds right as the 2.2s does not require much power as the 3.6s. Get a Krell amp with at least 150 watts is all I can say.
Regarding the balanced being tipped up, I use to have the same problem and I solved them by using BDR #3s as footing for the 3.6s.
the rest of my gears are Krell KRC3 and EMC1 Cd player with NBS Monitor series cables and FIM Gold PCs. |
http://gonmain.iserver.net/cgi-bin/cl.pl?ampstran&990493650
Check this idea out: $1750.00 for this KSA-150 stereo amp now and add another one a little later when budget permitts,,,,send both to Krell and get back the awesome "MDA-300" monoblocks....300 watts/8ohm--600watts/4ohm--1200watts/2ohm--2400watts/1ohm.
//I'm looking for another KSA-250 to do this with for the MDA-500's!!!!! |
I can only tell you from my own system that the CS3.6's can be tipped up in sound and harsh at times until the final combo came into place.(6 pre-amp / 7 amps later,ranging from Adcom up to Levinson,Rowland and Krell)Also cabling will make a huge difference with them.No matter what the price tag was the final combo ended up being the early 90's Krell gear(used).Since you already have the KRSII my advise would be to listen to the Great old KSA-150 or 250.I'm running a KSP-7b pre and KSA-150 for light listening and drop in the KSA-250 for the fun nights with my fellow musicians.Cabling is all MIT....and I got to tell this is the last "wanting" of anything new for me.Besides,all the money that was budgeted for new gear allowed me to buy mutiple amps and good cabling and even allowed me to have 2 dacs for different types of music....Thiels love power in the form of class-A and the older KSA series before the days of slide biasing where much better for the Thiels...I've tried the newer amps and was let down to a degree because of the huge cost to improvement factors.....e-mail me if you want get a few more ideas.
You've Got To Believe Me on the Krell matching for the cs3.6's............. |
I had the Thiel 3.6's for 3 years. I chased every possible tweek, from interconnects, speaker cables, to cones, supports, etc. I never could get them to really sing until I replaced my Levinson 27.5 with a Levinson 332. The difference really made me look at all the time I had wasted chasing the holy grail for good sound with upgrades that brought be no closer to what I was looking for. Looking back now, the higher power is an absolute must with the 3.6's if you really want them to sing. |
I once owned 3.6s and loved them. I made a huge mistake in selling them. The main requirement is a fairly powerful high current amplifier that will comfortably handle a 2 to 3 ohm load. Thiel often recommends Classe, though I personally have never heard the conbination. Krell would also be an excellent choice as noted above. Before making a final decision, you should speak directly with the amplifier manufacturer and obtain definite information about the ability of their product to drive such a difficult load. |
I have the Thiel CS6's and run them with a Krell FPB-300. The Thiels are so much faster, cleaner, and tighter than a PS Audio 200 (?) Delta I was driving them with. I think the more power, the more Thiels come to life. They are probably a 4 ohm load also which is a consideration. I would also go to an amp that will take a balanced interconnect. |
