Thiel Owners

Great move Dave, the HD12 is a very good DAC for it's price.
I have a Qobuz membership, i stream and buy high res files from them.

Dave i also bought mine 1 year old used.
I have been told it is as good as the HD25 so not worth spending more.
Hegel is really a surprising brand.
Did you get a Tidal yearly membership ?
Let me know when you start using Tidal how it goes.

Dave i use an Audioquest USB cable.
I stream directly from Qobuz or use Jriver for the high res files that i buy from Qobuz.

Do any of you experienced a full Nagra system with Thiels ?
HD DAC with 2 Classic Amps bridged how's that ?

Well i should get my Ypsilon home demo by end of february just before i travel to Florida for business.
The distributor has delayed the demo because he didn't receive the linestage yet.
I'm also looking at Nagra at the moment.

jafant i asked Kevin Hayes from VAC if i could visit his facility in Sarasota, i just hope i get the time to do so, otherwise i'll see him at the Munich show this year.
pops yes i am very curious about Nagra driving Thiels, i'm sure 2 Classic Amps in mono config could do the job perfectly even with the bigger Thiels.
I will go check on WBF as some members own Nagra gear.

jafant i will be demoing a full CH Precision system this saturday at a local dealer's.
This 2 days show is organized by the distributor.
Speakers will be Wilson Sabrina and Sonus Faber Amati.
First time ever CH demo for me, i'm psyched.

jafant or any of you guys did you ever hear about David Berning gear ?
http://davidberning.com/

Cabling should be Nordost

Dave thanks for your input so if it's not for Thiel owners then too bad.
One other brand to look at perhaps is German brand Symphonic Line : http://www.symphonic-line.de/

jafant you should have a look at the Technical Brain integrated for your future reference system.
This beast can easily beat more than €30K worth of separates.
I should ne able to audition it in april.
For you guys in the US the distributor is http://www.covenantaudio.com/

Jafant do you think Nordost cable are good match for Thiels ?

I will be autioning the TB integrated probably in April.
Bob from WBF just purchased this int, after only 1.5 hours of listening he says it's way above his Dartzeel integrated, that's pretty surprising.
This aftenoon i'm going to the CH demo.
Take care guys.

Hi guys, i went to the CH Precison demo last saturday, very impressive gear and spectacular sound, i liked it very much but it might not be everyone's taste.
The question is would a CH system match with Thiels ?
If one day the dealer makes another demo, i will bring my Thiels.
Unfortunately the dealer told me he cannot afford to have a full CH system on demo in his store all year long.
The only person who has a full system is the distributor.

The only 2 French people owning CH gear both want to sell their Accuphase A200 monos to purchase one CH M1.

Many more than we have in France that's for sure lol.
A certain number au audiophiles in Texas own CH gear or even full systems.
A member of WBF from Dallas has a full CH system on Wilson Alexias.
Onother member from Italy has a huge CH system.

I will have the Ypsilon demo with my Thiels on the feb 25.
In april i will try to go audition the Technical Brain integrated at my distributor's place.
Also might want to go audition the SGM 2015 server + Aqua Formula DAC in Monaco.
I will also go to the Munich show this year, lots to audition there.

Hey guys I'm enjoying Florida weather at the moment, I did my Ypsilon home demo on Feb 25 and it went flawlessly.
The distributor came the night before to plug all the gear in my system and we started the auditions the next day in the afternoon.
My Hegel HD12 DAC ended up being a serious bottleneck with the Ypsilon pre and monoblocks.
Luckily the distributor brought a Playback Designs CD player and an Helixir Audio DAC.
With the PD CD player we really started enjoying the huge potential of an Ypsilon system driving Thiel cs 3.7s.
I can tell you guys that I never heard my speakers sing in the past like that day!!
The midrange was the most magical I've heard to date, I felt like crying at some point. 
The bass was very solid with huge articulation, there was a lot of air between instruments.
The soundstage is something I have never experienced in the past on Thiel speakers, holographic and extremely stable.
When we switched for the Helixir DAC it got even better, higher resolution and more relaxed.
If you are looking for an awesome DAC under 10K take a look at the Helixir Audio DAC retail for 7.5k.
To sum it up Ypsilon is phenomenal gear most probably competing with brands like CH Précision for half of the budget.
The Aelius ll monoblocks with only 200w into 8 ohms had a very good grip on my speakers.

