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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 2 responses by mtrot

mtrot OP
804 posts
 
Thanks for the replies. Of the other brand speakers I mentioned, do any of them present an easier load than the Thiels for a receiver to drive?

The Receiver is a Yamaha RX-V1800. It is currently driving a set of Legacy Signature II left/right front speakers, plus a Paradigm center channel and PSB 5T surrounds. I am bi-amping the Legacys via the feature on the Yamaha that uses the surround back amps.

I set the Legacys and the PSBs to large in the receiver setup menu, and I often try the center on each of the available settings(small/large/none) to see which way I like it better.

The receiver seems to drive this setup OK in terms of not clipping at the levels I listen at, which is not super loud. But it sounds like that would not be the case with the Thiels.
mtrot OP
804 posts
 
I was thinking of something like the 2.4 or 2.2

What about some of the other brands? Any experience?

My power amp is the Sherbourn 5/1500A, which is a 5 mono channel design. It has 5 toroidal transformers in it and is rated at 200wpc into 8 ohms, and I think 350wpc into 4 ohms. If this is not enough, I need to move on from the Thiel idea and look at other brands.
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