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Give up on Thiel 3.6 or try another amp again ?

These speakers sound amazing sometimes, especially on small-scale, well recorded material (regardless of genre).

I tried a PS Audio HCA-2 and an Aragon 8002, neither of which sounded particularly good. I'm now driving them with a pair of 90 wpc Quicksilver mono tube amps. I know this is against conventional wisdom, but I like them more than the previous amps as long as I keep the volume moderate.

The problem is that the speakers don't open up and bloom as I turn them up for either large-scale classical or rock music, but rather get hard sounding. It could be the small room overloading, but I suspect it's the amps running out of steam.

Ideally, I would have an unlimited budget to power these speakers with a huge, clean solid state amp. Sadly, I have pretty much no budget at all, so I'd have to sell the Quicksilvers to finance a new amp. This would leave me with $1200 or so for a good, high current, high wattage amp.

I was thinking a used Parasound A21 might fit the bill, but there aren't a whole lot of other options in this price range that seem optimum.

Truthfully, I am starting to think it would more make sense to explore other used speaker options; as nice as the Thiels sound at times, they may simply be too impractical given my financial constraints. Perhaps a pair of Vandersteen 3A signatures or a new pair of 2ce Signature Mk. II? Perhaps the Gallo 3.1s?

What would you do if you were me?

btw, the rest of the system consists of a Quicksilver linestage and a Rega Saturn CD player. Thanks!
jonathan1257
czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,752 posts
 
I believe the ML 331 is 100wpc and while being barely adequate I do not believe with all due respect that is enough horsepower to drive the Thiels in a manner for which the poster is seeking. The 333 or 332 would obviously be a much better choice. But in all cases quality over quantity is paramount.

Chuck
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samzx12
1,220 posts
 
I had the 331.5 in my system for a weekend and it is a VERY nice amp. I was amazed at how it drove the 3.6's. It is 80% a 334. Also at the time I had a ML 29 at 50wpc. We compared the 2 amps. The little ML held its own but the 331.5 was clearly better. They both had the same house sound even though both are designed very differently. The ML 29 is one sweet amp.
a_hayman
43 posts
 
I'm driving my 3.6's with a pair of Rowland 201 monoblocks, and I'm very happy with the combination. Speaker cables are 3-foot Analysis Plus Oval 8's. I listen to classical music exclusively, including solo, chamber, and orchestral; the sound is clean, transparent, and focused. The system is very unforgiving but accurate -- the better the recording, the better the system sounds.

My room is 13 feet wide by 21 feet long; the speakers are 8 feet apart, about 5 feet from the back wall, and about 2.5 feet from the side walls. I have them toed-in slightly, and my listening position is about 11 feet away. I found when I first set the speakers up that placement was very important. Having them too close to the back wall robbed them of impact, made them sound muffled and anemic, and prevented them from "opening up". Pulling them out to 5 feet made a huge difference.

Try experimenting with placement; you might be surprised. Good luck!
ckoffend
684 posts
 
Knowing this thread is old and I had moved on from my 2.2s a long while back (referencing the dates herein). Low and behold, I am back again with Thiels and levinson.

I got the CS6 (which may actually be moderately easier to drive than the 3.6s???) and now have a Levinson 334 amp. Normally, I would say this is under powered, but I can tell you this amp is driving these speakers in my much larger room than the OPs with great results.

A poster above asked about Class D amps. I happen to have a pair of Bel Canto Ref. 1000s - no, they don't mate well with the Thiel speakers (at least the 6s).

Funny thing, in comparison to the much lower powered ML 334 at 250 watts @ 4 ohms, the 1,000 watts at 4 ohms of the Bel Cantos is not nearly powerful enough to drive these speakers. They get harder sounding in a hurry and the soundstage congests. No where near the same level of performance on these speakers - an not even close to an emotional impact with the Bel Cantos on the Thiels.

The Bel Cantos do sound very good on my Maggies though!
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
If you want warmth and drive capability, Krell FPB amps 300cx or higher will solve all perceived drive problems with Thiels. I've used a 400cx with CS6s for the past 9 years without any issues and I am very happy with this combo.
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