Hello all,
I have to agree with all the above points. After I acquired my 3.5’s, I suddenly became aware of the true definition of revealing. Thru the Thiels, poorly recorded materials sounded almost unbearable! Even though my integrated at the time was up to driving them quite well power...and CURRENT...wise, it just lacked the musicality of better equipment.
Thus, my system has evolved greatly and has been shaped around these speakers. I am convinced that the brightness, harshness, edge that some people hear isn’t an inherent flaw with Thiels, but rather, the fact that the Thiels are simply ruthless in playing exactly what you are feeding them thru the equipment they’re hooked up to.
I never paid much attention to the idea of equipment matching. But, the Thiels (which were my first truly Hi-End, reference-class components) have shown me that yes, in the realm of hi-end audio, EVERYTHING really does matter...
Enjoy the music everyone!
Arvin