Thiel Owners

@prof 

I love the RUSH references!

Happy Friday! All

@beetlemania, @jafant,

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/170241/Thiel-Cs2-4.html?page=5#manual

The CS 2.4's are spec'd at :

87 dB@2.87 V -1m

and suggests a minimum of 100 Watts per channel


I would offer that even accounting for gain from room lift and the doubling of speakers, the sensitivity drop off from standard 8 ohm rating to actual load by 3dB for each halving of impedance and similar loss to actual recommended listening distance of 3 meters would preclude a 90 dB sensitivity with CS 2.4's . 
 With an admittedly crude phone app I reach peaks in excess of 100 dB's at my listening position, sometimes up to a few times per day, though only averaging dB's in the mid 60's. Many amplifier manufacturers suggest that amplifiers are in their most linear state somewhere between 10 and 20 % of rated full power, and further recommend that one have 8 to 10 or more times that of clean head room power available beyond that.
 As far as the ability to "vomit" power into 2 Ohms; I would suggest that ability to do so is suggestive of a healthy response for the speaker load at hand. Not being able to do so is often suggestive of a weak power supply and/or poor heat dissipation capabilities. If an amp manufacturer's amp is capable of doubling down into 2 Ohms or come reasonably close to doing so, they are likely to brag about it. If an amp manufacturer fails to list their amps specs into 2 Ohms, it's likely because they are not proud of those measurements.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/ayre-acoustics-ax-5-integrated-amplifier-measurements
  When Stereophile measured of the AX-5 into 2 Ohms it clipped at 220 Watts with only one channel driven with a higher level of distortion at lower powers. …"That the AX-5 was not as comfortable driving 2 ohms as it was higher impedances can be seen if fig.6.".."But into 2 Ohms (green), not only is the THD higher, but the level was a little unstable at the lower frequencies."
https://www.stereophile.com/content/thiel-cs24-loudspeaker-measurements
 With the 2.4's measured sub 3 Ohm load and difficult phase angle, that might be good enough, but I think one could do better.
 When driving Thiel's, it might be prudent to ask; what would Jim Thiel do?