M700 with thiels

Picked up the m700’s last December to replace an overheating 3 channel amp for my thiel 3.7’s (and 2.7 center). The thiels drop to 2.4 ohms and require some power.

The m700’s are a huge improvement. The overall sound is great. The extra power really brings out the bass, so much that I have to reposition the speakers.

I crossover the speakers to thiel subs at around 30 Hz.

Definitely would recommend this amp for power hungry speakers like the thiels.

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Good to know for those of us who still own Thiels. Thanks!

I still have Thiel CS 3.5’s, but am currently driving Dunlavy Audio Labs SC IV.As with the M700s and, as you say, they have all the power necessary to drive this complex load. Loving them!

Been running the M700s with my Thiel 2.4s since early December and they sound absolutely terrific! These are my fourth set of amps with these speakers and they are BY FAR the best sounding I’ve ever owned. I’m also using the Gain Cell DAC as an analog source preamp and DAC for my PWT (via I2S!) and MacBook. By far this is the best I’ve ever heard for digital playback; this from a mostly analog enthusiast. Thanks Paul and Co.! You guys are extraordinarily talented!

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Nice to hear nice things about the Thiels(on view in the Systems Photos thread). I have CS-6s which have had the crossover caps updated. The update was like getting completely new speakers. A Bryston 4Bst with 250w 8 ohms 500 4 ohms currently drives them(pun intended). Does anyone have an opinion whether even more power would be noticeably better at a reasonable price?

mark.

I think the power makes a big difference. Prior to the m700, I was running a ML 533h which was rated at 300 watts 8 ohm, 450 watts 4 ohm. While it sounded good, it did not have the bass impact of the m700. When I originally listened to the 3.7’s in a demo, krell mono amps really pushed the bass. Now I hear that sound back.

The thiel 6 look like big speakers and run below 3 ohm. They can prob benefit from as much power as you can give them.

I found the best amplifiers for my Thiel 2.4’s for many years was the Bel Canto digital amps. Many many people who are Thiel fans used them. The Ref 1000’s became very popular with Thiels. More recently I found an even better solution in the Pass 150.8.

I have a vintage system with Thiel 2.2 speakers, a Bryston .5B preamp, and an Adcom 555-II amp. Just today I received the Gain Cell DAC and a pair of M700 monoblocks to replace my old amp and preamp. Given how revealing Thiels can be, I was initially uncertain about whether the PS Audio gear would be a good match for my system, but reading comments such as those in this thread helped me decide to give the GC DAC and M700s a try. I don’t have the new components fully hooked into my system yet since they are doing some burn-in separately right now, but I’m anxious to see how well they handle the Thiels. Thanks to all for the great information!

nice to hear some chatter about Thiel! i bought my first pair of Thiels back in 1989. The CS 1.2’s. I had those babies for years and years. Sold them to a fellow in Prince Rupert BC in 2013. Then about 6 months later I realized i missed them!. Recently bought a pair of Thiel 2.2’s and also a lovely pair of Thiel 2.4’s. Man, they are beautiful speakers! I am using a Bryston 4B cubed at 300 watts into 8 ohms. Tons of power in my mind. They sound lovely.
But my main speakers at the moment are the Magnepan 3.6R’s with a few REL subs. Hard to beat!
Interesting comment about the Bel Canto amps. I’ve never owned BC products, but heard them paired with some Totem Earths and was pretty impressed!

My M700’a are driving a pair of Thiel 2.3’s in my second system. (Main source is a NuWave DSD DAC and preamp is a Rogue Athena all-tube unit.) They work very well together.

My Thiel 3.7’s are so happy with the BHK 250. i have owned Thiel speakers since 1985 and the 3.7 is my fifth and last pair obviously. I highly recommend the BHK amps with any Thiel speaker. It was a big improvement on a very good Marantz silver reference amp. However i always add in to my comments that until you have a P15 or a P20, you really are not getting the full monty from your system.

Now that I’m enjoying the M700s with my Thiel 2.2s, I’m looking for a compatible interconnect to feed the M700s from my GCD preamp. I’m currently using either StraightWire Rhapsody II single-ended RCAs from my old system or BJC Belden 1800F XLRs through the balanced circuits. The 1800F provides a lot of detail and is lively but quite bright and fatiguing. In contrast, the Rhapsody RCAs sound smoother and more liquid, but lack the level of detail shown by the balanced set-up. I guess there is always some trade-off between detail and smoothness, so maybe I’ll just have to decide what sounds more like music in my system. Next week, I’m going to demo the Cardas Parsec, Shunyata Venom, and Synergistic Level 1 Core interconnects from the lending library at The Cable Company. I’m hoping that at least one “star” will emerge.

I’d really appreciate any suggestions on interconnects (especially those under $500 per pair) that have worked well with the M700s and Thiel speakers.

In my search for reasonably priced interconnects and speaker cables that might be a good match for my Thiel 2.2s, I called the people at Straight Wire and spoke with Jerry Willsie, who has been with Straight Wire for many years. Jerry was very helpful and knowledgable about system matching for Thiels, and I was relieved to hear that my Encore speaker cables and Rhapsody II IC’s are still very good matches for my speakers and the Stellar amps. In fact, Thiel Audio has often recommended the use of Straight Wire products, and Jerry spoke with Kathy Gornick (one of Thiel’s founders) recently and hooked her up with Encore speaker cables for her CS 3.7 speakers.

I’m also now testing out 3 interconnects from The Cable Company for my Stellar-Thiel system, and I’ll plan to discuss those IC’s in a separate thread in the Cables section of the forum.

love the Thiel discussions. i’ve always been curious about the Straight Wire product line - but have never pulled the trigger. glad they are still working for you!

Straight Wire is an interesting company that doesn’t change cables just to create new models. It was co-founded by David Salz, who went on to break off and start WireWorld. When I spoke to Jerry at Straight Wire about my 25-year-old Rhapsody II interconnects, he told me that they were a better match for my Stellar-Thiel system than their current Rhapsody S, which is a different design. He thought I could improve on what I have by upgrading to one of their more expensive IC’s, but he didn’t know if I would find the small improvement to be worth the cost. What a refreshingly frank discussion with someone who is genuinely interested in what is best for the consumer!

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I too started my Thiel journey with Class D amps. REF1000 upgraded to REF1000Mk2s (aka REF1000Ms) but they really came alive when I partnered them to an Audio Research Ref 5/5SE.

Then I went to Electrocompaniet Nemos with the ARC Ref 5SE.

But they are in a different ballpark once I used my CS3.7s with BHK Monos.

I’m using Audioquest King Cobra XLR’s between my M700’s and GCD and as well as phono preamp (Parasound JC 3 Jr) to GCD, very happy with the sound, superior to my old AQ Diamondback RCA’s.

hey doggiehowser…nice!! got a pic of those beauty 3.7’s to share?
sully

My listening room is really a messy den :slight_smile:
52945503_1216841551807185_1500010877087121408_n

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Wow!!! Thats a thing of beauty. LOVE the looks of the 3.7’s. Bet they sound deadly.

Thx for sharing!