Thiel Owners

Hey jafant,
I've been building my system for the the past few years and the VTL 5.5 preamp was my first real "high-end" acquisition. It quickly became the heart of my rig! I think this is one of those rare tube preamps that offers the musicality and sweetness of tubes with the total sonic control of a great solid state unit. It also packs enough gain and current to feed the least sensitive amps. I recently had it running my Pass Labs F5 (with all of its 25 class A Watts) and my Thiel 3.5s actually sounded quite wonderful. Ended up going back to my two bridged Sherwoods because they gave me just a little more in the bass department. 

It all looks very nice and appealing- oblgny
Happy Listening!

Many Thanks! for the follow-up arniespin

The pre-amp, as intended by design,  is the heart of any system. A VTL 5.5 is still highly regarded all of the way up to current model. It is good to read that a sonic match w/ Pass Labs is doable. Does the F5 or Sherwoods provide more current? I look forward in reading more about you and your system.

Happy Listening!

hi jafant,
i believe the sherwoods feed more current to the Thiels then the F5. They definitely reach down lower in the bass. I'm curious to see how they perform with the 3.7s which arrive tomorrow!

Prof

Thank you for your wonderfully eloquent description of the sonic qualities you appreciate in Thiels. I too owned Meadowlark speakers in the past.. Kestral Hot-Rods and still have a pair of Swallows in my bedroom system. Apart from being truly beautiful speakers, they have a very effortless and believable sound that i think led to my current love affair with a Thiels. Another speaker that I really enjoyed in my system was a pair of KEFs with their Uni-Q drivers. They were far from perfect, but there was definitely something special to how music sounded with  their coaxial drivers... now full circle to the 3.7s which will hopefully combine the best aspects of the KEFs in a much more resolved and speaker. 

What Meadowlarks did you have?