Int Amp for Thiel CS 3.7

Carmenc,

Lets set a couple of points straight:

WE ARE NOT SELLING ANYTHING to the OP who  lives in Europe

If you've read his posts Mr. Theilliste is all over the place on trying to figure out what would sound best on his Thiels.

He mentioned a budget of 10,000 Euro's with today's exchange rates would be around $12k-14k in equvilent dollars.

If this is the case you are not going to find better pieces newer pieces fitting in that price point. Sure you can buy a 3-5 year  old tube preamp and a solid state amp like a used Krell or something or a newer amp built to a lesser price point like the Benchmark but then the issue is for X dollars will that combo sound as good as an uber integrated? 

We are directly refuting your previous statement: I’ve owned Thiels in the past.  I can tell you from firsthand experience that separates are the best way to proceed with Thiels.  I’ve said this before; a tube preamp with a ss amp!  

To which we wrote: Carmnec your statement that you have to use separates is wrong, the uber integrated amplifiers, which include a $45,000.00 Dagastino, the $18k Gryphon Diablo 300,the $23k T+A HV 3100 series are three examples of uber integrated amplifiers that challenge, and outperform many separates.

If you read what we wrote the previous T+A model the HV 3000 at $18k was compared to $120k worth of Ch Precision gear WHICH ARE SEPARATES! and was found to sound nearly as good as those pieces read the article.

Carmenc,you expouse the same thinking that many people here do you start shopping for an affordable older used setup or start shopping at lesser priced amplifiers in order to fit the budget.
 

Dave do you think the T+A HV 3100  will be more refined and have more magic with my CS 3.7 compared to the Diablo 300 and the Vitus RI-101 ? or is it a close call ?
Thanks,

Thieliste

@audiotroy,

The Luxman I referenced is not the AX model you are describing. It is the brand new UBER Luxman integrated, Luxman L-509X. It is supposed to be a mix of the top of the line separates in a single chassis. Similar in goal as the T&A integrated.

I have learned that in audio price is not always a good barometer of quality.

BTW - read up what the Magico designers think of Hegel. I was a little surprised at how much respect they bestowed on Hegel. Soundstage.com has an interview with the designer talking about the new A3 speaker. He demoed with Hegel.

yyzsantabarbera we know the Uber Luxman and we haven't tested it. The Luxman gear is very good, however, we sold the brand for years, liked it a bit better than the Hegel gear which we also sold.

The T+A 2500R is the most remarkable semi affordable integrated we have ever tested in the shop.  Its combination of huge soundstage width and depth coupled with a very engaging and liquid midrange was something extraordinary not exhibited in many of these pieces.

Hegel gear is very good, but just slightly misses the more organic quality of the best gear, it could be something with the feed foward circuit design. 

As with any of this gear you have to listen for yourself. We had some of the older 800 series Luxman pieces in and the T+A was in a different league.

The Luxman engineers take a more complicated design track then the T+A engineers. The Lucca volume circuit is quite complex, vs T+A traditional optical encoder opening up gas contact relays and individual resistors. 

Luxman makes fantastic gear some of the best they just didn't seem to offer the same set of qualities of resolution plus liquidity we heard in the T+A gear, we would welcome the shootout. 

It all comes down to what you value, these are all stellar pieces.

When we tested the T+A gear it bettered the Thrax gear, CJ gear, Devialet, and Electrcompaniet gear we compared it to. The T+A integrated was compared to Naim, Norma, Coda, Devialet, and Electcompaniet amps at the time. 

Hope that clarifys our points.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

Theiliste,  this is a hard question, these are all fantastic pieces amoung the best in the world.

T+A has a number of advantages over the other pieces if you are talking the PA 3100 aside from just the sound.

1: The T+A PA 3100 can come with a fantatic phono card which is a world class phono stage for $1,800.00

2: The T+A PA 3100 can also come with a unique room correction/eq card to tailor the sound to your room.

3: The T+A PA 3100 can be upgraded by adding an outboard power supply for even better performance.

4: IT HAS METERS!  Who doesn't like a nice set of meters?

Sonically the T+A is a bit on the warm side, the Gryphon gear tends to be a bit darker sounding.

The Vitus gear to our ears also tends to be a bit on the darker side of neutral haven't heard the latest version. 

The Gryphon and Vitus can have built in digital which is a big cost saving. 

These are all exceptional products for the money that can challenge many of the best separate amp/preamp combos, the T+A PA 3100 is really the company's separate PA 3000 amp and Preamp in one chassis. The performance is very close. 

Next step would be to audition in your home these pieces.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