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Affordable electronics to suit Thiel 3.5 speakers

Hi All,
About a week ago I came across a really good buy on a pair of Thiel 3.5 speakers. I got them home put them in my existing system and noticed that while the bass was much improved and they showed significantly more detail then my Vandersteen 2CE's, they seemed to quite forward and bright.

I love detail and bass in my music (which is primarily orchestral and folk) and that aspect of the Thiels really appeals to me. Unfortunately, when I listen to them for any length of time they begin to seem almost harsh. Reading in the forum, I see numerous comments that Thiels simply will not sound good until they have excellent upstream electronics. My current upstream electronics, which sounded very good with the Vandersteens, are an Oppo 83SE player , Sony TAE 80 ES preamp and Acurus A150 amp. Interconnects are Kimber PBJ and DH Labs with Audioquest Cobalt speaker cables.

What I'm hoping is that some of you who are familiar with the Thiels can help me identify what steps I should take next. I'm a bit concerned that I just am not going to be able to make the Thiels work. My listening room is only 15 x 14 and because it has a very heavy one piece home-built sofa which is L-shaped, a fireplace, and because it connects two other rooms, the only location that I can put the speakers is 18 inches from the right wall, 36 inches from the left wall and 18 inches from the wall behind them. My listening position is 9 feet from the speakers. Because there is not much I can do with respect to speaker placement, if I am going to be able to make them work it will need to be through finding electronics that keep the detail and get rid of the harshness.

Because I am on a tight budget, expensive amplifiers are not an option. I do have coming to me from an Audiogon member a Threshold FET 9 preamp which I bought before I got the Thiels. I suspect this will help some, but the consensus seems to be that if I do not have a least 200W per channel, the Thiels just won't sound good. I have had good luck with Hafler amplifiers and wonder if perhaps replacing the Acurus with an old H500 would help significantly. In one post regarding Thiel 3.6 speakers, a member mentioned that a B&K EX 442 Sonata might be a good choice but I have no experience at all with this amplifier.

So, would those of you who have expertise regarding the speakers and what electronics might result in a substantial improvement in the problem areas please share your thoughts with me?

Thanks in advance,
Jay
drjay
nordic587
45 posts
 
Looks like you are getting a range of good advice/opinions. I have enjoyed my Thiel CS 2's since 1987. I don't know how they compare to CS 3.5's, but I agree with Stringreen. You are hearing the Thiel sound. I auditioned Vandersteens some years ago. The sound was quite different from my Thiels. The 'steens' sound was
"sweet," seemed to be restrained, attenuated across the range, almost a bit muffled. I have read and agree that Thiels tend to be quite revealing. Yes they are. Mine are driven by a 1995 Hafler 9180 MOSFET amp and I am very happy with what I hear. I wonder about a MOSFET amp for you like the B and K 200.2. Used equipment I yield to the more experienced members. Thiels can create a very impressive sound stage with proper placement and room dampening. I have read their sound reproduction qualities vary widely with room placement. Have you considered some sound dampening? Good Luck!
bradluke0
163 posts
 
Hi all ! Im with Nordic on this one .Room treatments..... Take some blankets and put them on any shelves or flat bare surfaces and see if that helps the "edge" . If it does , get some room treatments . Too often we blame the equipment when the room is horrible .My room was horrible until I treated it . If you clap your hands , does the room echo ?
drjay OP
27 posts
 
Thanks a million Folks,

All the input has been helpful beyond expectations, especially the points relating to the 3.5s not being inherently bright and suggesting focusing on the room. Long story short, I opened the 5 foot wide pocket doors seperating my listneing room from the guest bedroom to give the Thiels more volume to breath into; opened the door to my wife's sewing room; moved the speakers 6" further away from the back wall and pointed them straight ahead; closed all the heavy cloth drapes in the room and put a spare 5'x 7' area rug right in front of the immovable couch.
Cost $0.00, improvement, priceless. Easily 90% of the problem issues were resolved. I'll still probably play around with electronics, but at this point even if I could get no further improvement I would happily rate them a step up (for my listening taste only, of course) from my Vandy 2CEs.
Thanks again,
Jay
unsound
7,341 posts
 
Thiel 3.5's + amplifier budget of $1500 = used Threshold S 500 Series II.
clifwst
2 posts
 
I used the Thiel 3.5 with TAD-1000 monoblocks(EL-34 tubes used)/Sonic Frontiers Line 1 with great success in 13x20 room on the short axis, so I could get a little over 10 feet from the speakers. They are 3 feet from the side walls and 3 feet from the back.

I listened to classical, classic rock, alternate rock, with Rega Apollo, then a Cambridge Audio 740C to a 840C doing source duty. Each upgrade in source allowed the Thiels to reveal a little more. At the end I used a Rega DAC and Anedio DAC1, with the 840c as a transport.

I also used a VTL ST85 as a power amp with very good success.

The ONLY reason the 3.5's are sitting on the sideline is I got a set of 3.6's

I now use a PS Audio Perfect Wave trans and DAC into the SF Line 1 bi-amping the 3.6's with the TAD-1000(6550 tubes used) for the HF and Mids, with a Krell KAV2250 handling the bass. Very happy with my set up right now, no real desire to change.
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