Int Amp for Thiel CS 3.7

@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 

@thieliste   I agree with @audiotroy in his post above. The only way to truly determine what will work best for you, is to try the amps you are interested in, in your own system.

Early in this thread, I made the recommendation to consider T+A and specifically the PA 3000 HV, because used or demo units can be had for less than your budget and I believe they will deliver what you are looking for. Used or demo may be more difficult with the PA 3100 HV since it is a newly released component, and is likely to come in above your budget, even in used condition.

I recently went through a lengthy and thorough evaluation of a number of amps in my own system and the T+A PA 3100 HV was my clearly preferred choice over my Pass (separates), Lyric Audio, Mastersound, and Ypsilon integrated amps. A trip to NYC/NJ fell through which unfortunately meant I was unable to audition the Gryphon 300, Vitus SIA-025, and Grandinote Essenza integrated amps in dealer setups.

I also had the opportunity to listen to the Thiel CS 5i speakers driven by a mix of Ayre and Krell amplification in @dlcockrum 's system. Having heard these speakers in person makes me comfortable recommending the T+A amplification components for your CS 3.7s.

I also second @audiotroy 's description of the T+A components.

If you have specific questions, feel free to ask here or PM me.

All the best with your search.

I finally have a T+A distributor in my country since april 2018 so i will try to get in touch with him and see if it is possible to demo this gear.
The Luxman L-509X looks beautiful but i'm not sure it has the juice to drive properly Thiel 3.7s.
Thanks Dave for the information, your making me curious about this T+A brand lol