jafant i asked Kevin Hayes from VAC if i could visit his facility in Sarasota, i just hope i get the time to do so, otherwise i'll see him at the Munich show this year.
pops yes i am very curious about Nagra driving Thiels, i'm sure 2 Classic Amps in mono config could do the job perfectly even with the bigger Thiels.
I will go check on WBF as some members own Nagra gear.
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Do any of you experienced a full Nagra system with Thiels ?
HD DAC with 2 Classic Amps bridged how's that ?
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Well i should get my Ypsilon home demo by end of february just before i travel to Florida for business.
The distributor has delayed the demo because he didn't receive the linestage yet.
I'm also looking at Nagra at the moment.
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jafant i will be demoing a full CH Precision system this saturday at a local dealer's.
This 2 days show is organized by the distributor.
Speakers will be Wilson Sabrina and Sonus Faber Amati.
First time ever CH demo for me, i'm psyched.
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Cabling should be Nordost
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Dave thanks for your input so if it's not for Thiel owners then too bad. One other brand to look at perhaps is German brand Symphonic Line : http://www.symphonic-line.de/ |
jafant you should have a look at the Technical Brain integrated for your future reference system. This beast can easily beat more than €30K worth of separates. I should ne able to audition it in april. For you guys in the US the distributor is http://www.covenantaudio.com/ |
I will be autioning the TB integrated probably in April.
Bob from WBF just purchased this int, after only 1.5 hours of listening he says it's way above his Dartzeel integrated, that's pretty surprising.
This aftenoon i'm going to the CH demo.
Take care guys.
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Jafant do you think Nordost cable are good match for Thiels ?
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Hi guys, i went to the CH Precison demo last saturday, very impressive gear and spectacular sound, i liked it very much but it might not be everyone's taste.
The question is would a CH system match with Thiels ?
If one day the dealer makes another demo, i will bring my Thiels.
Unfortunately the dealer told me he cannot afford to have a full CH system on demo in his store all year long.
The only person who has a full system is the distributor.
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Many more than we have in France that's for sure lol.
A certain number au audiophiles in Texas own CH gear or even full systems.
A member of WBF from Dallas has a full CH system on Wilson Alexias.
Onother member from Italy has a huge CH system.
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The only 2 French people owning CH gear both want to sell their Accuphase A200 monos to purchase one CH M1.
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I will have the Ypsilon demo with my Thiels on the feb 25.
In april i will try to go audition the Technical Brain integrated at my distributor's place.
Also might want to go audition the SGM 2015 server + Aqua Formula DAC in Monaco.
I will also go to the Munich show this year, lots to audition there.
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Pass Int 250 or Gryphon Diablo 300 to drive CS 3.7
Which one has the right sound signature for Thiels ?
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Hi jafant, it's been quite a while sorry for not responding lately.
I was pretty busy with high end headphone rigs in the past months and therefore diden't use my CS 3.7s.
Since i don't yet have the budget to complete my Thiel system i got into high end headphones last year and i'm really liking it.
I need advice on choosing a very good int amp for my Thiels.
If some of the 3.7 owners use an int amp to drive them please let me know what is your best choice.
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The Modwright KWI 200 SE might me a good choice for the CS 3.7 ?
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jafant are you familiar with the Pass INT 250 ?
Pass is pretty liquid sounding therefore most probably a good match for Thiel.
The INT 250 is doubling it's power down to 2 Ohm.
By the way did you find an amp for your 2.4SE ?
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Yes 40 watts in pure class A and i think it doubles down into 4 Ohm.
oblgny thanks for sharing your experience, Modwright is for sure to consider paired with Thiel.
jafant i have a Sugden-Luxman dealer just an hour drive away from my place.
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Hey guys I'm enjoying Florida weather at the moment, I did my Ypsilon home demo on Feb 25 and it went flawlessly.
The distributor came the night before to plug all the gear in my system and we started the auditions the next day in the afternoon.
My Hegel HD12 DAC ended up being a serious bottleneck with the Ypsilon pre and monoblocks.
Luckily the distributor brought a Playback Designs CD player and an Helixir Audio DAC.
With the PD CD player we really started enjoying the huge potential of an Ypsilon system driving Thiel cs 3.7s.
I can tell you guys that I never heard my speakers sing in the past like that day!!
The midrange was the most magical I've heard to date, I felt like crying at some point.
The bass was very solid with huge articulation, there was a lot of air between instruments.
The soundstage is something I have never experienced in the past on Thiel speakers, holographic and extremely stable.
When we switched for the Helixir DAC it got even better, higher resolution and more relaxed.
If you are looking for an awesome DAC under 10K take a look at the Helixir Audio DAC retail for 7.5k.
To sum it up Ypsilon is phenomenal gear most probably competing with brands like CH Précision for half of the budget.
The Aelius ll monoblocks with only 200w into 8 ohms had a very good grip on my speakers.
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The number of watts doesn't mean everything for Thiel speakers, what is much more important is the current capability of the amp therefore it is better to have 75 watt of pure class A into 4 Ohm than 600 in class AB.
I'm sure a modest Sugden SPA-4 would do better compared to a big 600 watt Krell on the CS 3.7
Refinement is what you have to look for more than the amount of watt with Thiel speakers.
I'm not saying big amps are bad because many of them can sing very well but there are some alternatives.
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Hey Jafant what have you been up to in the past months ?
Any progress on your system ?
I haven't been on the forum for quite a while.
Cheers
Thieliste
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Guys i e-mailed Rob Gillum about the CS 3.7 crossovers and he told me it is still possible to order from him the latest crossovers if you want to upgrade first generation of CS 3.7s.
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@wayneuncle, do you know the year they were manufactured ?Otherwise you can send your serial number and finish to Rob Gillum and he will tell you.Price for the latest crossovers is $800/pair.
