Thiel Owners

Hello,
After asking questions about amp choices I was encouraged to join in on the Thiel Owners Forum. I currently own the original Theil 2.4's I purchased them brand new, I believe just about 12 years ago , I think? I know that the 10 year warantee is expired but in all the time I owned them Thiel was always very good to me. For some reason, and we could never figure it out, I lost the coherent driver on the same right side speaker, twice! Thiel replaced the driver on both occasions with no hassle. What I am wondering is since the 2.4's and the 2.4 SB's use the same dimension of drivers is there anyway I can upgrade my standard 2.4's to the 2.4 SB's?
Also I am currently trying to decide between the Ayre V-5xe, that was the amp I used to drive them with before, or should I go with the Pass Labs X250? The V-5 is $2,750 and the Pass Labs is $2,600. Both amps are in great condition the Ayre is in Black (which was a $250 up-charge) and it is the original owner. But the Pass Labs beats out the Ayre by 100 W/Ch @500 W/Ch @ 4 Ohms. Anyone have some good advice for me?
Thank You,
David

Welcome! f1wheels

there are a few Ayre and Pass Labs users here. Best advice, go to the 1st post and read forward to the present. There is a plethora of information in this thread. Excellent advice and tips abound. Have fun David.

Happy Listening!

Welcome F1. I am speaking from personal experience and generalizations and do not formally represent Thiel Audio. The Ayre and Pass Labs are both extraordinary amplifiers from excellent designers. Each has its sonic signature, but either is considered top drawer.
It is worth noting that you blew 2 drivers with the Ayre. I suspect something is wrong with it or something else in your chain. Those coaxes are very rugged and the only failures I know are from distortion. If it were mine I would seek troubleshooting and repair. Also the power advantage of the Pass is significant. More power always runs cleaner. Definitely consider it. Look at the watts / ohms ratings. A good amp for current hungry Thiels doubles power from 8 to 4 ohms and again doubles or nearly so into 2 ohms. That pattern bespeaks a power supply capable of delivering current, which you need if you listen loudly to lots of bass or persistent dynamics and/or in a large room. Good luck.

The 2.4 and 2.4SE drivers are the same. The crossover has upgraded components plus the cabinet finish and the outrigged plinth make up the SE. Some of us on this thread are developing a Super SE with considerably higher performance parts which will become available through Coherent Source Service when the time comes. 

Enjoy, Tom

Tom, 
Years ago, I owned the IMF Loudspeakers by Irving M. 'Bud' Fried.
When I opened my store in Louisville, in '83, he called me to discuss carrying his products. (By then it was 'Fried Loudspeakers'. One point he was adamant about ADAMENT!, was his stand on real wool stuffing in the cabinets of all his models. 'None of that cheap synthetic sh*t'! So, when I designed the LSA's one thing I did was A/B the speakers with the standard cheap, stuff, lol. It was truly an aha moment. NOT a placebo effect. I repeated this for several audiophiles, not explaining. They unanimously and overwhelmingly picked the tightly packed wool models. I can't remember what was used in all the THIEL speakers. (I'm old). I recommend this for any box speaker. 
Have you experimented with this?
Larry

TomThiel wrote:
>A good amp for current hungry Thiels doubles power from 8 to 4 ohms >and again doubles or nearly so into 2 ohms.
I've been wondering about this. I run a Classe ca-300 amp with my 3.7s. The soundstage  does get a bit congested at large orchestral climaxes, for instance. The Classe is rated 300wpc into 8 ohms and 600 into 4ohms, but there is no specification regarding doubling into 2 ohms in the literature. The 3.7 has a minimum impedance of 2.8 ohms with sensitivity 90dB/2.83V/m. Do I need a more powerful amp?