Thiel Owners

@jafant,  Honestly I use the Adcom ACE’s mostly to offer more outlets. Years ago when I lived in a NYC apartment I used an earlier  though highly regarded older Adcom ACE version for the same reason. At that time I thought it might have helped with video noise. Those older models only accommodated  two prong plugs. The newer models can accommodate three prongs. The more recent models use a different “ils” ( if lightening strikes ) circuitry which claims to offer more protection. Where I currently live we have overhead power lines unlike the underground one in NYC. Theses overhead power lines are subject to more frequent brown and blackouts. So far (22 years) with these Adcom ACE’s in place, none of my gear has had any ill effects from them. I’m not sure if the Adcom ACE’s are helping with that, but as I already need the extra outlets, I don’t want to tempt fate without them. I’m not sure that any of these kind of products really clean up the power in any meaningful way. 

unsound

Back in the day, Adcom's ACE products lead the way for Line/Power conditioners of today. P.S.Audio and Stromtank products clean up the power and do so very well. Much depends on the Audiophile's locale/residence.

Happy Listening!

 105 dB peaks (and quite a bit louder as well) are not all that uncommon during live performances (and I think that’s what we’re trying to replicate here).
 

I often bring earplugs to shows that I think will be loud. Makes my ears actually hurt and my great preference is to relax into the beauty and flow of music. Musical communication, for me, doesn’t happen at high volume. I find there is a sweet spot of volume wherein I’m fully immersed in the music. 

@jafant By “stock”, do you mean the original version? There are reports of people swapping fuses but I’m otherwise unaware of non-stock Ayre gear.

In my (limited) experience switching between low power class A, 100 watt tubes, high power class d and now higher power class a/b with my Thiel 2.4, power requirements seem to depend a bit on what you want to get out of the Thiels. I found the sound pleasant with all levels of power and definitely preferred the tube sound for things like solo acoustic guitar or small ensemble jazz, and maybe also with minimal house and ambient. However, with both the high power class d and the high power class a/b, the speakers seemed more capable of sorting through things like complex orchestral music. With lower powered amps, it was noticeably harder to distinguish between individual instruments with that kind of music.

Now if I wouldn’t listen to orchestral music often, I might have stuck with the tube amp as this made the speakers more forgiving of bad recordings, and I really enjoyed the warmer sound for pop/folk. These speakers really take on the sonic character of whatever you attach to them in terms of sources and amplification I feel.

I guess budget would be a confounding variable in this little theory though: perhaps a top-of-the-line lower powered amp will produce better results than a not so well made higher powered amp, as the former will probably be able to handle complex music better regardless of power rating.

77jovian, if I were in your position I would go for the speakers, and then see if you feel Iike you are missing something with your current amp. Chances are you might not, depending on sonic preferences and music tastes.

beetlemania

Yes, non-twenty (original) AYRE gear.  Happy Listening!