Amp for Thiel CS1.5?

Unsound

The point of my comment, and I apologize for not saying this earlier, is that one should be more concerned about sound quality and system synergy. Obviously the number of watts required is a function of room size and acoustics as well as the type of music and sound level required.

Another amp that did a pretty nice job with my Thiel 3.6's was a B&K st140 I believe was the model number. A friend let me borrow his until my new amp came in and this should fit well within your budget.

Chuck

Main concern would be how large a room you've got. If on the smaller side (appropriate for these speakers), even a decent push-pull tube 50-watter could sound better than many affordable SS 100-watters (that's the experience I had with my 2.2's in a smaller room), depsite the fact that tube amps don't "double down". Point is it's going to be the sound quality of what watts you do have that matters most, not the specs, and these speakers will please much more at your budget if you trade off high power for higher-quality power.

From my experience with 1.5s, Classe CAP 100 was a good match. But Thiels use a lot of power, even small Thiels, even in small rooms I now use a Musical Fidelity A300--260w @ 4ohm--and a small REL sub. The sub really helps with power management. The speakers aren't working so hard to distribute all that fine wattage. In fact, I could really go down in power. So, if you still have a powered subwoofer from your HT, use that with the Thiels along with your Outlaw--not sure what that sounds like on Thiels--and wait a bit until you have the money for a quality power source, because, like you've probably heard, Thiels will reveal every mistake you've made upstream. Best of luck.

I echo the recommendation of the Forte amp. Look for a model 4 which is a pure class A outputing 50watts. When I started this hobby many many years ago, I heard the combo at the dealers and was quite impressed. (I had already bought the 2.2 and the Forte model 6 which outputs 200 watts in AB mode at that time.)

FrankC

Thanks again to everyone.
The speakers are in my living room which is approximately 17x17x9. I do have a powered sub, a Def Tech that was recommended by my local dealer. I also bought the speakers that the Thiels are replacing from him. He said that the Def Tech was fast and would mate well with the Monitor Audio Silver 5's. I'm hoping that the sub will be OK with the Thiels.

The Outlaw has its own base management system. I've been tempted to connect my better cd player in using the 'direct in' hook up which bypasses the bass management. If I do this, then the powered sub is excluded; every bit of the signal will only go to the main speakers. Oh well, something to play with.

I'm buying the Thiels from a guy here on Audiogon and hopefully they will arrive today or Monday.

Chris