Thiels or Von Schweikerts

Rustler, I might be completely wrong here, but I dont think I would risk my investment in either the Manley or the Cary int. amps in hope they would drive the Thiels to what they are capable of. I think if you do hear and decide on the Thiels you would be better off with a used mid to high power SS amp in the same price range you had set for either of the tube amps you mentioned.

Tom: We don't know if that applies as a blanket statement. Say Rustler's room is on the smaller side, he listens mostly to small-group acoustic music, and he gets a pair of 1.6 -- in that case a nice tube integrated may be all he would ever want or need. But if his room is bigger, he listens mostly to rock or symphonic music, and he gets the 2.4, then yes, making the investment in that same amp might not be the route to go. Rustler, please let us know about your room and tastes, and also what is your amplifier now...

I have to clarify that the 3 systems I heard using Thiels that I really enjoyed were all using Krell KAV series amps and there HT pre-pros. I did hear a set-up recently using Thiel 1.6 and a Krell integrated that sounded really good in a friends home. I also heard a set of Thiel 3.6 with Krell Class A amp (older model I can't recal) Mark Levinson pre-amp and Meridian CD player which did nothing for me, sounded rather flat and lifeless which I never expected.

I have owned Krell KAV amps in the past and did try them with my Thiels. They did have a very good synergy but I would get listener fatigue after only about an hour.

When I auditioned the Thiels I also used my Jazz CD's and favorite female vocalists but what I should have done is brought over a wider variety.

I like the Thiel sound but I cannot live with it for a long period of time. It the same reason I don't own a cat as they are both too damn finicky and I just want to enjoy the music and movies.

I still think Thiel makes a quality speaker but make sure you realize they really are high maintenance and don't like to be fed anything other than the best sound quality CD's and the like. I still maintain that the VS speakers are WAY more forgiving and when you really give them quality they reward you in spades.

I have to admit that I would jump on a deal for some Thiel Powerpoints for the living room HT. At $1,300 each though it better be a real gooooodddddddd deal. They are the best in-wall/on-wall speakers I have heard which is not saying they sound nearly as good as floorstanders but a much cleaner living room.

Good luck Rustler, just remember to bring all of your music with you when trying out either speaker, not just the best recordings.

Mjaudio wrote:

"Thiel makes a quality speaker but make sure you realize they really are high maintenance and don't like to be fed anything other than the best sound quality CD's"

Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but:

A) As an owner I certainly don't find Thiels to be particularly "high maintenance" (whatever exactly that's supposed to indicate -- I'll assume it refers to set-up and system requirements and wasn't meant literally), or at least not any more so than other wide-range, low-coloration speakers tend to be if you want optimum performance.

B) I'm a music lover first, record collector second, and an audiophile last, and believe me when I say I play material that isn't "the best sound quality" (often by a long shot) through my Thiels every day and enjoy it. But then again I've never shared the philosophy of some audiophiles that the better your system gets, the less material sounds good enough to play through it. If I thought that were true I wouldn't even be an audiophile at all, but thankfully I've learned just the opposite to be the case, having consistently found that material which is less than well-recorded from an techno-weenie standpoint has always been rendered more listenable and communicative, not less, as my system has improved.

Zaikesman's comment (B) is fantastic, and I agree 100%, as another Thiel owner. Any Thiel can make beautiful, and pleasing music with no listener fatigue. But with the wrong equipment they can send you out of the room. VS presents exactly the same issue, although results are very different. The right equipment will make beautiful music, anything else will bore you into losing interest in listening. Unfortunatly, you just CANNOT believe reviews, or other's opinions, because every system needs different medicine. Owning Thiels, I learned to chose each component carefully by auditioning and comparing IN MY SYSTEM. Krell and ARC sounded too analytical in my system, but others LOVE this stuff with THEIR Thiels. I would have never guessed any of my final decisions without hearing them first IN MY SYSTEM.