Thiel Owners

Dan, I need my SmartSubs for my emerging guitar-making-research-recording-evaluation studio. One SS2 is being repaired. I'll report on the level of success.

350wpc is not too much. Too much really doesn't exist in my book, although there are small-amp aficionados who specifically want the wet sound of overdriven tubes. The amp you listed above @ 250-8 x 375-4 I judge to be inadequate (without ever hearing it.) If an amp doesn't double its output from 8 to 4, it is current limited and therefore producing distortion when driven hard. Thiel speakers drive hard, dropping below 3 ohms over extended ranges. That amp is likely to sound ragged / dry / conjested plus it could blow up drivers at high volume. Look for an amp that doubles from 8 to 4 and makes at least 1.5x its 4 ohm rating at 2.

thanks Dan and Prof for your comments.  it is funny that your brother may have liked the 2.7's better as my girlfriend likes them better too.   i think that the "sweeter" mid bass sound is what appeals to her as they have a bit more warmth in some ways than the 3.7's.   Hell if i cannot sell them,  i might have to sell the 3.7's as i cannot afford to keep both.

It seems a lot of people have old Classe amps sitting around.  I've got a pair of CA200s from 1996 that haven't been used in 5+ years.  They developed intermittent crackling sounds that I couldn't get fixed.  I replaced them with a pair of Cambridge 840s that I run bridged mono.  They've been good.  I find them more neutral than the Classe and they seem to have plenty of power, at least for my purposes.  Cambridge tends to be high performance/marginal quality from what I've read but these amps have worked perfectly since I've had them.  We'll see how long they last.  

I'm not surprised that it's tough to sell the 2.7s.  I decided a long time ago that most "audiophiles" don't actually care that much about absolute sound quality.  It's a factor but looks, novelty, preferred colorations, how much attention something is getting in the press make a bigger difference.  Thiel was never big on exotic materials or other talking points that may have helped sales but that may or may not have improved the sound.  People who want accuracy are a niche within the high end audio niche. 

In the long run, I believe the 2.7 (and 1.7) will become collectors' items. They were made in Lexington after Jim's death and before the sale, using old-Thiel type parts (high purity inductors, PP caps with PS bypasses, etc. on point to point boards. The 2.7 uses the 3.7 coax with a smaller woofer for a hypothetically "easier" crossover than the 3.7. I suspect that further tweaking, such as replacing the big electrolytics with PPs might make the 2.7 one for history.

how does the ATI 6000 work? it's 350 @ 8 and 475@ 4   Or there class D monster at 650@8 1000@4