Thiel Owners

Well guys after having demoed a Vitus SIA-025 Mk2 integrated in my system for a week i have decided to keep it.

It replaces my Gryphon Diablo 300 which will be up for sale.

Very happy with the SIA-025 - CS 3.7 combo, very musical and engaging and surprisingly the Vitus drives my Thiels better than the Gryphon.

The Vitus being a class A integrated it puts out much more current.

Vitus is very smooth, liquid sounding and full body.

thieliste - maybe we should all have a music party at your house to hear what a Thiel speaker can do.

@jafant Thanks for this thread. It made my CS3.7 ownership a very high end endeavor.

This morning I played the CS3.7's with my Class A KRELL 175XD and my Benchmark LA4 preamp. This was in the big room I moved them too. It sounded amazing, better than the single Benchmark AHB2. Which I have stated many times is not my preference for the CS3./7's (even the monos).

However, this morning I also sold the CS3.7's and will be packing it up today and deliver to a local buyer. It was a great ride and a bucket list item.

trickydude - I’ll elaborate a little on Harry’s recommendation. I have and use and concur with him on that Adcom amp. But my experience with it taught me a few things. The original Adcom GFA555 was designed by Nelson Pass, as were many of Adcom’s amps. The MkII was not - it shared a chassis, but was otherwise a French design with somewhat different characteristics, far higher parts count and circuit complexity. (Reviewers and many users like the MkII better.)

Enter another twist of vintage gear - upgrading. There are folks who upgrade select vintage amps for better performance than was possible when that piece was new. One such upgrader is Jim Williams of Audio Upgrades in California, who concentrates on pro gear - rebuilding recording consoles, etc. Great work at very reasonable prices. JW offers an upgrade to Nelson’s original GFA555 which he considers a superior design to the MkII. I suggest that an original GFA555 might be found for very short money and my experience says that a JW AUDIO UPGRADE for it will produce stellar amplification for your Thiels. (Note: I’d love to trade my MkII for an original NP so I could do what I am suggesting.)

Note that Nelson and Jim were peers and each used the other’s products from the 1970s onward.

@tomthiel You are welcome to visit me if by any chance you travel to southern France one day.

Same goes for other Thiel owners on the panel.