You have to remember the 6 ohm rating is an AVERAGE. at some lower frequencies, it may drop to 4 or 3 ohms... and may be 8 ohms at some higher frequencies.. (I don't know exactly what the Thiel's impendance curve is but many speakers exhibit a curve of sorts that varies with frequency and then some speakers are designed with a fairly flat impendance curve).
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.
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.