Driving Thiels

You can drive virtually any speaker with virtually any amp. The question is how good will it sound. I have heard The 2.6 size Thiel sound really good with a solid (not state) 200wpc amp. Some higher current 100 watt amps, like your Forte should be suitable, but I wouldn't push my luck trying the bigger Thiels, with it.

Matt get the Odyssey Extreme Stratos monoblock,If you
want good music in your room. They are match made in
heaven,power? No problem.They even powered my friend
CS6 Thiel with ease.There is one for sale by TVAD, the
price is a give away.

For the fun of it I recently tried driving my CS6s with my Rogue Cronus integrated (55WPC) when audiophile friends were in town and we experimented with different combinations of electronics and speakers. Compared to the Krell KCT/400cx combination that is used in this system, a good part of the dynamic punch was missing, but at reasonable listening levels (80 dB on my rat shack meter) the music was quite enjoyable and extended. Led Zeppelin-II on vinyl (Classic records reissue) had good punch and depth. Bonham's drums lacked that last bit of oomph but the rest of the guitar, bass and cymbals work was nicely presented. Massed strings sounded natural and sweet. Only when the dynamics really needed it did the sound suffer, and only when the amp was pushed beyond the 80 dB level from about 11 feet away. Oh yeah, I was running the amp with the 8 Ohm taps too, so go figure, the Thiels are quite "difficult" to drive but even a modest amp like the Cronus could deliver satisfying music provided one's expectations into the headbanging zone weren't unrealistic. For that, a solid state amp that doesn't flinch into 2 Ohm loads is what's needed.

The best my Thiel CS3.5s sounded is when a ran a pair of Sony TA-n80's mono at 560 watts a side(8 ohms) - this really opened them up, reduced the brightness and provided many enjoyable listening sessions.

Thanks, all. This is really helpful. Whatever I decide to do, I'm definitely going to hear my amp and preamp on the speakers (especially the CS 3x) at length. Probably, then, I'd be looking at a CS 2x (though the CS 3.5 can be had for so little relative to other Thiels--it's tempting!).

Thanks again,

Matt