Thiel 3.6 to Eggleston Andras II

Hey Pops,

You wrote:

"I just get nervous with components out of production, especially that long but I probably shouldn't as long as the company is in bus."

You realize that the Andra II is also out of production too, right? (Albeit the Andra II has only been out of production for a year or so, which is not that long, and of course EgglestonWorks is still in business too.)

I can give the Andra II my highest recommendation in its price range, particularly for rock music. (And, as you know, I do own a pair, so take that with as many grains of salt as you like!!) ;-)

My two cents worth anyway.

Good Luck in your search.

You will miss the Thiels if you move to the Andra II. I would look for speakers that are more inline with the Thiel house sound that add more bass volume/slam/punch etc.

I listen to mostly rock and own Thiel CS2.4. I have being looking for the same reason that you have. I am coming to the conclusion that I want just a hint of bass coloration in the form of dynamic impact to drive the rock music.

With that being said I really dislike most speakers that I have demoed. You have to give up a lot of what Thiels get right in order to gain bass slam, or spend a lot of money and have it all.

I would demo the Revel Ultima line. The Salon go very cheep on this site and are the real deal. They will give you almost every thing Thiel's best speakers give and add bass punch and weight. I do think the highs are a little soft for rock music at some times but most people will love them.

Another speaker that sounds very good for rock music is the Sasha/Sophia 3 (they sound about the same...). They maybe too colored for you coming from Thiel. Yeah I just called the Sophia 3 colored and it is from an absolute perspective. They have a LOT of bass punch but it is a little peaky (in the room I heard them) and not as well integrated with the mids as Thiels 3.7 (never heard the 3.6). The upper mids on the Sopha 3 lack some the resolution compared to the 3.7.

With at being said the Revel Salon may be a good fit with great bass but more balance than the Wilsons (and better priced too). But I concider the Wilson line to be one of the best for rock music. It's colorations fit the music well. For me I will most likely move onto the 3.7, Salon, or maybe Kef 207/2 if I can ever get a demo...

Below I have added part of a review comparing the Andra II and Sasha.

"It is in the bass region where the Sasha scores a decisive victory that verged on being a vicious beatdown. The Andra II’s bass is very good, as far as it goes, which is to somewhere in the lower 30s in my current room. This room does not provide the assistive loading of the room in which I reviewed the Andra II back in 2002. The Sasha provided noticeably better definition and tautness and took that superiority into the very low 20s with consummate ease and shattering, floor-shaking power when called upon to do so. Here it was no contest: Sasha in a convincing TKO.

Through the mids, it was very nearly a push, with the Sasha inching a bit ahead. The Sasha's new midrange driver is truly special. As noted above, this unprepossessing-looking unit achieves a level of nuance and detail retrieval that has heretofore been the exclusive provenance of planar and electrostatic drivers. The Andra II’s midrange is, and remains, striking and exemplary in its honesty, and it took the Sasha to better it. The improvement is there, though it is marginal, but at these levels of performance (and cost) being marginally better is more significant than it is with lesser components. Slight advantage to Sasha.

In terms of the highs, the Andra II’s Dynaudio Esotar is perhaps my all-time favorite dome tweeter. Its airiness, precision and delicacy still remain at the top of the mark. Wilson Audio has worked wonders with its new version of the Focal Tioxid tweeter, to be sure. The Sasha W/P had definition and subtlety that were lacking from even the MAXX 2. The tweeter integrates better with its companion midrange driver(s) than any previous Wilson tweeter and provides musically excellent overall sonics, but it is not the last word in any one quality one desires from a tweeter, acquitting itself well across the board instead. Here, the Andra II wins by a head’s length.

The Sasha consistently threw a bigger and more clearly defined soundstage and provided dynamics both great and small that few speakers anywhere can match. Overall, the Sasha was the better speaker in nearly every meaningful way. And well it should be"

http://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/wilson_audio_sasha_wp.htm

Thanks Kurt_Tank and thanks for the insight when I e-mailed you privately for advice!

Thanks James for an incredible comparison and perspective! As a Thiel owner you obviously understand the house sound which I have enjoyed for many years. I am 95% happy to stay put but like you listen to primarily rock music and looking for just a little more slam/dynamics but not at the expense of the incredible Thiel transparency.

I spent a lot of time auditioning the 3.7's. They are great speakers - however, I felt they offered only a marginal improvement over my 3.6 so I couldn't see dropping 12 to 14K (new) on a pair at the time.

Have you ever tried anything from the Zu line? From what I have read they are rockers!

Hi Pops, the Andras are great speakers and have only been replaced with the MK111 version. Have not heard them but the newer version they went with aluminum sides instead of the granite which is on the original and MK2's.

The comparison above to the Sasha is this review is ONLY this person's opinion and that's it, there's more to it than just that and look at the price difference. These Andra speakers are so muscical and will have your toes tapping.

If you do go with Andra's your amplification will need to be changed so heads up on that. I had them paired up with Pass X600.5 mono blocks using a ARC Ref3 pre and the sound was marvelous. Also tried CAT stereo Sig. amp and that sounded great also but would not recomend the manufacture for other reasons. If I was looking at those I would have the REF3 again and Pass but want to try thier new XA series 100 or 160, would be a step up over the X600.5's.

You really need to hear which ever speaker it may be in a real world set-up, good luck with that. Like anything else you need to try at home but as we know speakers are much harder to do this.

Personally when comparing the Thiel, Sasha and Andra's my over all preferrence is Andras.

Good luck with your journey!

Thanks Dev, why do you feel I will have to change my amplification? Using Mac 501's...