Thorens TEP 3800 and TEM 3200's
staxguy -- Fri, 11/12/2010 - 22:34
Hi there, anyone use the Thorens TEP 3800 and TEM 3200's with a Magico Mini II or can comment re: enough power? (200W 8ohm / 400W 4 ohms). These look like obtainable "dream amps" to me. Not like Krell KSA-300 with is gold-plated bus bars, or Solution 700/710 with their "little city" of tiny components, but like a well laid out PC with good airflow, plus a nice heatsink as well. They'd look good and fit well for me, in my abode.
Besides the Mini II, I am also reviewing Quad 2905's as "leisure monitors" for my living room. Low (to med) sound levels, and realistic presentation of chamber music instruments with details hopefully like a Stax OO7t / Omega II system, which I'm used to.
Any experience, and/or suggestions?
Thank you, in advance... :)
Staxguy
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Hi Staxguy
The Magico distributor in Belgium is demonstrating the Magico Mini II's with Nagra VPA tube poweramps - 50W RMS. So I think it is save to assume that the Thorens TEP 3800 will easily drive the Mini's.
For what it is worth the Thorens has long been the best amplifier at Stereoplay, only bettered by the Ayre MX-R with 1 point.
http://www.magnus.de/bestenlisten-1702.html
Good luck
Dirk
Thanks, Dirk!
My German is a bit rusty from Philosophy class, so thanks to Google Translate, I was able to make some sense of the Thorens with your Magus link. :) It rounded out what I had read on 6moons, and elsewhere. The local Thorens distributor seems a bit fix on the turntable side of things, but I am sure some things can be arranged.
I also managed to read up on the KX-R / MX-R combo, thanks to Stereophile reviews, and an glimpse of the three Ayre's coupled to the Mini II here:
http://betisy.typepad.com/bouquet_de_nerfs/2010/04/magico-mini-ii-ayre-k...
The Ayre's seem to be a bit more "sensible" than the Thorens, being 1/3rd more powerful, yet smaller, and more like "jewelry," despite being basically the in the same ballpark, price wise, at the pre-amp side, and coming close to 1/2 price at the amplifier side. I can listen to the KX-R/MX-R at a local dealer, for now, and contact the Thorens importer in town (mostly turntable business I imagine) to see where I can here the TEM/TEP combo.
Likely, the Magico's are listenable, south of the border.
Thanks again, Dirk!
Staxguy
Look at the 6moons review: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/thorens/thorens.html
TEM 3200 Mono Power Amplifiers
The Thorens mono blocks were unfazed by
whatever challenge we presented them. No
matter how heavily we pushed them to drive
the large bass units of Wilson Audio’s Maxx 2
speakers, for example, they remained cool,
calm and collected. On Monty Alexander’s
“Moanin”, low-level sounds in the background
seemed unaffected by the tumult of dynamic
swings and transients.
It is quite remarkable how sure-footed and
effortless the TEM 3200s were when it came to
making sense of dense arrangements at
practically any volume level, and they never
sounded in any way analytical. On the contrary:
tonally we observed a very slight rounding
off, with a sense of drive that allowed even
more of the preamp’s agility to shine through.
Perhaps it was the absence of even minute
distortion that resulted in a silky-smooth treble
range? Whatever it was, we instantly fell in
love with the way these amps manage to
reproduce strings without a hint of scratchiness.
We have hardly ever heard better vocals,
which the TEM 3200s render very evenly and
with great precision. The bass is quite substantial,
powerful and very controlled.
Based on these impressions, we felt quite
confident pitting the Thorens mono blocks
against our top reference, the 710 stereo
power amplifier by Soulution. The 710 was a
bit leaner and even tighter in the bass. Combined
with a slightly more compact soundstage,
the Soulution amp sounded a bit tidier in
its presentation, but the TEM 3200s were more
vibrant tonally and at times more expressive
and riveting.
It was pure joy being able to put on one after
the other of our favorite LPs and CDs, switching
between the Thorens products and our
references to assess their relative merits.
Despite the phono amp lacking the kind of
qualities that would put it in the highest class,
we were simply overwhelmed by the sound
quality of the Thorens system as a whole. The
TD 550 is without doubt an excellent turntable,
and the pre/power combination is up there with
the world’s best.
Excerpt from STEREO magazine, Issue 12/2008
TEP 3800 Preamplifier
One thing that we consider absolutely essential
for a reference product is soundstage performance.
And indeed, the TEP 3800 presents a
stage that seems to extend beyond the speakers,
with lifelike depth and, on orchestra material,
even vertical layering.
The soundstage of the TEP 3800 is complemented
by a brilliance and liveliness of the kind
we seldom encounter, and there is not a hint of
artificiality. This an unbelievably powerful
preamp, highly agile and faithful to the original
performance, building the sound from the
bottom registers up.
We were also struck by the wonderfully delicate,
sweet treble imaging. The wind section
on “Rocky Point Holiday” off the Tutti! sampler,
which can sound edgy even with referencelevel
products, is full-bodied and bouncy instead
of harsh and anemic.
It soon became clear to us that the TEP 3800
was in the same league as our best amps, for
example the Audio Research Reference 3,
which is also a tube preamp. The Reference 3
was ever so slightly more detailed and open,
while the Thorens was better at conveying the
music as a whole. Perhaps this is what made
the latter more musically and emotionally
satisfying than the US-made preamp.
Excerpt from STEREO magazine, Issue 12/2008