I've heard them all with the Thiel 3.5's, but honestly don't remember the sound of the Hafler with them. To my ears the c-j worked best. The McCormack, while a perfectly lovely amp with other speakers (Vandersteens!) were too forward and shouty to my ears with the Thiel 3.5's. IME, the warmer bass of the c-j works better than the tighter bass of the McCormack with the 3.5's too. At this price range you might be able to find a Threshold S/500, a very worthy consideration that should work well with either your Threshold or Audio Research pre.
Upgrade Hafler 9500 or Mccormack DNA-1 for Thiels
Hi All,
This is kind of a long shot to ask about, but I am always delighted at the depth of experience of Agon members, so here goes. I already own a nice Hafler 9500 and have coming in the mail a McCormack DNA-1. I am using the Hafler in my secondary system with an ARC SP-14 pre and Thiel 3.5 speakers. The sound is very good, but not nearly as good as my primary system which has Thiel 2.4s, a John Soderberg modified Threshold FET 9 pre and a C-J 2300A amp.
I would like to get the 3.5s sounding even better and am wondering which amp to upgrade. I have read glowing reviews of both John Hellig modified Haflers and Steve McCormack upgraded DNA-1s. The upper tier upgrades of the DNA-1 run about $1800 Vs. about $1000 for the Hafler so that is a factor, but the main issues are long term reliability and sound.
The guru I am hoping reads this would have heard both and would also be able to comment on how each would sound compared to the C-J which is the best amp I have heard with either the 3.5s or 2.4 Thiels.
Yes I know I could sell the 9500 and DNA-1 and buy another C-J but it would be more interesting to go the upgrade route. Looking forward to your input and thanks in advance!
This is kind of a long shot to ask about, but I am always delighted at the depth of experience of Agon members, so here goes. I already own a nice Hafler 9500 and have coming in the mail a McCormack DNA-1. I am using the Hafler in my secondary system with an ARC SP-14 pre and Thiel 3.5 speakers. The sound is very good, but not nearly as good as my primary system which has Thiel 2.4s, a John Soderberg modified Threshold FET 9 pre and a C-J 2300A amp.
I would like to get the 3.5s sounding even better and am wondering which amp to upgrade. I have read glowing reviews of both John Hellig modified Haflers and Steve McCormack upgraded DNA-1s. The upper tier upgrades of the DNA-1 run about $1800 Vs. about $1000 for the Hafler so that is a factor, but the main issues are long term reliability and sound.
The guru I am hoping reads this would have heard both and would also be able to comment on how each would sound compared to the C-J which is the best amp I have heard with either the 3.5s or 2.4 Thiels.
Yes I know I could sell the 9500 and DNA-1 and buy another C-J but it would be more interesting to go the upgrade route. Looking forward to your input and thanks in advance!