Best possible separates for Thiel CS 3.7

Charles thanks for supporting my findings.There was obviously a reason for me to drive all the way to Zürich, the only place in Europe where it was possible to demo the Aries Cerat separates with Thiel CS 3.7s just because the Swiss Aries Cerat distributor happened to own a pair of 3.7s.
This demo wouldn't have been possible in France.To answer your questions we have used many genres of music from pop rock to electronica, alternative, jazz and classical.We were amazed how the AC amps handled many genres of music and at prettry loud level.I was really shocked at how the AC amps had an iron hand grip on the Thiels just like a big V12 engine but with dynamics and speed.
The bass was uber stable, deep and highly resolving not to mention the unmatched musicality and richness of the mids and treble, just world class.At €46K for the AC separates i hardly think the €88K CH Precision combo will do much better.The CH amps are the most liquid sounding amps i have ever heard at any price even compared to d'Agostino M400 but it won't have the meat of Aries Cerat IMO.
The AC separates already beat the Ypsilon separates to my ears.IMO Stavros Danos is the real deal in tube amplification now days period!The last step for me would be to demo CH L1+X1+M1stereo on the 3.7s but that's going to be pretty difficult to arrange.One last word, tubes is so magical on Thiel speakers!

As the saying goes, and as Charles alluded to, there is an exception to every rule. And from a technical standpoint I don’t find it surprising that the Aries Cerat Concero 65 SET amp can provide excellent results with the CS 3.7.

First, while the speaker’s impedance is of course very low, as well as challenging in terms of phase angles at certain deep bass frequencies, it is relatively flat throughout most of the frequency range. Which will minimize the tonal consequences of impedance interactions with the amp, that would be problematical pairing many SETs with many other speakers. Second, both the amp (apparently weighing 220 pounds per monoblock) and its power tubes (each of the paralleled 813s has a plate dissipation rating of 125 watts) are monsters. And given the 65 watt rating of the amp the tubes are probably being run conservatively, in a region that provides better linearity than if they were being pushed closer to their limits.

It would be interesting to know the output impedance of the amp, or equivalently its damping factor. (The output impedance of the 4 ohm tap would be approximately 4 ohms divided by the damping factor). If that is relatively low (for a SET), say in the vicinity of 1 ohm (equivalent to a damping factor of 4 or more), it would further account for the amp pairing well with the CS 3.7.

In any event, if you purchase that amp keep away from the wire that runs up to the plate cap on top of the power tubes, as can be seen in this photo. It probably has around 2,000 volts on it. Probably only around 1,000 volts or so on the plate cap of the driver tube, though. 😉

Good luck, however you decide to proceed. Regards,
-- Al

Hello Al,
As always, thanks for contributing consistently intelligent and thorough technical analysis. I knew that Aries Cerat (AC) is in an unique category of tube amplification due to its near over the top approach of engineering, design and execution. As Thieliste mentioned above this is the goal of its designer/builder Stavros. 440 pounds of amplifier to yield 65 watts of SET power. As Al keenly observed,  very powerful tubes intentionally run very conservatively to keep them in their most linear operating zone. Utterly rational design decision. I have no doubt they sound sublime driving the Thiels 3.7 just as Thieliste described.

In the vast majority of cases involving these speakers I’d heed the advice of Unsound and George in terms of amplifier selection criteria. Thieliste I am admittedly curious to see how the esteemed CH Precision solid state components listening experience compares to the AC. Aries Cerat has established an  extremely high point of reference.
Charles

CH Precision is my absolute favorite SS pre-power combo at any price but i'm afraid if i decide to go this route my wife will kill me lol.It will be very difficult to convince her to go CH because she absolutlely loved the Aries Cerat combo with the Thiels.I have to take into account her taste, this is a 2 persons decision.I think she is right because that would leave me enough money to purchase a SOTA DAC + server like the Totaldac d1-Twelve mk2 and great cables.

Thieliste, 
Does your wife have extensive listening experience with High End audio or a musician background? A lot of women seem to have a knack (experienced ears or not) for identifying what many would reefer to as a natural sound. Does she also prefer Aries Cerat to Ypsilon as you do? I've heard Ypsilon components and I'm really impressed with them. I haven't heard Aries Cerat. 
Charles