What amp for Thiel cs3.5's?

You could get a Parasound that will put out 300wpc into 4 ohms for that money or a Rotel. Either will do the job fine and the differences are small between these and the much more expensive amps. Good Luck

A Parasound 1500a might be a temporary fix.........

I use an Aragon 8008BB to drive my Thiel 3.6's, and I've been very pleased with it. It supplies 200wpc into 8 ohms and 400wpc into 4 ohms. It is very solidly built, and it seems to be a good match for the Thiels. The sound is both full-bodied and transparent. You can probably find one used for around $1K; this is a little above your range, but it represents a lot of amp for the money.

Good luck!

I know that I'm not able to give the Thiels what they really deserve by spending around $500 on a used amp. That's why i asked if i should buy quantity or quality. both is out of the question at this point in time. the plan is to buy something to get me by for now and definitely upgrade later. I guess the subject of my original post should have been "what amp to cripple my thiels the least" :)

would a CJ sonograph SA250 provide good, clean power? it is 125W into 8ohms/250 into 4ohms.

thanks for all the help!

Ketchup, not all Sonographe SA250's are able to "double down". Only the most recent limited special edition samples have this capability.