Guys any of you going to the Munich show next month ?
I'll be there friday and saturday.
If some of you are going and want to meet let me know.

Hey Jafant what have you been up to in the past months ?
Any progress on your system ?
I haven't been on the forum for quite a while.
Cheers

Thieliste

Speaking of tubes i also did consider integrated tube amps to drive CS 3.7s, the ones i was looking at are the Allnic T-2000 25th and the VAC Sigma 170i.Both of this integrated could probably do the job at moderate volumes in medium size room.

Signal cables do make a huge difference from one brand to another with Thiel speakers at least in my experience with my 3.7s.

I have gone from Gryphon VIP IC and SC to Cardas Clear Beyond IC and SC.

The difference is night and day, Clear Beyond cables are in a league of it's own.

The synergy with my 3.7s is mind blowing, never heard such level of weight and clarity in the bass region before.

Musicality is second to none, same with depth, soundstage, air, texture and so on.

Best cables i've ever heard to date by a wide margin and i can even say best component upgrade i've ever done in my life.

Hi jafant, it's been quite a while sorry for not responding lately.
I was pretty busy with high end headphone rigs in the past months and therefore diden't use my CS 3.7s.
Since i don't yet have the budget to complete my Thiel system i got into high end headphones last year and i'm really liking it.
I need advice on choosing a very good int amp for my Thiels.
If some of the 3.7 owners use an int amp to drive them please let me know what is your best choice.

The Modwright KWI 200 SE might me a good choice for the CS 3.7 ?

Pass Int 250 or Gryphon Diablo 300 to drive CS 3.7
Which one has the right sound signature for Thiels ?

jafant are you familiar with the Pass INT 250 ?
Pass is pretty liquid sounding therefore most probably a good match for Thiel.
The INT 250 is doubling it's power down to 2 Ohm.
By the way did you find an amp for your 2.4SE ?

Ok guys i probably found the best amps for Thiel speakers and not so expensive :

https://www.sugdenaudio.com/sapphire-series

Yes 40 watts in pure class A and i think it doubles down into 4 Ohm.
oblgny thanks for sharing your experience, Modwright is for sure to consider paired with Thiel.
jafant i have a Sugden-Luxman dealer just an hour drive away from my place.

The number of watts doesn't mean everything for Thiel speakers, what is much more important is the current capability of the amp therefore it is better to have 75 watt of pure class A into 4 Ohm than 600 in class AB.
I'm sure a modest Sugden SPA-4 would do better compared to a big 600 watt Krell on the CS 3.7
Refinement is what you have to look for more than the amount of watt with Thiel speakers.
I'm not saying big amps are bad because many of them can sing very well but there are some alternatives.

Speaking of tweaking did any of you 3.7 owners were able to order the latest crossovers that were available for the last 3.7s produced in 2013 and 2014 if i recall ?My pair is a 2010 model and when i asked my distributor if he could order the lastest crossovers in 2015 he told me Thiel didn't have them available anymore.

Guys i  e-mailed Rob Gillum about the CS 3.7 crossovers and he told me it is still possible to order from him the latest crossovers if you want to upgrade first generation of CS 3.7s.

@wayneuncle, do you know the year they were manufactured ?Otherwise you can send your serial number and finish to Rob Gillum and he will tell you.Price for the latest crossovers is $800/pair.

Guys do you think it would be possible to drive properly my 3.7s with a pair of KR Audio Kronzilla DX monoblocks ?I'm looking at tube alternatives for my new build, another choice would be the VAC Signature IQ200 monos.

@yyzsantabarbara  I had the same problem when i owned the 3.7s, drove them with a Classe CAP-151 couldn't afford a better amp at the time.The result was pretty disappointing, after 5 years i sold the speakers and gave the Classe amp to my brother.I know this time around i will not make the same mistake if i purchase again 3.7s i will be able to afford the best amp possible otherwise forget about the 3.7s.Krell FBI is awsome but very rare on the used market, easier to find Diablo 300.@solobone22 you are a lucky man, Krell FBI paired with 2.7s must be phenomenal please let us know how you like that combo.

