Looking to hear from Thor owners

Dave,
Thanks for the information.
I recently picked up a pair a the new Merlin TSM-MMM's. I sold my Focals and Velodyne sub to make room.
Let me stress that I am very pleased. This hobby can be so frustrating at times....it is good to know you made a good decision sometimes.haha
The speaker change was huge. I am currently using a 50 dollar dvd player as a source (sold a sony 5400) and i still have an old H/K Citation 16 amp.
I could live with it now as is...so im very excited to know i will be able to make progress with a cdp and amps.

What qualities do the amps help most with?? I plan to get the 30's in the future....
Any thoughts? Jayson

Sorry for overlooking the ? about the upgrade on the TA-1000. It is hard to compare A/B because i changed everything else in my system except the amp.
The new volume control is great for sure. Gave me much more control over lower range as my gain was too high before.
Sound now is very smooth, my issue before was too bright. None of that now. Between the upgrades and Merlins...things are good. :)

Hello I have been a Thor owner for many years going back to when Paul Marks still owned the company.
Thor TA-1000 preamp - Absolutely fantastic preamp which I would rate up there with the very best, and a real value considering what used ones go for in relation to its performance. I did send mine back to Paul Marks for the MKII upgrade and to add a remote. Not really sure how much of an improvement that made. My son still has his original Thor TA-1000 MK1 which he bought new and still sounds darn good as is. I found the stock tubes to be just adequate and for better performance I went with RCA 5751 Triple Mica Black Plates and Brimar 12AT7s.
Thor TA-3000 Phono Pre-amp - excellent MC phono stage once you put better tubes in there. I found the phono stage to be very detailed with a lot of air between the instruments with a very large sound stage. Only complaint is it could be a little more weight or warmth. I fixed this by replacing all 6 tubes with Amperex Bugle Box 12AX7s and 12AT7s. That did the trick.
Thor TA-60 Mono Amps - very nice sounding a trouble free amps which I use to drive Gershman Avantguard speakers. Great midrange and top end with really nice bass for an EL34 tube. No complaints, great tube amp that has a great feature where you can bias the tubes on the fly with music playing. Flip a switch which cuts out the output to the speakers and activates the meter, bias the tubes by adjusting each individual knob then flip the switch again to continue. Holds bias very well.
Don't think you only have to use the Thor preamp with Thor components, the Thor TA-1000 & 3000 is also hooked up to my main system driving MBL 111 speakers and MBL 9007 amps. Superb.

Hello I have been a Thor owner for many years going back to when Paul Marks still owned the company.
Thor TA-1000 preamp - Absolutely fantastic preamp which I would rate up there with the very best, and a real value considering what used ones go for in relation to its performance. I did send mine back to Paul Marks for the MKII upgrade and to add a remote. Not really sure how much of an improvement that made. My son still has his original Thor TA-1000 MK1 which he bought new and still sounds darn good as is. I found the stock tubes to be just adequate and for better performance I went with RCA 5751 Triple Mica Black Plates and Brimar 12AT7s.
Thor TA-3000 Phono Pre-amp - excellent MC phono stage once you put better tubes in there. I found the phono stage to be very detailed with a lot of air between the instruments with a very large sound stage. Only complaint is it could be a little more weight or warmth. I fixed this by replacing all 6 tubes with Amperex Bugle Box 12AX7s and 12AT7s. That did the trick.
Thor TA-60 Mono Amps - very nice sounding a trouble free amps which I use to drive Gershman Avantguard speakers. Great midrange and top end with really nice bass for an EL34 tube. No complaints, great tube amp that has a great feature where you can bias the tubes on the fly with music playing. Flip a switch which cuts out the output to the speakers and activates the meter, bias the tubes by adjusting each individual knob then flip the switch again to continue. Holds bias very well.
Don't think you only have to use the Thor preamp with Thor components, the Thor TA-1000 & 3000 is also hooked up to my main system driving MBL 111 speakers and MBL 9007 amps. Superb.

Recently added a Marantz sa-8004 cdp. Very big difference from the cheapo dvdp I was using.
The detail is quite stunning from the Merlin TSM's. Cant wait to add the Thor 30's.

Gjraad: I noticed a reference to using the bias feature on the 60's. Is that to balance any difference in tubes?