What CD player will warm my Thiel/Classe systm?

Are you talking CDs only or will you be dabbling into music servers and FLAC files?

Ruhl, you may want to get a test cd with a frequency sweep so you can integrate the sub with the Thiels a little better than you can do just by guessing....just a thought

Audphile1, what disc would you suggest. that sounds like a good idea concerning a test CD. Where can I order such a thing?

As regards inputs, I am only using CDs. I am still tweaking the sub, best results vary a bit by CD. I must say, however, to any and all owners of 1.6s, this sub is the missing piece. I considered Velodyne, Rel R-305 and R505. To my ears, the Britania series is more nimble and responsive for music, while I played a Harry Potter DVD last night and the effects were also pretty amazing.

What it adds to the entire range in terrms of depth and warmth has been surprising. The highs have become liquid on many recordings, taking the edge off the detail. the soundstage is more pronounced. I inititally set the crossover on the low side for fear of muddying up the Thiels, but no such effect so I have been nudging it up to about 60. I have the sub volume set in the twelve o'clock position much of the time, unless the bass is really shy on the recording, as in the above-mentioned Blue Note reissues from the 1960s, then I bump it up a bit.

I put Steely Dan's Gaucho on and the bottom end just pops -- no fatigue after listening for long periods.

The August issue of Absolute Sound has a nice review of the Rel Britannia series. I am surprised there has not been more discussion of it.

I beleive Stereophile Test CD 2 has the frequency sweep you can use to integrate the sub.
check this out(track 30)
http://www.musicdirect.com/products/detail.asp?sku=CSTP004

I'm not sure if it's been suggested to you, but how about- considering analog? A good Rega P3 or similar table,e.g., a Music Hall, perhaps used; a cheap but effective cartridge, and a good affordable phono stage (all possible for 1K or not much more) plus some good ebay used lps, locally-found used ones, etc., could be a wonderful shift. Reasonably good condition lp's can often be found for substantially less than lp's

I have Thiel 2.3's w/ Ayre electronics, and while some problems I've had w/ brightness are due to the limitations of my listening/living room (under-damped), the bulk of my dissatisfaction w/ the tonal balance disappears when I play analog (which in the price range you're discussing, should kill cd sound in most respects). Much of the problem, I think, is due to the nature of the cd medium, which I hasten to add, I do frequently use as well (30-40% of listening), so I'm not simply an "analog partisan." If you go to the high-end shows nowadays, you'll see that vinyl often predominates, but most high-end folks agree that vinyl is in most (emotional) ways still a superior medium.

Check it out, if you haven't already. Acoustic sounds is one of the best sites for a comprehensive analog source- though their heavy vinyl is expensive, there's plenty of good, used, cheap vintage vinyl out there (speak w/ Clark or Stelley, their analog experts, for affordable solutions); also Music Direct, also excellent, though I'm slightly less fond of them. Seriously, analog can do some amazing things for your system, and moreover, your listening pleasure and passion about music.