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Integrated Amp for Thiel CS1?

@RossW @opnly bafld Thank you guys so much for your help and insight. For a person new to this world, you have been INCREDIBLY helpful. A couple of follow up questions...

(1) "Burn in/break in" - I love the Yamaha A-S501 so far, but would you say it needs to break in? I've read competing ideas on this. I want to hear more bass/low end out of this set up, but maybe it's just going to take more time?

(2) Thiels are THIN - I LOVE the transparency of these speakers. They sound incredible, but seemingly lean high. Not shrill, just more than I'd like. I want to keep them but add a subwoofer as mentioned.

Because the woofers in the Thiels are 6.5" plastic-cone woofers, does it make sense that I need a 10" sub to close the gap, or is it ok to go with a 12"?

I'm just listening to my turntable with this system...

Dual 1219
Yamaha A-S501
Thiel CS1
 
Do you have the speakers aimed straight ahead, toed in some, or aimed directly to the listening position?
How far from the wall are they?

https://www.stereophile.com/content/thiel-cs1-loudspeaker-measurements
"The nearfield –6dB point was a respectable 37.5Hz, which agreed closely with the measured amount of low bass in the room. This response showed only mild exaggeration in the upper bass, and the response was pretty flat through the midrange, ±2dB limits holding up to 3.15kHz. Above that frequency, however, there was a little too much energy—1–2dB or so—in the last two octaves, which correlates with the perceived treble sound balance." italics added

The CS1s reach low enough that you could go to a 15" or 18" if you have the budget and space.
Edit: no you don't need to close the gap (in case I wasn't clear above)
 
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All things equal, a 10" cone will move less air than a 12" cone, so will not go quite as low/loud. But things are never all equal.

In your situation, i would run the Thiels full range (rather than use a high-pass filter to cut out their lower frequency output), and then use the subwoofer's low pass filter to get a good blend with them. Those Thiels don't go very low...a subwoofer is a very good idea with them. Just find something that will go down at least into the mid 30Hz range

Thiels are somewhat known for a very detailed, and some would say forward, midrange. The subs will help balance them out.

I have a set of CS2s. Thought they were ok, but too forward and a bit thin running by themselves. Decided to experiment and replaced a pair of Vandersteen 2Ce Sig IIs with them in one of my main systems. Kept the pair of Vandersteen subs in place, and high-passed the Thiels at 70Hz. Dramatic difference...been using that set up for 6 months now. Still very airy and detailed, but with a much fuller, richer sound than running them alone.
 
opnly bafld said:
Do you have the speakers aimed straight ahead, toed in some, or aimed directly to the listening position?
How far from the wall are they?

https://www.stereophile.com/content/thiel-cs1-loudspeaker-measurements
"The nearfield –6dB point was a respectable 37.5Hz, which agreed closely with the measured amount of low bass in the room. This response showed only mild exaggeration in the upper bass, and the response was pretty flat through the midrange, ±2dB limits holding up to 3.15kHz. Above that frequency, however, there was a little too much energy—1–2dB or so—in the last two octaves, which correlates with the perceived treble sound balance." italics added

The CS1s reach low enough that you could go to a 15" or 18" if you have the budget and space.
Edit: no you don't need to close the gap (in case I wasn't clear above)
Click to expand...

They are straight ahead, which is directly to the listening position. They are 10" from the wall.

Thanks so so much. This is truly helpful!
 
spark1 said:
All things equal, a 10" cone will move less air than a 12" cone, so will not go quite as low/loud. But things are never all equal.

In your situation, i would run the Thiels full range (rather than use a high-pass filter to cut out their lower frequency output), and then use the subwoofer's low pass filter to get a good blend with them. Those Thiels don't go very low...a subwoofer is a very good idea with them. Just find something that will go down at least into the mid 30Hz range

Thiels are somewhat known for a very detailed, and some would say forward, midrange. The subs will help balance them out.

I have a set of CS2s. Thought they were ok, but too forward and a bit thin running by themselves. Decided to experiment and replaced a pair of Vandersteen 2Ce Sig IIs with them in one of my main systems. Kept the pair of Vandersteen subs in place, and high-passed the Thiels at 70Hz. Dramatic difference...been using that set up for 6 months now. Still very airy and detailed, but with a much fuller, richer sound than running them alone.
Click to expand...

I love the suggestion to run the Thiels as full. This gives me such great confidence in realizing that I love the sound, but it is still missing the low end. I'd rather live in your world of keeping the Thiels, but adding a sub or two.

Thanks a ton!
 
mpabrams said:
I love the suggestion to run the Thiels as full. This gives me such great confidence in realizing that I love the sound, but it is still missing the low end. I'd rather live in your world of keeping the Thiels, but adding a sub or two.

Thanks a ton!
Click to expand...

You are welcome.

I would advise you to get them out from the wall a bit. You might be surprised at the difference.
 
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