what do i power my thiel 3.6 with

thank you all for the advice! seems like everyone is on the same page, and this is mostly what I expected to hear. sounds like I might be a little out of my league for now..

Zd542: I did not take any offence to your post, I was just giving you my reasoning for thinking of running two sets of fronts and not using the thiels as my mains for a HT.. I appreciate everything you said and it makes sense!

the problem I have is that there are not hi end audio shops anywhere near where I live, so its very hard for me to audition them with the right equipment. If I purchased, I could eventually bring them somewhere but it would take time..
with all plans aside for building around these speakers... just on a value basis, is this a good enough price to buy them anyway, and if i decide I don't want to invest later on, I could just re-sell later for same price or possibly make a profit?

They are a great speaker that can be purchased cheaply. Unfortunately they need high quality electronics along with high power to sound their best. At least that has been my personnel experience with them.

"Its only a good deal if you like the way the speakers sound." (Zd524)

WRONG! it's a good deal, PERIOD, if the $1000 is less than what the price for such a mint item is going for on the open market! If you don't like em, you simply sell it for a profit and try something else!! (then shove the extra hundo's in your pocket and have more $$$!!! DOH!)
God Forbid someone actually tries em out in their setup and it doesn't work out!!! That would mean they learned something for next time, rather than just rando opinions from the cheer section! Tragic advice...tragic!

Zd524 as a salesman??? FAIL!!
Too hi-end of a speaker for first timer?!? Sounds like your issue. It's stuff to be tried, period

$1000CAD is cheap, if you don't like them, you should be able to get at least $1200USD for them, and chalk it up as a profitable lesson.

"with all plans aside for building around these speakers... just on a value basis, is this a good enough price to buy them anyway, and if i decide I don't want to invest later on, I could just re-sell later for same price or possibly make a profit?
Hordy240 (Threads | Answers | This Thread)"

That's certainly one option, and there's really nothing wrong with it if that's what you decide to do. The only caution that some of the others, including myself raised, is to not get sucked into an expensive trap with a speaker like that, because its very easy to do. Like I said before, Thiel's are very polarizing. Its usually a speaker that someone either loves or hates.

There is something else you can do that I feel would be well worth your time. And that is to bring your electronics to the speakers and try them first. You said your friend owns them, so he should have no problem with that. Even if your equipment isn't optimal, you still really need to do this. In all likelihood, the speakers are over 20 years old. Depending on how they were kept, its a very real possibility (better than 50%), that they will need some type of maintenance. Speaker drivers get old and eventually wear out, crossovers sometimes need to be replaced, etc.., stuff like that is maintenance on an old speaker.

I know how some of the others have commented on how good a deal the Thiels are. If they're in good shape and you like the way they sound, then yes, I think they're a good deal. Assuming the speakers don't need any of the maintenance that I listed above, selling them without losing money will still not be easy. If you're in Canada, its not likely sell them to a US buyer. Its a nightmare. I haven't done it in a while so I don't remember every last detail, but things get held up in customs, they may hit you with heavy fees, sometimes the packages get held up for weeks and I've seen where they've opened the box for inspection and damaged goods just from being rough handling them. Add that to the fact that the 3.6's are above the weight limit for UPS and FedEx, so you'll be looking at local pickup, or an expensive freight company if they need to be shipped. If you don't keep the speakers, you'll most likely lose a good portion of your investment. Sorry if I seem a little negative here, but its better that you get all the info up front before you lose anything. I'm not trying to talk you out of buying the 3.6's, just giving as much info, as I can, based on my experience from doing this over the years.