Best affordable amp for Thiel CS3.6

I just have to throw in my pitch for the Parasound HCA-3500.

They are real inexpensive and have the guts to drive the CS3.6 and the CS7.

I have used mine with NHT 2.9's and 3.3's and CS3.5's and CS3.6's

I have tried a lot of more expensive units and feel I would have to spend several times the Parasound price for a subtle improvement even.

My friend bought one for his CS7's after trying mine and it does a decent job.
Hard to approach for the price and I saw a new one here today so it should even have a warranty.

My friend ended up with a Levinson ML-3 for his CS7's in the end there is no substitute for High Current Capability. Not as smooth as the Parasound or many higher priced amplifiers but very gutsy for the price.

Good Luck

I can not speak directly to the new mono-blocks with the Thiels.
I have intalled a couple of them but they were more for show than for go,if you know what I mean.
I feel the other Halo product to be somewhat over hyped and I have not been too impressed with them.
The old standby HCA-2200 was a workhorse and had almost enough guts for the 3.6 but lost some control at high output levels.
The 3500 has been a big surprise to me in that it compares with amplifiers much more expensive without a lot of trade-offs.

The thing I like the most is the overall smoothness and number of things it just gets right. No real glaring defects that I experience and I have listened to it with several pairs of expensive speakers.

I am probably going to end up with something better eventually but have no complaints at all with the 3500 especially considering the price.
Like the Thiels the HCA3500 gives a great bargain for the money.

When my friend got his CS7's we tried both a 2200mkII and the 3500 and it was quite educational as to current demands of a truly difficult speaker to drive. Althought the 2200 never shut down or complained there was just not the sense of ease and breath that more current capability brings.
We listened to several amps,Krell,Levinson,ARC,Plinius,Classe and I remembered the old Levinson ML-3 from systems I had done a long time ago.
The ML-3 was one of the first really high-current designs and could deliver seemingly unlimited power when needed.
Another friend had one and we tried it and finally the cs7 had enough to really handle it.

Although the cs7's are in a large room and the ML-3 is not as refined as some of the other newer amps it handled the big Thiels in a way that could not be matched for the price.

We found another ML3 on Audiogon and that is what he uses still.

The Synergy between ALL of the components is what makes the difference between just good and great sound in my experience and as many have stated already the 3.6 will clearly demonstrate each change for better or worse.

I also have never been as aware of cable differences as with the Thiels and that is fairly hard to exhaustivly compare but worth the effort.

I would listen to as many amps that you can afford but let me know if the 3500 has any real competition at the pricepoint.

I would be surprised.

Good Luck
Ed

Tom
I am wondering at what point you decided to up the anty from your original goal of around $2000.00 for an amplifier?!?

Unless I am mistaken didn't you end up spending three times that much or so?
I also am curious at what price level did the performance inmprovement really hit you.

Congatulations also.

Ed

When will the Madness stop?!?!
A friend of mine has a perfect condition Plinius amp just sitting in his basement and I hear it calling to me from here.
Luckily so far I have listened to amps so far out of reach I have never really considered them seriously but his Plinius is looking mighty attractive.

I am in the business and can likely obtain about anything at cost but this is here now and tempting. Know what I mean?

Tom,I asked about your change in direction as this thread mentions "affordable" at least at first.
Unfortunatly these speakers can really benefit from Crazy Price Electonics.

Whose fault is that?

I didn't mean to get them ......really,I just can't help myself