Thiels or Von Schweikerts

Mjaudio wrote:

"Thiel makes a quality speaker but make sure you realize they really are high maintenance and don't like to be fed anything other than the best sound quality CD's"

Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but:

A) As an owner I certainly don't find Thiels to be particularly "high maintenance" (whatever exactly that's supposed to indicate -- I'll assume it refers to set-up and system requirements and wasn't meant literally), or at least not any more so than other wide-range, low-coloration speakers tend to be if you want optimum performance.

B) I'm a music lover first, record collector second, and an audiophile last, and believe me when I say I play material that isn't "the best sound quality" (often by a long shot) through my Thiels every day and enjoy it. But then again I've never shared the philosophy of some audiophiles that the better your system gets, the less material sounds good enough to play through it. If I thought that were true I wouldn't even be an audiophile at all, but thankfully I've learned just the opposite to be the case, having consistently found that material which is less than well-recorded from an techno-weenie standpoint has always been rendered more listenable and communicative, not less, as my system has improved.

Zaikesman's comment (B) is fantastic, and I agree 100%, as another Thiel owner. Any Thiel can make beautiful, and pleasing music with no listener fatigue. But with the wrong equipment they can send you out of the room. VS presents exactly the same issue, although results are very different. The right equipment will make beautiful music, anything else will bore you into losing interest in listening. Unfortunatly, you just CANNOT believe reviews, or other's opinions, because every system needs different medicine. Owning Thiels, I learned to chose each component carefully by auditioning and comparing IN MY SYSTEM. Krell and ARC sounded too analytical in my system, but others LOVE this stuff with THEIR Thiels. I would have never guessed any of my final decisions without hearing them first IN MY SYSTEM.

Hi,,

" Tom_hankins
Rustler, I might be completely wrong here, but I dont think I would risk my investment in either the Manley or the Cary int. amps in hope they would drive the Thiels to what they are capable of. I think if you do hear and decide on the Thiels you would be better off with a used mid to high power SS amp in the same price range you had set for either of the tube amps you mentioned."

I have a pair of Thiel 2.3s used in a 23x14x8 room. I play jazz and classic rock. Presently I drive them with a Cary SLI-80, 4ohm taps, ultralinear mode and the sound is lovely. I usually listen at 80 to 85 db, and sometimes 90 to 95 db. as mesured at the listening position at 12 feet away. The speakes are placed 12 feet apart 2 feet from the side and back walls. I measurd the bass resopnse with this set up and the response was +/- 3 db down to 32 htz and down 6 db at 25 htz.

Prior to the SLI-80 I used a ss amp rated at 230 watts into 8 ohms and 380 into 4. It could play louder, but I like the
Theils with the tube sound better.

Just wanted to relay my experience.

Larry

Larry, your room is exactly the size of mine, but my erstwhile small tube amp used a pair of EL34's per channel (in ultralinear, for a rated 45wpc) and my speakers are 2.2's. I agree the sound can be very nice, but in my experience some detail did go wanting, and the bass could have been better controlled. The acid test for me was that I could no longer play back solo acoustic piano at a lifelike volume without incurring midrange breakup, although programs with less-concentrated frequency response and more compressed dynamics, such as most pop group recordings, could actually go somewhat louder before apparent strain set in. I suspect that in a situation like ours the Cary could probably be expected to work better than the Manley based on their power ratings, though I hasten to add that I haven't heard either amp myself. Another possibility -- which I have heard, paired with 1.6's in a large showroom, with quite impressive results -- is the VTL IT-85.

Final solution: I bought Soliloquys!! And am completely thrilled.

rr