tubes with thiel, meadowlark or revel

Drubin,
Zaikesman has more powerful MB180 but I suspect that 3.6 need something like MB225 or MB450.

I don't have experience with VTL, but did run Thiel 2.3's for three years with an Air Tight ATM2 (80 watts/ch) in a pretty large room (5000 c.f.). The amp never ran out of steam and the overall sound was very, very good.

On the contrary, I agree with other posters, that Thiel 3.6's will eat your amp's lunch. I upgraded to CS6's last year and spent 10 months dealing with buyers remorse for pairing my once butt-kicking tube amp to the power hungry CS6's. What a disaster. The bigger Thiels need LOTS of solid state power to sound their best. Good luck!

Where's Zaikesman? He runs 2.2s with VTLs and says it's a great combo. In fact, I think he has said that Thiel uses VTL as one of its reference/voicing amps.

Alex, you're still around, I hope.

Just want to say thanks to everyone for your opinions, you have no idea how helpful you have been.

Any thoughts on running the Thiel 2.3s with the VTLs?

Thanks so much.

Marakanetz, et al are right on. I'd suggest the Meadowlarks.

Ok, I hate to add to the list when the post is specificly asking about certian speakers, but I must just this once, sorry. Magnapan 1.6 and the VTL amps would be unbelievable and the Maggies cost about 1700 new. Some speakers work better with tubes than others and also depending on the match with modern tube sound or old fashon like VTL, the Maggies work with the VTL sound just perfect!! Vocals are on the world class level for cheap dollars. Ok so rock will not be the Maggies best type of music but it will be fine and with much less ear strain over long listening sessions.

From the speakers on your list I would choose the Kestrel 2's.

I have been a big fan of the Meadowlarks owning Kestrel HR's , Shearwater HR's and Kestrel 2's. I also enjoyed a pair of Audio Physic Virgo II's and didn't enjoy a pair of Virgo III's.

I sold the Kestrel 2's after hearing the JTM's from www.carolinaaudio.com ($1500) they are just simply the best I have heard at home. The transmission line is so much more accurate sounding then the Meadowlarks going deeper and with much better definition without any thickness or congestion in the midbass.

I really can't say enough about them. They are a single driver speaker but offer more extension at the extremes than the 2-way Kestrel 2's. They offer an amazing amount of detail in the most effortless way.

They're definately worth a listen and there is an in home trial which I took advantage of.

If you are considering the Kestrel 2s, you should also look into a pair of Shearwater Hotrods (I doubt that you'll find Ospreys within your budget). While I haven't heard the Kestrel 2s, I lived with a pair of Shearwaters for over a year and I was duly impressed.

Good luck!

The Meadowlark Kestrel 2's should sound great with this system. They are smooth and image like crazy! Believe it or not the bass output is very good too. They don't go terribly deep but the low end sounds so real. I would opt for the hotrodded version, it's worth the extra $$. It gives you better internal components and the option of bi-wiring or amping. The Kestrels are very easy to set up and seem to disappear once you get them placed in the right position.

Despite VTL doesn't have 2Ohm taps it can drive difficult 2-ohms loads. It has a transformer that is stable to 2Ohms.
Power is certainly not enough but models such as MB180 or MB225 can handle these speakers as any SS amp.

Coinsident speakers IMO can sound too bright with VTL since it realy tends to drive low-impedance speakers due to the nature of an output transformer used in VTLs.

A PERFECT match will be mentioned Medowlark speakers!

Elevick is right about the Thiels. I have owned 3.6's for several years. They are notoriously difficult to drive. IMHO, they need a big, bad beast of a SS amp to really make them sing. 200 wpc or better.

Does the VTL have 2 ohm taps? If not, stay away from the thiels. My amp has 2 ohm taps and the thiels sounded amazing-just power hungry.

Consider Coincident speakers to go with the VTLs. Similar sound quality and tube friendly. Plus, way more efficient, 94db vs 87db.

I wouldn't run the Revels with less power than 150 watts and would consider more.