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Speaking of tweaking did any of you 3.7 owners were able to order the latest crossovers that were available for the last 3.7s produced in 2013 and 2014 if i recall ?My pair is a 2010 model and when i asked my distributor if he could order the lastest crossovers in 2015 he told me Thiel didn't have them available anymore.
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Guys any of you going to the Munich show next month ?
I'll be there friday and saturday.
If some of you are going and want to meet let me know.
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Guys do you think it would be possible to drive properly my 3.7s with a pair of KR Audio Kronzilla DX monoblocks ?I'm looking at tube alternatives for my new build, another choice would be the VAC Signature IQ200 monos.
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Hi guys i will be going the separates route for my CS 3.7s and my choice is either the Ypsilon Aelius II monos or the Aries Cerat Concero 65 monos.It will be a difficult choice because both brands are awsome.
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@dancastagna a modest Classé Audio CAP-151 integrated.Obviously the jump in performance from where i'm at now to either the Ypsilon pre-power or the Aries Cerat pre-power will be out of this world.I have the possibility to audition the Aries Cerat Impera II Ref + Concero 65 monos on a pair of 3.7s in Switzerland by the end of this year.
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Anyone heard the Ayre KX-R + MX-R Twenty on CS 3.7s ?I'm looking for end game pre-power combo for my 3.7s with 50K budget.
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Hi jafant, well still searching as you can see, i spoke with a distributor that told me Dartzeel and Ypsilon will not have enough juice in the bass region do drive my 3.7s.He suggested me strong class A amps or SOTA class AB doubling down to 2 ohms.So here am i looking at the Ayre pre-power.Were you able to demo some amps for you 2.4SE's lately ?
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Yes the MXR/KXR Twenty must be awsome on the 3.7s.I guess some of you guys on this forum own this combo.Ayre is very popular in the US.
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I wonder if any of you have ever seen a demo with Boulder pre-power paired with Thilels ?I know Boulder gear is way too expensive for our modest Thiels but who knows.
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Hey guy i will be travelling to Switzerland end of october to audition a full Aries Cerat system on a pair of CS 3.7s.That's gonna be spectacular, will report here when i get back.
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Jafant, i was at the Paris high end show last weekend and was able to audition the latest gear on different speakers.
You asked in an ealier post about lastest Mark Levinson gear, well i was able to audition the n° 519 all in one network player with a pair of n° 536 monoblocks driving TAD Compact Reference and i can tell you i was very disappointed.
The Mark Levinson gear was very bright and fatiguing.
I was considering this gear for my CS 3.7 but for this kind of money i can have much better.
I liked very much the Gryphon Diablo 300, pretty warm, organic and what a base slam.That would be the integrated to choose for the bigger Thiels.
As of seperates 4 good options are the Hegel H30, the Dan d'Agostino Classic amp, Modwright KWA 150 in stereo or mono config and last but not least Aesthetix amps and preamp.
I'm going to audition Aesthetix gear this thursday at a dealer's.
If you have the budget and want to go much higher end you have Steve McCormack's SMC audio gear.
Regards,
Thieliste
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Guys i saw a pair of CS 7.2s for sale in amberwood finish mint conditions at $4K, should i be crazy and pull the trigger ? lol
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jafant man i saw your pics of your beautiful CS 2.4SE not connected to any system...
How can you look at them everyday and not beeing able to listen to music ?
I know you are in the same boat as i am wanting to build a reference system with them, but meanwhile why don't you do like i did buy a modest used Integrated and a DAC to stream high res files via USB ?
For a very small budget you could at least listen to your CS 2.4SE.
I bought my CS 3.7 2 years ago and couldn't wait any longer staring at them and not beeing able to listen to them.
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What do you have on your latest short list in terms of amp-preamp combo for your future reference system ? I'm also investigating on my side and was able to listen to the Aesthetix combo last week in Lyon, i think that is a serious option for Thiels. Hybrid solution might be the way to go at least to my taste. I will investigate on Ypsilon gear also, the Aelius II monos have very good reviews. Here is some reading if you want to learn about this company : http://www.theaudiobeat.com/visits/ypsilon_interview.htm |
I'm in the south of France Provence area.
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Thanks jafant, well yes we have quiet a number of good high end dealers here in France.
I fell in love with Thiel speakers in 1997 thanks do a local dealer who sold me my first pair : CS 1.5, i still have them.
Did you ever consider the Dartzeel CTH-8550 ? even though you prefer going the seperates route.
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jafant like i told you i have a very modest system to drive my CS 3.7 : Classé CAP-151 connected to a Hegel HD12 DAC with balanced Cardas Golden Cross interconnects.
For the speakers i'm using my very old Siltech LS 4-120 speaker cables.
HMS energia powercords.
Streaming high res files from my PC with JRiver and Audioquest USB cable.
All of the gear was bought used except the USB cable.
Are you going to have a DAC in your system ? if so which ones are you considering ?
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Yes only the CS 3.7 will stay, this system is short term because i didn't want the speakers to stay longer in their boxes.
As you might know it's not good to not drive your speakers for a very long period of time as some components and filters could dry.
That's what made me decide to put up this little short term system in my office to at least drive the Thiels from time to time.
So your going for an all in one big CD Player like the Esoteric K03-X ?
My future reference system will be as follow : 2 mono blocks, a preamp, a DAC with seperate server from TotalDac and a turntable probably from Bergmann.
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jafant which Pass monos did you audition ?
Any particular model that you liked best with Thiels ?
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Hi guys, i posted some pics of my system in the virtual section.
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Guys any CS 7.2 owners on this forum can report how good they are and how difficult load they are to drive.
Thanks.
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