Upgrade for Thiel 1.6 - Or a waste of $$

To let you know where I'm coming from, a few years ago I owned a pair of Thiel CS-1.5s that were driven by Rotel RB-981 and Acurus A-200 at various times. I also used a pair of RB-981s bridged to mono. My impression was the Acurus may be the most uncolored/accurate amp I've owned. This could come across as sterile but plenty powerful. The Rotels were much warmer sounding, and that was a good thing with the Thiels as I found them to be analytical to the max. As Ive never heard the 1.6s, this should be taken for what it's worth but I preferred the Rotel amps with the 1.5s.
I also owned an A-250 but not with the Thiels. The $499 price seems a bit high for the A-250 or else I sold mine way too cheap.

the rotel is a better match....smoother than the acurus

Long ago I tried an Acurus 250 with a pair of Thiele 2_0's.
Pretty much unlistenable as the speaker revealed the acurus as being very harsh and "unmusical"...

I replaced the Acurus with a McCormack DNA 1. Much, much better. Of course the price (used is closer to $900 than the $499 for the Acurus.

On the other hand you do buy into great product with a proven upgrade path (SMC).

Just for yucks I looked as to what DNA"s were currently on the market. Found an $850 DNA from Tyler !!!
Wow - ya couldn't have much better karma than that - an amp designed by an industry legend (who happen to be a great guy) from a great speaker designer who also happens to be a great guy.

What are you using for a pre-amp? You might consider starting there.....such as a tubed cj unit. In my experience cj equipment works very well with Thiel speakers very smooth and detailed.