Thiel Owners

Going from CS5i’s to stand mounts with tubes could be a very different contrast.

B&W’s usually aren’t very compatible with tubes. Just look at Fig. 1 for the 805’s

B&W Matrix 805 loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com

That rollercoaster frequency response is not what tubes typically like to see.

Personally, I don’t much care for the B&W sound, though I once heard a pair of 802’s in a very unusual room powered by ss/tube hybrid Counterpoint amp making some beautiful work of a chorale performance. The demonstrator shut down the system after about 20 minutes, because he was afraid the amp might go up in flames.

jab

Always good to see you here. Thank You for weighing in on Tube amp for our beloved Thiel loudspeakers.

Happy Listening!

Hi all, 

  Hope everyone had a great new year.  So it took a few days but I'm now the proud owner of a pair of 3.6s being fed by a Mark Levinson 23.5:)  The 3.6s will need a tweeter repaired which I'm waiting on Rob to get to back to me about, but they were a deal nonetheless and even with the issue, they sound great- very natural and room filling at the same time.  I'll hold off any observations till the issue is resolved, but I wanted to ask your thoughts on skipping a pre amp and just using a DAC, since my inputs will be all digital for now.  I'm considering the RME ADI2 or perhaps something simpler without all the features, is anyone out there skipping the preamp altogether and using the DAC alone?  Can the pre amp really give me more?  As some of you have pointed out, giving tubes a try would certainly be fun.  I suspect some of the hi-fi preamps with digital inputs and balanced outs, etc. could end up out of my price range.  

Side note- I still have the option to pick up the CS6s which I'm seriously considering, but one thing at a time and this made sense financially for me. Decisions decisions:)  Thanks all!

coop_301

Nice! score. Enjoy the ML/Thiel combination as you assemble the rest of your system.

Happy Listening!