Int Amp for Thiel CS 3.7


I need some advice on choosing the right Int amp to drive a pair of Thiel CS 3.7
Here are some that i can think of : Hegel H360, Modwright KWI 200 SE, Karan KA-I 180 MK2 and others.

Thieliste
128x128thieliste
@david_ten  Thanks for your feedbacks on all of this gear that you were able to audition, i'm surprised you prefered the T+A 3100 over the Ypsilon Int, that does speak to me.
I'm a big fan of Ypsilon, last year i was fortunate enough to demo the PST-100 preamp and the Aelieus II Monoblocks in my system and was blown away but here we're talking €52K worth of gear.
Yesterday i spoke to the new T+A distributor who just got back from Munich and he told me the 3100 HV should retail for about €13K.
Anyway i might be able to compare the T+A 3100 HV and the Luxman L-509X at a dealer's.
Calvinj, 

The T+A gear is magnificent, and in our tests has consistantly beaten everything we have compared it to including, Devialet, Thrax, Electrocompaniet, Conrad Johnson,  and in field tests Krell MRA amplifiers and a $90k set of Boulders which were a tick better however,  the T+A actually had a more flushed out bass and cost a lot less.

You not being blown away by the Magico setup is hard to know what was doing it, was it the room, the cables, the source components? Without switching out just the electronics it is impossible to know what is affecting what and in what way.

Theiliste, try out the T+A 3100 HV use a good power cord, and a good source components, let the unit warm up for a day and then see what you think.

It is definately one of the finest one box pieces on the market, what is really cool if you look at the $19k PA 3000 amp and the matching P 3000 preamp at $16k you will see the same amplfier power supply and circuitry, with a very similar board to the P 3000, in the 3100 integrated the power supply is more exotic in the separates but in reality you are getting very close performance for almost half the price, true separates in one box. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ


The T+A, Vitus, and Gryphon amps (not familiar with Luxman) are obviously all fantastic and will drive your speakers without breaking a sweat.  At this level it comes down purely to personal taste and system synergy.  If you can't hear all of them in person, read all the reviews you can and look for the one that matches best with the sound characteristics you are personally looking for and that are most important to you and choose that one.  Frankly, I'd be shocked if you weren't absolutely thrilled by any of these, so fortunately for you going wrong has likely been removed as an option.  Best of luck and let us know how it goes. 

My 2 favorite sources for this new system so far are Totaldac Seven and Aries Cerat Kassandra 2 Ref, but i'm also looking at more reasonable DACs like the PS Audio Directstream or the Aqua Formula.