Rotel and Thiel CS2.4?

[Horacio]

I'm starting to upgrade my system from B&W CM-4 + Rotel pre amp (RC-1070) and amp (RB-1080) + Rotel cd player. I'll change my speakers first and will have them ran by Rotel for a while.

Thiel CS2.4 are in my short list of speakers. I read they are a difficult load. And I hear they might sound 'dry' with Rotel. Has anybody had a chance to listen to this combo?

Thank you!
Horacio

[GregLett]

I listened to that combo, it does not bring out the best in those speakers. You will need to go to amp like the Bryston 4B-sst.

[Matt Sprouls]

I am running my Thiel 2.4's and MCS1 center with a RMB-1095 and am happy. I am looking forward to hearing them with the new Rotel 500w amps.

[GregLett]

I am running my Thiel 2.4's and MCS1 center with a RMB-1095 and am happy. I am looking forward to hearing them with the new Rotel 500w amps.

You'll be happier once you hear it with more power
I hope the new amps sound good, can't wait to hear reviews.

[Desotti]

I do agree 100% about the Bryston/Thiel combo, but IMHO the 1080 is not to be underestimated.

Recently some friends and I had it tested against an "unfairly" 14B-ST, with Dynaudio Contour S3.4 speakers, Audiopax Model 5 preamp and Bow Wizard CD Player, and the 1080 performance was not disappointing at all, on the contrary!

By comparison, if the Bryston deserved a "10", the Rotel was a "7,5" in the presents general opinion.

Also, the 1080 is actually doing a very good job in amplifying a pair of Dynaudio Contour 2.8 which are notoriously difficult to drive, but the good sense demands a more refined amp to be used with the CS2.4, of course.

[Horacio]

Thanks guys.

Today I had the chance to visit a Thiel/B&W/Rotel dealer. In my opinion, the 803S + Rotel sounded better than the CS2.4 + Rotel (cd player + pre-amp + RB-1070 amp). Thiel + Rotel sounded good, better than the B&W CM-4 (I own) + Rotel, but then the guy hooked up some Bryston amplification + a better Arcam cd player...that made a HUGE difference. Then the 2.4 sounded better than the 803, in my opinion. I thought the Thiels had really, really good sound.

So it gets pretty tricky:
- get the 2.4 and live with so-so sound until I get to upgrade the whole thing, to end up with spectacular sound, or
- go 804 or Dali Helicons (yet to be listened to) and get comparatively better sound until the whole upgrade is over (5 years???), to end up with lesser quality of sound

I guess this is part of why this hobby is fun, ah?

Thanks again for your input,
Horacio

[Navy]

Horacio, when you have listened to Dali Helicons pls let know yor comments. I am interested in those speakers for a stereo system and they are not as common to audition as B&W etc.

[grit]

I've heard the Thiel's... they are a GREAT, neutral speaker. No coloration of sound at all. I'm personally going with Aerial's, which are similar and have the same need for more power. And, I'm frustrated over trying to run them on a Rotel 1095. Admittedly, I enjoyed the Aerial's over the 803S's (all tested on Rotel gear, 1095 amp), but the Aerial's came alive with a nice Classe 200 wpc amp.

You're gonna get an improvement over your 600 series speakers either way. If you go with the Thiel's now and a Rotel amp, you can get most of your money back on the Rotel amp later and upgrade, giving you yet another improvement. So, you get an upgrade twice. And if you enjoy the Thiel's sound better with better amps, the Thiel's would seem like the best solution (it'd be a while before you'd upgrade them). Electronics change all the time, speakers can be more of a long-term investment.

I've not tried it myself, but try Rotel's class-D amps. The Thiel's are hard to drive due to impedance, and I believe the class-D amp are suppose to do better in that category.

[grit]

I posted my opinion after demoing the Rotel class-D amps in this thread. The short version is that, IMO, the class-D digital Rotel amps push the sound stage forward. And in the case of the 1091x2, I felt the image was pushed so far that it was behind me. In either case, I did not like what the amp does to the sound and would not purchase one.

This is my opinion only... not trying to convince anyone of anything.