Wilson better than Thiels?

They can work with tubes, but Unsound has the right perspective on the issue IMHO.

With appropriate amplification I believe most of us could live comfortably with either Wilson or Thiel.

Both are fine products.

I'm sure Thiels can sound good with tubes- I'd love to hear that combo some time. But I bet they have to be some massive tube amps to get the full range like I enjoy. I found that the Thiels work much better with amps that have plenty of power and current. i.e. when the amp power rating doubles for each halving of impedence down to 1 ohm then it is capable of driving the Thiels.

I started out with a lesser amp and my new Thiels at the time just didn't quite do it for me. So, years back I took home the PL X350 from a dealer for an audition and that was it. I have been enjoying that amp with my CS6's ever since.

Of course the X350 was not cheap either. But it has so much power and current it can make just about any speaker stand up and salute. :)

Unsound: Lately I have been feeling like I may be missing something not having a big high powered Solid State amp (s). I got a good deal on a pair of Classe CAM 350 mono blocks. I'd read the reviews and a friend has a pair in use with his B&W 800's. Very respectable amps! After a week of heavy use all my wife and I could say is “ They sound well OK”. They do have better bass control than the tube amps but lack the soul of the VTL's. I've given them a month for my ear to adjust but we only miss the VTL's more. Now on my B&W 801 S-3 the CAM's best the VTL is every way. The CAM's also do a darn nice job driving my really hard to drive Acoustat Spectra 33's electrostatic monsters.

To be honest the only way I feel like I am missing something with the CS 6's is when I am not using the VTL 300 Deluxe amps. BTW: before buying the VTL's I used a Krell FPB 200 with my CS 6's.

I'm not quite convinced that Thiels are as power hungry as claimed. I've been using my 2.3's with a Conrad Johnson Premier 11A and it works great. The amp is only 70wpc and rarely do I see the amp pushing more than 5wpc at normal levels (the bias LED's go off). I'm certain that a more powerful amp will give more controlled bass and better dynamics, but when it comes to Thiels, the quality of the amp is more crucial than the wpc.