@jafant  On the digital side i will get Aqua Formula xHD + LinQ combo.As for cabling Gryphon VIP speaker and interconnect cables, Audioguest Firebird power cords and Audioquest Niagara 3000 power conditioner.

Hi guys i will be going the separates route for my CS 3.7s and my choice is either the Ypsilon Aelius II monos or the Aries Cerat Concero 65 monos.It will be a difficult choice because both brands are awsome.

@dancastagna  a modest Classé Audio CAP-151 integrated.Obviously the jump in performance from where i'm at now to either the Ypsilon pre-power or the Aries Cerat pre-power will be out of this world.I have the possibility to audition the Aries Cerat Impera II Ref + Concero 65 monos on a  pair of 3.7s in Switzerland by the end of this year.

Did any of you consider Luxman amps to drive your Thiels ?If so i would like to have feedbacks.I have been told Luxman would be a very good match.I'm looking at this model : http://www.luxman.com/product/detail.php?id=19

Hi jafant, well still searching as you can see, i spoke with a distributor that told me Dartzeel and Ypsilon will not have enough juice in the bass region do drive my 3.7s.He suggested me strong class A amps or SOTA class AB doubling down to 2 ohms.So here am i looking at the Ayre pre-power.Were you able to demo some amps for you 2.4SE's lately ?

Anyone heard the Ayre KX-R + MX-R Twenty on CS 3.7s ?I'm looking for end game pre-power combo for my 3.7s with 50K budget.

Yes the MXR/KXR Twenty must be awsome on the 3.7s.I guess some of you guys on this forum own this combo.Ayre is very popular in the US.

I wonder if any of you have ever seen a demo with Boulder pre-power paired with Thilels ?I know Boulder gear is way too expensive for our modest Thiels but who knows.

Hey guy i will be travelling to Switzerland end of october to audition a full Aries Cerat system on a pair of CS 3.7s.That's gonna be spectacular, will report here when i get back.

Hi guys, this saturday a friend of mine if coming over to help me mount a set of Mundorf copper gold plated binding posts on my CS 3.7s.

Will let you know how it sounds, hope this will be an upgrade compared to the stock ones.

If you guys are looking for a very reasonably priced amp to drive Thiels i would recommend the Sugden SPA-4.Sugden paires really well with Thiel speakers.
https://www.sugdenaudio.com/spa-4-stereo-power-amplifier

Do you 3.7s owners use them in a toed in position or straight out ?

Hi guys, just got back from my Swiss trip and finally was able to audition the Aries Cerat pre-power Impera ll Ref + Concero 65 monos driving Thiel CS 3.7s.Guys you cannot imagine how far the 3.7s can go when driven by Aries Cerat separates, this is a totally different league compared to the usual Krell, Bryston, PS Audio, Pass and other McIntosh amps that have always been used with Thiel speakers.The speakers bring you directly at a live concert with a very refined sound, full body, super transparent but never anlytical, extremely fast and dynamic.The bass is very punchy uber stable and resolving.Soundstage is just phenomenal and very engaging.I can now say that Aries Cerat pre-power outperforms the aleardy awsome Ypsilon separates that i have home demoed in 2016.IMO Aries Cerat is today the absolute best tube amps at any price and most likely the most powerful tube amps capable of driving Thiels to their max.Each Concero 65 monos weigh 100 Kg.Cheers

Hi guys and hello to you jafant, i hope you guys are doing well it's been a while i haven't posted on this thread.@jafant  any evolution on your gear search for your CS2.4SE ?Even though i sold my CS 3.7s early this year because i didn't have the funds to purchase the rest of the gear to make them sing they are still one o my all time favorire speakers and who knows if in the future i have the opportunity the build a system, the CS 3.7s will still be in my mind.Meanwhile i enjoy my great headphone rig which is very convenient when you don't have a dedicated room for speaker system.Cheers.

Jafant Ayre AX-5 Twenty is a great match for your 2.4SE, very musical and refined integrated.Hope you can put this system together very soon.