Ohms, my - help me understand


Apologies if following questions are dumb but some of this stuff is befuddling to me:

Just bought a pair of used Thiel CS2s, after auditioning with my Arcam Alpha 8 integrated. At home I had paired it with an Arcam Alpha 8 power amp to bi-amp B&W DM601 S2s.

Both amps are 50 watt amps at 8 ohms for two channels, 100 watts at 4 ohms single channel.

The Thiels, according to online reviews, are 6 ohm speakers that can handle 40 to 250 watts.

I had read Thiels were hard to drive so I was worred. But Larry at Hollywood Sounds said my amp would work fine and it did. They sounded terrific in his shop with just the integrated and even better at home, much richer and more detailed than the little B&Ws. It is true that expose bad recordings, particularly on CD, but the upside is spectacular). The Thiels have single binding posts so at home, I am now using the intergrated as a pre-amp, with the power amp running the speakers.

So here are the questions:

* How many watts are my amps producing with these Thiels. Is is as simple as splitting the difference between 8 and 4 ohm output, meaning 75 watts?
* The power amp can be turned into a monobloc, but the integrated can't so am I correct in presuming with single speaker posts that running one amp to each speaker is out?
* If I picked up a matching power amp, could I use the integrated as a pre-amp for both or would I need to buy a whole new preamp? The integrated has only on set of pre-amp input jacks.
* If I had matching Alpha 8 power amps to run each speaker, how many watts would be going to Thiels? 125?


As you can see, this is all about increasing power. I am thrilled with results in new set-up but from all I have read about Thiels, it makes me wonder what they would sound like with more juice. I don't have the budget to simply swap out whole system but wondering if a second power amp would be worth the bang for the buck.
maverick18

Showing 1 response by mapman

* How many watts are my amps producing with these Thiels. Is is as simple as splitting the difference between 8 and 4 ohm output, meaning 75 watts?

Yes, the rating would be 75 W/ch into 6 ohm based on the specs.

* The power amp can be turned into a monobloc, but the integrated can't so am I correct in presuming with single speaker posts that running one amp to each speaker is out?

You can run two separate monoblocs, one to each speaker rather than a single stereo amp if you want, but you should use two matching monoblocs for good results. Only stereo amps designed to be used alternately as a monobloc amp should be used.

* If I picked up a matching power amp, could I use the
integrated as a pre-amp for both or would I need to buy a whole new preamp? The integrated has only on set of pre-amp input jacks.

In general, you should be able to use any two matching mono power amps with any stereo pre-amp having pre-amp OUT jacks, not input jacks, as long as you have the proper interconnects (RCA connectors or balanced connectors are the most common). Of course the resulting sound will vary depending on exactly what components are used together.

* If I had matching Alpha 8 power amps to run each speaker, how many watts would be going to Thiels? 125?

You should only use one amp per speaker unless the speaker supports bi-amping in which case it would have more than two terminals. Bi-amping generally means that one amp is used to drive the woofer and a separate amp is used to drive the tweeter.