what do i power my thiel 3.6 with


Hi all,
Let me start by saying that I do not yet own the speakers. I have a chance to purchase a set of Thiel cs 3.6, in mint condition from a good friend of mine who inherited them. I was not familiar with this speaker until he messaged me. I have always been a paradigm guy. he is asking for 1000 bucks Canadian, so my first question is whether or not this is something I should jump on... based on reviews, I’m going to guess that it’s a good deal.... if I go ahead with the purchase, my big question would be what do I build around them... I have read a lot about these speakers needing a lot of power, and the amp I have now, will not do the trick... it does not even really power my studio series paradigms as is. I would likely get rid of everything I currently have (unless someone suggest otherwise) current setup is studio 80 fronts, studio cc590 center, adp rears and dual pdr 12's powered by a Yamaha rx-v2400 home theatre receiver. any advice would be appreciated, and when replying, you will have to dummy things down for me... I’m big into sound and love music, mostly live concerts is what I watch, but also appreciate a good surround sound for movies. That being said, I am by no means a sound expert, and have only ever dealt with home theatre and stereo receivers. I’m sure a lot of the suggestions are going to be about tube amps and pre amps and such, if you could explain that to me it would be very helpful! Thanks in advance
hordy240
I have had theils. I have liked all their speakers. But and this is a big but. They don't fit into systems easy. You have to build a system around them in many cases. And to even get used compatible components will run a minimum many,many times the cost of your 1000.00 for the speakers. Used, trying to save money, I could see one spending about 8000.00(wires, cables, components) not getting anything fancy, if they could pick out the right stuff the first time, which is not very likely. But if you could you would have a reasonably good sound. Not the real high end though but close. However when you get a theil to do what they do well you will have a extremely musical experience. So yes before going down that road be sure what you are going down it with. Highly recommend you listen to it well first. Have fun.
It would be a shame to put the Thiels in amongst a bunch of other HT speakers and gear. They are really great (if to one's taste) but you will not hear them at their best in such a context, and they are so revealing and precise that anything less than hearing them in pretty ideal conditions may well not please.
thank you all for the advice! seems like everyone is on the same page, and this is mostly what I expected to hear. sounds like I might be a little out of my league for now..

Zd542: I did not take any offence to your post, I was just giving you my reasoning for thinking of running two sets of fronts and not using the thiels as my mains for a HT.. I appreciate everything you said and it makes sense!

the problem I have is that there are not hi end audio shops anywhere near where I live, so its very hard for me to audition them with the right equipment. If I purchased, I could eventually bring them somewhere but it would take time..
with all plans aside for building around these speakers... just on a value basis, is this a good enough price to buy them anyway, and if i decide I don't want to invest later on, I could just re-sell later for same price or possibly make a profit?
They are a great speaker that can be purchased cheaply. Unfortunately they need high quality electronics along with high power to sound their best. At least that has been my personnel experience with them.
"Its only a good deal if you like the way the speakers sound." (Zd524)

WRONG! it's a good deal, PERIOD, if the $1000 is less than what the price for such a mint item is going for on the open market! If you don't like em, you simply sell it for a profit and try something else!! (then shove the extra hundo's in your pocket and have more $$$!!! DOH!)
God Forbid someone actually tries em out in their setup and it doesn't work out!!! That would mean they learned something for next time, rather than just rando opinions from the cheer section! Tragic advice...tragic!

Zd524 as a salesman??? FAIL!!
Too hi-end of a speaker for first timer?!? Sounds like your issue. It's stuff to be tried, period