Jim Thiel is one of those designers who compromises in his smaller models by omission - IMHO a good thing. The smaller Thiels will forfeit an octave or so at the bottom in exchange for ruthless accuracy everywhere else. As you climb the ladder, you go deeper into the bass - and all of it is extremely tight and precise. All Thiels need current, and lots of it, to deliver their bass. Some folks who run the smaller Thiels and complaint of brightness often don't have enough current on tap. Your 557 shouldn't have any problem feeding these speakers current. However, most folks I know who run Thiels tend towards warmer SS (Classe, YBA) or tube gear (VAC, Rogue). The classic combo has been an Audio Research pre with Classe power. VAC voices their gear with Thiels - it's a great listen. Your Meridian setup may just be a bad match for this speaker. I've run Taras with Thiels with very good results - others I know prefer Nordosts - Cardas are darker still. I think it's a superb speaker when properly partnered - not romantic, but revealing. Maggies are nice too, but I've encountered ugly sounding ones when poorly partnered.
Tired of My Thiel's!!! UPGRADE TIME???
I wondered If anyone feels that Thiel speakers are just too demanding and too sensitive to show off the great components you have behind them? My 2.3's are just not showing off all the great Meridian gear I have. Can someone tell me what speakers would sound great with a 508-24/504/502/557 combo with all tara labs cable (decade)?