Have you heard both speakers with familiar equipment? It sounds like you liked both but maybe heard them in different systems (I am assuming this is the case). It may be helpful to know what amplification and source(s) you will be using with the speaker and what your listening room is like.
Thiel CS3.7 vs WP8?
The 2nd hand price of Wilson WP8 is dropping down fast! I am thinking of buying a pair of 3.7 but as the WP8's price is almost within reach, I wonder which is the better choice? I have CJ premier 350 and Herron Pre. Now using Thiel 3.6 with very good results. Wanting the next step up!!
Showing 5 responses by cmalak
Luna...like everything else, speakers at these levels are good to excellent and their performance is more dependent on system synergy and room/speaker interaction and setup. Meaning both Thiel and Wilson speakers can be made to sound great and horrible. Can Thiel speakers sound bright. Sure. They are highly resolving and tonally balanced across the frequency spectrum. So if you have lean and bright sounding equipment/cables upstream of them, that's what you will hear. Wilsons are not my cup of tea but they are world class speakers and have many adherents and can be made to sound wonderful depending on what you mate them with and how carefully you set them up (they are notoriously harder to set up than most speakers). Your dilemma is your inability to demo these speakers with equipment you are familiar with (let alone in your own system). Maybe the way to go is to buy used and if whatever selection you make does not work out for you, then you can resell hopefully with a minimal hit to the wallet. Again my opinion is that the lower risk strategy for you is to stay with the Thiels because you are familiar with what the Thiel house sound is and seem to be happy with it. And believe me the 3.7 is vastly superior to the 3.6 (and will mate beautifully with your CJ Premier 350 amp). But at the end of the day, you have heard from people on both sides of the spectrum because they favor one speaker vs. another but the reality is they are both excellent speakers. The trick will be which one best matches your system and room but you won't know the answer to that question until you try. Good luck. |
Luna...is your Herron preamp SS or tube design (i know they have both)? I would keep your CJ Premier 350 (excellent power amp with more than ample power to drive any speaker) and introduce tubes via the preamp if you are currently running SS. High quality, high wattage tube power amps can get pretty expensive. I think you can get better results of introducing tube sonics (bloom, fleshed out timbres/textures, etc...) via the pre-amp or even a tube-based digital source (CD or DAC). You will find a lot of threads on Agon that talk about this and advocate for a tube pre and SS power amp setup. Just a suggestion. |
Luna, The other thing to consider is hybrid-design power amps (tube input/driver stage and SS output stage). Here are some to consider: http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=1VISPT800 http://www.moscode.com/moscode_amplifiers.htm#top The Vincent STP-800 was a TAS 2008 Product of the year and can be bought at Audio Advisor that has a 30-day return policy as long as you keep the product in "like new" condition and return it in original packaging. The Moscode 402 power amp recently was reviewed by Wes Philips at Stereophile in the Sept 2009 issue (http://stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/moscode_402au_power_amplifier/) and can be bought direct from the manufacturer with a 33 and 1/3 day (i am not joking about that) in-home audition trial period. The other option is to get a tube hybrid integrated amp of which there are many options with 200+ wpc and that allows you to simplify your system (fewer components and cabling). I have no idea what the above units sound like but at least these two options can give you the ability to audition and if they don't meld well with the 3.7 or the WP8 then you can at least return them. Just a thought. |