Help, best amp for my system

[George]

Hello,

I own
- (2 front) Thiel CS1.6 (90 dB@2.8 V-1m; Impedance: 4 ohms (3 ohms minimum); Recommended Power: 50-300 watts)
- (1 center) Thiel SCS3 (87 dB @ 2.8 V-1m - 4 ohms (3 ohms minimum) -
Power : 30-200 watts)

and am looking for 3 things :
-pre/pro/amplifier to drive them, but of course I'd like to have the best of both worlds ie good for audio, but OK for homecinema (and hopefully acceptable budget, whatever that may mean...)
- rear speakers : Thiels' are very expensive and/or fairly bulky
- a subwoofer

Would anyone have some advice to give me? I am open to all solutions. ;x(

[Aussie Geoff]

George,

Try three Nuforce Ref 9.02s - from forum sponsor www.nuforce.com - these are Absolute Sound amp of the year for 2005 and remain one of the best amps I have even heard...

Geoff

[George]

Geoff,

Thank you for this very good suggestion.

I had been thinking about those, as indeed all reviews were arch positive on them. And they will soon have a pre/pro. But having 5 of them plus a good pre/pro might be quite a budget...unless of course Nuforce comes up with a homecinema amp that is way cheaper than 5 boxes.

I had considered going for Rotel 1095 and 1098, but was told by my dealer the sound might be too clear (??). Would you agree with him? He seemed to think that a "mellow" sounding amp might be more appropriate. Like Sherbourn / Sherwood or Parasound (A52 C2?). Or Atoll for that matter, except I am not totally convinced that they would have sufficient power to drive the Thiels.

Other suggestions were Primare's SPA21, which is good sounding, quite powerful, fairly cheap, but hard to find (and I should think to get serviced...). And one dealer also thought having Denon 's 4306 with an external amplifier for the front / center speakers (he suggested Primare's 3 channel amp or 3 Nuforce) might make sense. He was also suggesting a Denon AV11XV might do a nice job (he quite obviously likes Denon).

Lastly another dealer was raving about Arcam's pre/pro and amp, but the reviews were not so good.

All of which left me wondering of course...

[grit]

Try Classe

[aud19]

Classe, Bryston, Lexicon etc... go have a listen to all the top brands and that'll give you a better idea of what YOU like than anything we can tell you

[George]

Must admit that Classé is great , but pre/pro and 5.1 amplifier is a little over what I am prepared to pay :E . Bryston I've looked at, but hard to find and even worse service in France. I really liked Rotel on other speakers but haven't heard it on my speakers.

[jazznsoccer]

I've enjoyed my Earthquakesound Cinenova 5 (5 channel amp) and Mark V - 15 subwoofer. I use it with my B&W 802D so it can drive demanding speakers.

[George]

Cinenova is indeed a good idea.

Coming back to Rotel, I was at some point pretty much sold to the Rotel idea, a close friend of mine having Rotel and being very happy with it, albeit with different speakers. Does the notion that Rotel is too clear, bright a sound strike you?

I have heard the Thiel with Parasound and they sounded great, but Rotel is supposed to be much better value overall.