2. amps-preamps
  3. 1352437950

I've been gifted a pair of Thiel CS2s

So, I'm starting with the speakers first. :D

They'll more than likely be sitting in an 10' x 8' x 9' (height) room, which hopefully is big enough for them.

Since, as I understand Thiels crave a lot of power,
I'm looking at amps that will double down to 4ohms.

My budget is probably about $1000 for both the amp (or integrated amp and a pre-amp.

I'm currently looking at Aragon 4004.
I'm wondering if this will be "too much" power,
as I live in a condo and it seems a number of sellers are selling the high power amps because they are downsizing.

Anyhow, what would be a good matching pre-amp for the Aragon 4004, in the $500 range?

I've also considered:
< $500 amps: Acurus, Anthem MCA2.

$500-$750:
Rotel RB-1080, PS Audio HCA2, McCormack DNA 0.5, Anthem MCA2 (here as well)

$750-$1000:
Bryston 4B (but it sounds like the ST or SST would be better, but more costly), Conrad Johnson MF-2200, McCormack DNA-125.

I've been reading a lot and learning some.

All opinions welcome.

Thanks,
Mike
mrfarnham
doggiehowser
672 posts
 
As long as you can sit about 8 feet away from the speakers, I you should be able to get pretty good imaging and phase coherency.

My friend used to run 2.4s and 3.7s in a pretty tiny room.

Having some room treatment helps too.

For those offering suggestions, he's been gifted the speakers so that isn't going to change. I'd still see if he can get a bigger room but 10 feet length wide still seems OK.
kennythekey
593 posts
 
I own 3.6 Thiels and they like to sit into the room, so away from the back wall to provide good soundstage and image.
unsound
7,329 posts
 
One needs to sit at least 8' from the speakers. The speakers need to be at least 1' from the walls and at least 3' from the corners.
The room has to be able to accommodate greater than 40 Hz bass extension.
IME, the Thiel CS 2's ported bass is a bit looser than most other Thiels, the high end can sound hard if they're toed in towards the listener. This room appears as though it could exaggerate those bass issues, and the nearness of the side walls practically demand toe in to avoid the early reflections that the Thiels wide sound-stage is likely going to aggravate otherwise.
Being nearly a cube, and being so small this room is going to be problematic with most speakers, but CS 2's will most likely highlight these issues.
On the other hand the Theil CS 2's with their 6 Ohm nominal, 5 Ohm minimum impedance, and 87 dB sensitivity are perhaps Thiels easies amplifier load (though IME the CS 2's sonic signature does require careful amplifier selection), and are reputed to be Thiel's most durable product ever.
doggiehowser
672 posts
 
You know, this was one of the best Thiel CS2.4 setups I have listened to in the past, and it broke all of Thiel's positioning rules :)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3315/3490701425_db2565b92d.jpg?v=0

It was less than 8 feet apart.

The guy was working in a Thiel dealership but this room doubled up as a workshop for his hifi DIY projects as well.

I dunno how much the CS2 is similar to the 2.4 but it's quite amazing what could be done with a bit of know how.
unsound
7,329 posts
 
Thanks for reminding me, yes, the Thiels should to be at least 8' apart from each other as well. Ideally they would be 10' apart from each other, 10' from the listener, >5' from the side walls and >3' from the wall behind the speakers.

Thiel's own SCSs are a much better fit for this room.
More to discover