[Circuitbender]

Hello guys, I have a pair of Thiel CS3.6 speakers in my possession. They are all blown out except for the subwoofers, which is why I got them for free. I'm currently in contact with Thiel about getting them restored, but I'm curious to see how much it would truly cost. I know you can't use Thiel speakers with just any old sound system, that would do them injustice. However, I haven't the faintest idea where to start, as I'm much more accustomed to headphone audio which is much simpler. Would someone be so kind as to tell me what, in addition to the speakers, I would need, and then give some general recommendations for purchasing ideas? I would be looking for a system good enough to be on the same level as the Thiels, but I would want to spend as little money as possible within that range. I realize it will still be quite a lot, but this is more a price gauge. If I can get a restoration on these plus a full sound system to go along with that for under $5000 I will be seriously considering it... I'd be playing CDs, vinyls, and preferably a digital/PMP/computer source as well, all though that is not necessary.

 

[Leonardo Drummond]

Circuitbender, you have a some truly fantastic speakers there. I have no idea how much it will cost you to get these restored, but I think it will be very difficult to have everything for under $5K.
 
As far as I know they appear to be somewhat difficult to drive, so I'd bet on a good amount of power for them. There's someone I know here in Brazil that uses them with the Cambridge Audio pre + power combination, and even though I'm sure they're not quite on par with the speakers, he swears it's a fantastic combination. But then he uses cables for the amps that cost the same as them in total. To me this is nonsense, but nevertheless... I think they'll be good "budget" amps for your Thiels. The Rotel 1090 seems to be quite good as well!
 
Try looking for those on Audiogon, I'm sure they'll be a nice pairing with your speakers. As far as amplification goes, that's what I'd do!

 

[Circuitbender]

Interesting thoughts... Thanks for the input Leonardo, I'll be sure to check those out. So am I right in saying I'll probably have a preamp, with a phono stage, CD player, and possibly radio tuner going into it, and then that preamp going out to the power amp, and then that feeding the speakers? I thought it would be more complicated then that

 

[Leonardo Drummond]

Yep, that's pretty much it!
 
You can also go for an integrated, but that won't give you the power those speakers need, especially if you have a large-ish room. Unless you get a beast of an integrated, like a Krell FBI or something like that, I suggest you go for a decent pre + power combination. If you get short on money after restoring the speakers, I would first invest on some decent amplification. Even though source is extremely important, I reckon it's way easier to set up a cheap source with an old transport and a cheap DAC than to get cheap amps capable of driving those speakers decently, they have an unfriendly 86dB of sensitivity.
 
The result of using this sort of cheap fonts with a powerful amp will be much better than if you use a good source with a weak amp, I suppose!
 
And, if you really get cash-strapped... a short time ago I got a a vintage JVC class-A amplifier that only puts out 35 watts. But being class A and therefore supplying an insane amount of current, it drives my Jamo R907s (which are very difficult to drive) with ease, in fact much more easily than the Marantz PM-11S2. Obviously it's not nearly as good and as refined, but for the 70 dollars I payed for it, it's fantastic. So here's my tip, if you need the cheapest way available to drive those, look for a vintage class A amp!

 

[WarriorAnt]

Quote:

Hello guys, I have a pair of Thiel CS3.6 speakers in my possession. They are all blown out except for the subwoofers, which is why I got them for free. I'm currently in contact with Thiel about getting them restored, but I'm curious to see how much it would truly cost. I know you can't use Thiel speakers with just any old sound system, that would do them injustice. However, I haven't the faintest idea where to start, as I'm much more accustomed to headphone audio which is much simpler. Would someone be so kind as to tell me what, in addition to the speakers, I would need, and then give some general recommendations for purchasing ideas? I would be looking for a system good enough to be on the same level as the Thiels, but I would want to spend as little money as possible within that range. I realize it will still be quite a lot, but this is more a price gauge. If I can get a restoration on these plus a full sound system to go along with that for under $5000 I will be seriously considering it... I'd be playing CDs, vinyls, and preferably a digital/PMP/computer source as well, all though that is not necessary.

Once you get a price on restoration PM me I have some experience with these speakers.
 

 

[Circuitbender]

Thanks again Leo, but if it gets to that point I think I'd just hold off on the restoration. Ant, I will certainly PM you when I hear back from them.