Ayre V-Kxe and Thiel 2.4s

Well, it's been a while but I thought I should finish off this thread. The 30A ended up beating the X250.5. It was more natural sounding, with a little less harshness to the sound, although with poorer bass control (as everyone would expect). Voices sounded much more natural through the 30A and the soundstage and imaging were also better. It actually didn't take too long to make that decision.

I also replaced my REL Storm with a Thiel SS1 (and passive crossover). The SS1 definitely integrates better and is less boomy, although there are times where I feel that the REL made a slightly better band-aid for the bass issues I've experienced. Because it wasn't perfectly crossed-over, it overlapped a bit with the Thiel 2.4s and hid some of the bass a bit more than the SS1 does.

Thanks for the update. I'm not at all surprised that the combination of the 30 and Thiel subs provided the most satisfaction. Enjoy!

Looking for an update- All

anyone using an Ayre amp w/ Thiel loudspeakers?

jafant,

I heard the Ayre MX-R monos/KX-R pre/Ayre TT/Ayre phono with what I think were 2.4s (definitely the Thiels were pre-3.7 and of medium size) in the Ayre room at RMAF 2010 (Michael Fremer was in the room tying up all of the attention from the Ayre folks, so I could not speak with them and soon left), but I do know they were using Cardas cables which I detest excepting their phono wire, and I thought the sound was, uh, unspectacular. Very buttoned down sounding. Not at all the lively and dynamic sound I get from my 5i’s with Krell or Classe’ and my K-1xe. I am confident that it was not the Thiels nor the KX-R preamp, so either the turntable/cartridge, the amps, the room, or the cables were holding it back. Fremer was gushing about how great it sounded...

I speculate that the older V-1xe stereo amp would be a good choice ( affordable used and resells quickly) for your 2.4s if you wanna go Ayre. You know that I like the great older SS amps with Thiels, so YMMV.

Best to you jafant,
Dave

TY- Dave-

to my ears, Cardas cabling is rolled off. This could have been the culprit along w/ MF.

Happy Listening!