Thiel Owners

Bog Thiel fan. Have had 2.3s and 2.4s.  Currently have 3.7s with 2 Rel s/5 SHO subs.  Have listened to lots of speakers in an attempt to upgrade but the only speakers I have heard so far that I liked better were some Wilson Sashas.  I didn't feel it was worth dropping $50k for a marginal improvement.  

bmontani

Welcome! Good to see you again. Nice upgrade path CS 2.3 to CS 3.7 loudspeakers. What other gear is in your System?

Happy Listening!

@unsound, turns out you were right when stating that

Being stable only suggests that the amp won’t go into oscillation when presented with the specified load. It does not imply with how much power and/or with how much distortion. 

Even though rated to be 'stable for musical transients' at 2 ohms, the PS Audio GCA 250 does not seem to really enjoy powering the Thiel 2.4. It does offer really incredible dynamics and microdetail, but it also seems to exaggerate highs when asked to reproduce something like a piano sonata at somewhat higher volumes.

I'll search the thread for other amplifier suggestions (: Anyone who has good experience with amps that excel at reproducing orchestral dynamics on the 2.4, feel free to chime in!

@lars888888 

I've been very happy driving my CS 2.4 speakers with a Coda CSiB v1 integrated amp. The Coda doubles down as you halve the impedance.  The CSiB is for all intents and purposes a CODA 8 basic amp with an integrated line stage.  Prior to the Coda I had a Bryston 3Bst. The 3Bst together with a Bryston preamp did a nice job of it, but the Coda was a big step up. As per my handle, I'm a jazz guy, but an audiophile buddy who is into Classical gave my rig a test run and was very impressed with it.

@dickieboy , Ah, that's a bit different. And with that I agree. Even here on Audiogon it's often over generalized that all Thiels are demanding of amplifiers. The CS 1's 1.2's, 2's, 3's and 3.5's all had impedances over 4 Ohms (though the CS 3's and 3.5's did have the eq demands as well). Look at this rather benign impedance plot:

Thiel CS2 loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com