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Help me select an integrated amp for Thiel CS3.6 speakers

Room is 25 x 25 and fully carpeted. The speakers are in the corners -  this cannot be changed.

Looking for suggestions for an integrated amp that will work well with this speaker. Looking to spend around $2500 but will go to $4000 if it makes sense to do so. This obviously removes the higher end Pass, Luxman, Levinson etc from the discussion.

Two on my radar are:
1) Rotel RA-1592
2) Parasound Hint 6.

They both have plenty of watts and bluetooth for apple/tidal/ connectivity. My source will be streaming or buying a streamer at some point.

I am planning on buying without being able to audition unfortunately.

Any help would be appreciated. 

Thanks.


epz
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
epz OP
Help me select an integrated amp for Thiel CS3.6 speakers

These 86db Thiel’s are a hard load and deserve amps that can almost keep doubling their 8ohm wattage’s to 4ohms and again to 2ohms to get the best out of them forget tube or class-d.
Suggest you look at Gryphon Diablo 120 or the bigger 300 and amp that can do what they do in wattage doubling,and remain comfortable all day at 2ohms loading

Stereophile tested results:
The loudspeaker is under 3 ohms through most of the range, dropping to a minimum of 2.3 ohms at 3.6kHz (the cursor position). The low impedance value explains the CS3.6’s need for the iron-fisted Mark Levinson No.23.5 to provide control in the bass.

https://www.stereophile.com/images/archivesart/Cs36fig1.jpg
Cheers George
thieliste's avatar
thieliste
822 posts
 
A little over your budget but Hegel 390 is the one i would choose.
unsound
7,329 posts
 
They're a challenging load for many separate power amps, not many intergrateds  are up to the task.
gosta's avatar
gosta
839 posts
 
Try find nice Yamaha M-80 or M-85. 
golfnutz
231 posts
 
Honestly EPZ, you should consider selling those speakers (assuming you’ve purchased them already). The real issue here is the size of your room (25’ x 25’ speakers in the corners only). As others have mentioned, you need a high current amp to get them sounding their best (CS3.6 are 2.3 - 3.0 ohms minimal for almost the entire frequency range). At minimum you would be looking at something like a Pass Labs Int 250, and that’s over your budget ($7K used). Look for better speakers to suite your room (high efficiency, with higher impedance than the CS3.6). Than your choice of Integrated Amps will be much easier, and affordable.
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