Thiel Owners

@cascadesphil 

When someone poses a question, I try to put myself in their shoes within their budgets and what they want to accomplish.  I often help people who are not audiophiles.  I wouldn't want to impart any of my disease (😀) to them.  We all have different tastes and goals and there's nothing wrong with that.

That's pretty much my approach also.  I try to keep my comments limited to what I have experience with, avoid speculation on things I don't have experience with, and acknowledge that there's more than one way to achieve your system goals. 

I might nudge someone towards waiting and saving up a little if their budget doesn't seem realistic compared to their stated goals, but I don't recommend that people spend more than they can afford.

I have a pair of 2.3s and 3.6s.  I find them both to be a little strident.  They do so many things right that I want to love them, but I haven't had much luck taming them with my gear and my room.  I plan to try the 2.3s in my bedroom system with a 460 watt Wyred 4 Sound class D amp and see how that works.  I never play at high volumes there, so it might be a good match.

@sdl4 - circling back to your inquiry about driving 2.2s with a single stereo AHB-2. I answered yes you could. But that answer is close to dangerous advice. Granting that it all depends on room size and loudness levels, one amp could easily run out of steam. The 2.2 has a very flat impedance curve that only drops below 4 ohms from 100-200Hz. Its sensitivity is stated as 86dB/2.83volts. Thiel recommended 50-250 watts into 8 ohms capable of doubling to 4). I have often driven them with one AHB-2 without issue. But my room (which I have described) is quite difficult to assess due to its unconventional construction. I also rarely listen above 85dB (VU peaks).

What gives me pause is the assumptions of a normal room and levels. This week I am running trials on CS3.5 equalizer upgrades. My amps are the PSA Stellar 300 @ 150/channel and the Benchmark AHB-2 at 100, which has been discussed here.

The 3.5 with EQ goes flat to 20Hz; its sensitivity is 88dB with a flat impedance curve that drops to 5ohms between 100 and 1K. It should be an easier load than the 2.2. In a room I will describe below, I can run out of amp about 100dB (VU) peaks.

This room is an uninsulated (leaky) camp with openings that somewhat consolidate the place into one acoustic space measuring 19’x 30’x about 9’ average ceiling under a shallow gable roof - let’s call it 5000 cubic feet. To fill this space at satisfying levels without worrying about stressing drivers via distortion, I would want a pair of bridged AHB2s.

Underpowering is what kills drivers. I appreciate unsound’s push-back against my marginal recommendation that one would be ’just fine’ for you. Perhaps you can find an AHB-2 to borrow for trials. Let us know what you get.

@big_greg

Do you have the original tweeters in the 2.3s, or the later revisions (vented).  When my friend worked at the store we updated a few pairs (and those were where someone had blown a tweeter). On my first visit to the store, when I moved to the area, they had a pair of 3.6s on the floor but I never heard them as by the time I got back to the store ithe 3.6s were gone and I was just looking for a CD player as I was renting a temporary townhouse with most things in boxes waiting for a new house to be built.

The later tweeters might help a hair with harshness at higher volumes.  I had moved on to the 7.2s by the time the updated tweeters for the 2.3s came out.  While I use my audio rooms for audio, I do treatments to tame the bad areas (without making it look like a studio).  GIK Acoustics (and others) have art panels.  They have lots of pictures to put on them or you can put your own (I actually have a couple of wildlife shots in my office - more the pictures vs. treatment)

bobscliff

I have not had a Peachtree audition. Consider an audition with your local dealer/retailer or contact Peachtree to inquire specs on the Nova 300 model.

Over the years, I used this method for internal information not discussed in Audio press reviews.

Happy Listening!

@tomthiel 

Thanks so much for the additional info about the Benchmark amp in your system and room. I think my room is a little smaller than yours, which could affect the amp-speaker match a bit. My current amps are the PSA M700 monoblocks, which have plenty of power and sound really good, too. Your S300 is a lower powered stereo sibling of the M700, and I wondered how the CS3.5 works with the S300 compared to the Benchmark amp. 

I may not be remembering this correctly and it may not apply to the Benchmark amp anyway, but I thought that most stereo amps in bridge mode didn't handle lower impedance loads as well as the stereo version did (which could make it a less good match with the CS2.2). It also seems like the use of EQ down to 20 Hz with the CS3.5 could require quite a bit of juice from an amp, and the non-EQ'd CS2.2 wouldn't require as much power from any amp.

It would be fun to compare my M700s to the AHB-2 directly, but I remain more fascinated with how the new Atma-Sphere Class D amp might sound with my CS2.2s. The A-S amp uses GaN-FETs and is rated at 200 w/channel at 4 ohms. I won't be attending AXPONA next week, but I'll be looking for comments on the sound of the A-S amp at the show before I decide whether to try to demo any of these options.

Thanks again for all your input!