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Thiel CS 3.6 amplifier selection Monarchy SM 70?

Hello, I have seen a number of threads here dealing with the Thiel CS 3.6 speakers and how they require specific, high powered solid state amplification to sound decent. I know this and am now shopping for a single power amp or set of two mono SS power amps in the 1000-2000$ price level.

Currently I am intrigued with the idea of getting a "Made in USA" amp from a reputable company. I am about to call Odyssey about their Stratos stereo amp with the upgrades. I like that it has a 20 year warranty and that the company is located in Indianapolis - close enough to my Dayton Ohio home that I could drive over there if I needed to.

But then I started looking at the Monarchy SM 70 Pro (new edition) on the Monarchy Audio website. I like the look
masi61

Showing 4 responses by masi61

masi61 OP
97 posts
 
Sorry, my web browser only allows so much text.
Anyway, I would like to know if anyone has tried the Monarchy SM 70 Pro solid state amps. I would particularly like to know how the system synergy would be for these paired with the Thiel CS 3.6 loudspeakers. I think the mono amps are rated for 140 watts/channel below 10 kHz (into 4 ohms load). This is a little on the low side of the power requirements for the big Thiels. I don't want to soften the sound too much. Hopefully I can attain a match that makes all types of music sound punchy enough. For example, I suspect that acoustic music would sound great, but what about grungy rock?
Thanks for any help.
masi61 OP
97 posts
 
Thanks, the plot thickens...
If nothing else, this process has been very educational.
masi61 OP
97 posts
 
Wow!
Thanks for the interest in this subject. Thanks Kenny for the recommendation of Sam's Audio. Did you send your own tube amp to him and ask him to modify it? Or did he build it from scratch? How much does something like this cost?

Jeffrey, thanks, I may call Monarchy Audio to audio to ask about their SE100's, to be honest with you, the thing I liked about the little SM70's is that they run the balanced XLR inputs which I think is cool because you could put little amp stands right next to each speaker and run longer XLR interconnects from your pre-amp. This would also allow shorter runs of speaker wire.

Right now I'm rather broke so I'm looking into using my NAD 2200 power amp for the Thiels. I don't want to even try it until I get the transformer hum (that I have written about in another thread here on Audiogon) fixed. I did email Sam's Audio and several other repair places around North America to see If they can build me a new power supply at a reasonable price (preferrably under $250). I had an audiophile update done on this amp last year and believe it sounds quite good and might even be a good match in the short term while I scrape some money together for the Odyssey Stratos SE.
masi61 OP
97 posts
 
Thanks UnSound. I'll check into the B&K's too.
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