@tom thiel, I expected as much; the 1.5 figure had marketing speak stamped all over it. Well I suppose it's an improvement from the old "Flame Linear" days, but can they just make an amp that delivers the goods, without cutting out in self preservation? Imagine if your automobile engine worked like that
Reccomendations would include old recently recapped/refreshed stand by's like some of the Krells, Levinsons, Thresholds, etc.. Amps that Jim used himself when he was developing these speakers.
Standard cable lengths tend to be between 8'-10'. Most users use the shortest lengths that they can. Most can not go much shorter and still allow for domestice accomodations. Cable length can affect amplifier performance, but at these lengths with typical cables, not by that much, Not likely to add lots of Watts to the output at lower impedances
I too appreciate old amps, Just as some old houses have better "bones" than some newer construction. And, many if not most could use a refresh of new caps, etc.. That they can weight quite a bit, shipping can be expensive if not perilous. I think it most economical to try and find one that has varifiable maintance recently completed.
I agree with your assemsment of the Adcoms. Perhaps the least expensive amps that could actully properly drive some Thiels. I will say that I did have one for long term loan once. Though I had thought due to it's grooved face plate sans rack mounts, that it was a Mark II, I now realize that the time frame preceded the Mark II. I had much easier to drive CS 2's at the time, I have to admit that I found it flat, grainy and lacking dimensionality. I also found myslef just not listening to my system as much with that Adcom in the my system, Still for the money, for someone looking for something to tide them over until the could aquire something better, it could be the least expensive option worth considering. Here's another outfit that has had a good long standing reputation for Adcom mods:
I share your wishes. I humbly think Jim went in the wrong direction with regard to impedance. Interesingly the previous generations were especailly easy in that regard. I think amp manufacturers don't want to make capable amps due to the costs of beefier power supplies, additional costly heat sinks. While Class D has made many strides, load variance has been a bit of a bugaboo for them. Until very recently. There's been promise of a high power low impedance option from Purifi, but these things always seem to take much longer than projected to actually make it o market.