SF Power 1s with Thiel CS 2.3s Enuf Pwr?

Mezmo, always glad to hear a happy audiophile but dude, never say never. I'm happy with the 8TC, I was listening last night and was brought to my knees on several occasions.

i've had a lot of Thiels in my day (1.2, 1.5, 2 2, 2.3, 3.6). one thing they ALL have in common is that they NEED power to control the bass. i started with a Forte' 4 amp (50 wpc), then went to a CJ 11a (70 wpc), then to Threshold T-400 (150wpc). the threshold was finally able to tame my 3.6's... IMHO, thiels NEED tubes to sing. i tried CJ priemier 12's (140 wpc) which worked pretty well with the 2.3's, but not the 3.6's. in the end, i switched to Spendor 9/1's and a Sonic Frontiers power 2. now i have music...

I too run Thiels - unless you will be listening at very moderate levels, the Power 1 is simply not enough amp for these speakers (save perhaps the CS.5s). It's not so much an issue of wattage as it is current. Thiels exhibit relatively flat impedence curves, but generally to the low side (4 ohms) and not all that efficiently. The above posts are correct: Thiels do sound best with tube amplification or warmer sounding SS gear. For the 2.3s, I wouldn't use less than the Power 2. Even that may sound strained on occasion with dynamic and complex classical passages. Unfortunately, quality tube current is not inexpensive - either initially or as a maintenance matter. A more cost effective alternative is to run a high current SS amp(s) and the most musical tubed preamp you can afford.

What is the most INEXPENSIVE amp you guy could warmly recommend for the thiel cs 1.5?

By inexpensive I mean under $500 used.

"Power 1 has only 55 Watts but it is a Tube Amp." There is a mistaken idea that tube watts are louder than ss watts. This just isn't true. Furthermore, into low impedance loads like the Thiels, the opposite is more more likely to be the case. I suggest following Thiels guidelines. In my converstaions with Jim Thiel, he suggested doubling the recommended power suggestions when using tubes.
Don't cheap out on amplification when using Thiels.