Best affordable amp for Thiel CS3.6

BTW, in case anyone is following this anymore, I ended up with a pair of Enterprises in addition to the Intrepid. All I can say is, "Wow!" I did get a chance to audition the Edge NL-10 in my home, and it doesn't come close to matching the open, spacious feel of the Enterprises, nor does it sound as musical. It is a bit analytical by comparison. I'd say the NL-10 is indeed slightly faster, but the difference here was nowhere near as big as the advantage to the Thetas in soundstage and imaging.

Now, to upgrade pre/pro and source components!

Thanks again to all who helped me with this decision making process. You folks really were very helpful.

Tom.

Tom
I am wondering at what point you decided to up the anty from your original goal of around $2000.00 for an amplifier?!?

Unless I am mistaken didn't you end up spending three times that much or so?
I also am curious at what price level did the performance inmprovement really hit you.

Congatulations also.

Ed

Yes, indeed, my budget theory got shot through the roof! ;^) What did it for me was auditioning amps. I had my old Adcom GFA-555II with me for a reference, and what I found was that stepping up to a $2,000-3,000 amp had some benefits, but still, there were some things that the old Adcom did better than these amps. Once I heard the Enterprises, though, the difference was shocking. Not to name names, but compared to another manufacturer's $3,000.00 amp, they beat it in every category, and significantly blew it's doors off in imaging and soundstage (which are important to me). Then, I did a head to head, in my home comparison versus a modded Edge NL-10 (retail of over $12,000), and the Enterprises also beat them handily (to my ears, at least).

I think that once I heard just how good my 3.6's can sound with excellent amplification, I didn't want to go back to anything else. That, and an unexpected inflow of cash helped out. :^)

FWIW, my favorite amp at close to the $2,000 mark was actually the Theta Intrepid driving just the Thiels. That "little" Intrepid just amazes me. It doesn't have the depth of soundstage, or the detail of the Enterprises, but it is very balanced, quite capable in the lows, and has very good width of soundstage.

Tom.

>"I think that once I heard just how good my [3.6's] can sound with excellent >[amplification], I didn't want to go back to anything else."

Man, how many times have we all said that!

When will the Madness stop?!?!
A friend of mine has a perfect condition Plinius amp just sitting in his basement and I hear it calling to me from here.
Luckily so far I have listened to amps so far out of reach I have never really considered them seriously but his Plinius is looking mighty attractive.

I am in the business and can likely obtain about anything at cost but this is here now and tempting. Know what I mean?

Tom,I asked about your change in direction as this thread mentions "affordable" at least at first.
Unfortunatly these speakers can really benefit from Crazy Price Electonics.

Whose fault is that?

I didn't mean to get them ......really,I just can't help myself