Power for Thiel 7.2

I heard them sound great with a bridged pair of BAT VK60s.

I have used both the Thiels and Watt/Puppies (my current) speakers. They are very different but share one common characteristic: they are highly detailed, sometimes sounding analytical or a little bright to the point of hardness, especially with less than perfect source.

I found that the MIT CVT cables, while not ideal for other speakers, match the Thiels and W/P very well because they tend to soften the top end just a tad.

Likewise, I found that a pair of BAT VK-60--the newer SE-75 should be even better--can drive these speakers to great satisfaction because of good match in strengths and weaknesses. The midrange is glorious, the top end detailed and smooth. Only the bottom end could be a little tighter and deeper, but I use a subwoofer so that's not a big problem. The solid-state amps I've tried delivered better bass but none could properly handle the speakers' top end. Of course, I haven't tried everything.

A Bryston 14BSST works very well with mine. I have heard them at Thiel with the Krell 600, and they sound nice. Be careful on cables, some with network boxes that claim to enhance imagery, actually do so by boosting the top end. If you lower the volume to compensate for the boosted top end, you might think you have lack of bass.

I know you guys will laugh but when I first got my Jolida 302B prior to finding the Meadowlark Kestral2s for a second system, I tried the 302B with the CS6 via the four Ohm taps. You know it didn't sound that bad and I was pleasantly suprised. Of course reinstalling the Krell brought them back to full conciousness.

So, yeah, tubes can work with Thiels.

I had the opportunity to visit Thiel about 5 weeks ago. In their listening room they were using the 7.2s with Krell monoblocs with Alpha Core Goertz AG3 speaker cables. I've been told that Jim Thiel voices all of his speakers using the Alpha Core cables. Thiel's website lists some amplifier companies that they use (and it seemed that they have at least one sample from each of theese companies in their listening room). As far as cabling goes, they recommend Alpha Core, Audio Quest, Cardas, KimberKable, Nordost, Straight Wire, Synergistic Research, Transparent, and Wire World.

I personally have tried the lower line Alpha Core cables with my 2.3s and was not pleased. I have heard good results with Kimber and Synergistic on many Thiel models, though the 7.2s sound fantastic with the AG3 in Thiel's listening room. The rest of their system consisted of a BAT preamp and a Musical Fidelity SACD player (with Alpha Core interconnects).