2. speakers
  3. 1045604014

Tubes with Thiel CS-3.6's? has anyone had success?

I did a preliminary search of threads but did not find much of anything with regards to this specific question.

I have the CS-3.6's and love them very much. My listening habits have changed lately and want to try a tubed integrated for a while before jumping into the big $ tube amps. My room is 16x23x8 and is fairly well treated. I don't listen to high volumes anymore so huge power is not needed like it was with my Krell MDA-500 mono's. Seriously, the volumes are kept very low now and really want to try out some tube power for the glory of harmonics and richness.

I have been looking at the following integrated tube amps all in the 50 watt range:

Jolida SB-302b
Manley Stingray
C-J CAV-50
Rogue Tempest

Any experience with this type of combo is appreciated, and other choices for integrated amp is welcome.
128x128bryhifi
speters7754de
1 posts
 
Definitely VAC amps. Kevin Hayes the designer of VAc does a lot of work around thiel 3.6's. This would be a great match. e-mail VAC for recommendations.
SP
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
Unsound: Strike that sentence about the 2.4 redesign seeming to be merely an "intermediate holding action"! I just realized something I had missed before in the ad - the woofer is listed as only being 6.5" instead of 8" as in the 2.3 (and 2.2), so I can only assume based on its looks and size that this is in fact the exact same driver used in the 1.6. That would seem to be a step in the wrong direction for the 2-series, leading me to wonder even more how the new 3-series model - whenever it appears - will follow in the established progression. For the time being though, I'd have to guess that the new speaker will not possess the bass prowess of the model it replaces...
unsound
7,311 posts
 
Zaikesman, as you know Thiel did something like this with the 3 series. The 3.5's went down lower than the 3.6's. There were of course different improvements that came with the newer more expensive model. I hope Thiel isn't trying to be cute with this less specific impedance information. It really doesn't jive with the honorable way they have always done business in the past.
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
Well, that was just the ad, not the literature. And since this bass driver is smaller and seems to be the one from the 1.6, I wouldn't doubt that it presents a kinder load. But the fact that it is being called upon to extend lower in frequency range in the 2.4 would help explain why the speaker's sensitivity is rated at 87dB rather than 90dB as in the 1.6. Even though the cone diameter drops from 8" to 6.5", the 3" voice coil might well be bigger than was the case in the 2.3. Still, the smaller driven area might imply less dynamic range. I wonder if the 3-series replacement will go from the current model's 10" woofer down to an 8", leaving the 6-series with the 10".
unsound
7,311 posts
 
It sure looks like good(?) bass response is getting expensive. My hopes of another sealed box from Thiel is looking less promising all the time.
More to discover