Thiel Owners

The luxman is fully restored and completely rebuilt with a new transformer boards and etc. it is basically new. I have confidence that “failure prone parts” and “potential noise introductions” are well resolved and don’t even exist.

Let me add that theses impedance loads are typically best served by ss amps. Unlike tube amps, ss amps don’t clip gracefully. When ss amps clip, it’s sudden and ugly. With ss amps t’s best to keep far distance from the clipping point. Fortunately ss Watts are typically much less expensive than tube Watts. Making it much more affordable to avoid it altogether and have the safety of that extra power margin.

The simple reason I like the Benchmark gear is because with this gear  I experience the illusion that I am in the studio or audience during the performance. I think it is their SNR that makes this magic happen for me. 

That is also the reason I like the KEF Blades so much. Those speakers bring the performance into my room better than anything I have ever heard. The Thiel CS3.7 are also pretty good in that regard too.

@yyzsantabarbara, I’m a firm believer in working backwards: budget, room, speakers, amplification, etc.. But I offer this with sincerity: perhaps your affection (which might be well deserved) for the Benchmark might lead you to more compatible speakers?

@jon_5912, I think you mean 64 Watts for 102 dB. And one would need 256 Watts for 108dB. Now one would not ordinarily play Thiel’s that loud, but should it happen you wouldn’t have to worry.  Ultimate volume levels are a Thiel weakness. For me the Thiel virtues outweighs the compromises, and the speakers that can play that loud are too compromised elsewhere for me. Though not the last word in accuracy, I’ve used a phone app to track my listening volumes in my roughly >3800’cubed room for a few weeks. The average sound pressure was about 85 dB, but there were peaks a few times each day of well over 100 dB.
It’s not the ultimate power of the Krell’s that impresses me the most, but rather the ease in which it handles low impedance loads. There’s nary a strain, and it’s reflected in the sound. BTW, with my >4 Ohm Thiel’s I use a less powerful amp that’s not a Krell.