Your experience with Thiel 3.6

Jcatral, I have had this combination for over 2 years and am very satisfied. In fact, I recently added MIT oracle V3 speaker cables, they now have about 500 hours on them and I have never heard my system sound so good. The ca200 is PLENTY of power, it has never clipped, sounded compressed or strained in the least. I listen to moderate to loud levels in a large room and have plenty of volume. This amp is high current - I've owned it for 6 or 7 years with not one problem. Because of the high current design I find a simple MIT Z II powercord works best, much like spectral which is also a very high current design. Others I have tried (not extensive auditioning but enough for me) don't sound as good. They add a coloration like a mid-bass hump. The MIT cord simply relaxes things a bit, makes the stage a little deeper. As unsound mentions, the Thiels aren't nearly as difficult to drive as people assume, I've heard them in showrooms on much less - you can always add more power. As I have increased my investment upstream these speakers just get better and better. Placement is important, but I've always had a large room so I have lots of flexibility. I am 100% digital currently and under those circumstances I beleive strongly in having tubes somewhere in the chain - for me it's the preamp. That's another misnomer about Thiels - bright, no just accurate with a flat uncolored response - great recordings will blow you away, crappy ones will run you out of the room - same with electronics and cables mated with these boys. What you put in comes right out - that's what I like. Classe and Thiel are one of the signature matches in audio in my opinion and many others. Go for it!

While not my favorite combination, it's a wise one. One of the better amp values that works well with Thiels. At this price point you might want to consider the bigger solid state c-j's as well. I haven't heard the latest offerings from c-j yet (I plan to do so as soon as possible), but, they are reputed to be tighter in the bass region than their previous offerings.

I've had mine for about 6 months, bought them used for $1500 locally, and I couldn't be happier. I have read about their sensitivity to room placement, but I have not had the luxury of placing them for optimal sound. My living room / dining room is 14 X 23, but I have to position the speakers facing the long axis, about 3 feet apart and 1.5 feet from the back wall. They sound stunning, even with this less than optimal spacing. If you are after mid and hi range clarity, there is nothing better at anything close to this price. They also have TONS of very clean and powerful bass.

What about the naysayers? You do hear ALL the lousy quality of some 1980s vintage CDs. And source component weaknesses are revealed, too. On the other hand, when you get a disc with excellent recording quality, the Thiels reproduce that beautifully, too. And if you improve the rest of your system, the Thiels will make those investments pay off.

I'm using a Bryston 4B amp and BP20 preamp. And crappy cables. (That's next on my list.)

Used to own a pair. High quality and good sound. As in any speakers there are pro's and con's. They need alot of current to sound their best. They tend to be slightly on the bright side of neutral so the partnering cables and amp are important considerations. They tend to be "polite" with slightly reduced dynamics compared to some other speakers. On the plus side they are very transparent, coherent, with a great soundstage. Obviously I liked them since I bought them but have since upgraded. Enjoy listening.

Let's re-open this thread! I love my 3.6!!!
I brought mine a year ago on E-Bay for a NOS pair. I waited 10 years before I brought this speaker! Before that I have owned 2.2 and 2.4, brought new, then sold.
The 3.6 is the best thiel has designed as they had it in production for 10 years! What other speakers have lasted that long!
I bet even the new 3.7 is not going to win over it from head to toe.