Thiel speakers--can you power them with reciever?


Or do they really need a separate amp?

I am getting the bug to make a speaker change(for my front L/R speakers), and from what I read, it seems like a used set of Thiels may be up my alley in terms of sound characteristics.

But, looking at their rated specs, they are rated at 4 ohms, with a minimum of 3 ohms, and have fairly low sensitivity at 87Db.

I'm also looking at used Vandersteen, Eggleston, Merlin. It seems like most of these have similar ratings to the Thiels.

Any thoughts? I am currently running my 5.1 system off a 130wpc receiver, but I do have a 5 channel power amp I could use. The receiver is not known for having much output into 4 ohm loads.
mtrot

Showing 1 response by james63

If your receiver has pre-outs you can run a two channel power amp to just the front and use the receiver power for all other channels.

When I first started about 8 years ago in college I was very tight on money and bought a pair of B&W 703s (90dB) and ran them off the receiver I already had (and Onkyo rated at 100 watts). At the time I thought it sounded good but I bought a cheap rotel amp (also rated at 100 watts) off of ebay and it made a world of difference.

The speakers had much more bass and improved in almost all areas. It was like I have bought different speakers. With that being said the Thiels impedance curve is much worse and will be a lot harder to drive the my old 703s.

If you want something small that you could tuck away out of sight you could look into class-d amps. They keep getting better... They are small, run cool and have lost of power for the money.