Solving the THIEL CS 5i's - vs- CS 7.2 Debate


Well I have been a huge THIEL fan for years. I have owned the CS 7.2's for 4 plus years and the CS 5i's for 3 years. In that time I have been begging for the correct room / source / amplification setup to host an ultimate drag out and shoot out. The stars aligned post new year and I had the extra help to move these monsters around and begin the process to initiate a formal showdown of these extraordinary components and literal masterpieces of speaker construction and design.

To address the weary on what I leveraged to orchestrate this debate, the amplification stage was handled by twin KRELL FPB 650m's, piped through the KRELL KCT, AudioQuest interconnects and woeful Denon CD section. All other things being equal the downside on the CD and speaker cabling should balance the field between the two.

I ran a battery of CD,s and moved the speakers forward and backward, toe in and straight up and I now have what is my ultimate conclusion. At this point I am looking for supporting evidence from the community or welcome an additional party to sit and listen to the setup.

At some point in this thread I can discuss the nuances between the two speakers, however, I will come out and say that the CS 7.2's are pure illustrated magic and profoundly demonstrated a by far greater representation of what I would expect from the original source.

At the end of the day they were the better sounding speakers to my ears in that room, given this setup.

Were the CS 5i's able to bring tears to my eyes? = yes.

Did the CS 7.2's do a better job of handling the soundstage? = yes

I would love to hear feedback if folks have any regarding a direct speaker to speaker comparison.

I will also state that by themselves the CS 5i's sound brilliant.

Thank you,
David
davidstingray

Showing 3 responses by michaeljbrown

I would love to hear that comparison. I have a pair of CS 5's, with a Krell FPB 300 powering them. The 5's replaced 2.4's. I am enjoying them immensely. Will upgrade cables first, have Transparent mw plus now. Will trade up to a FPB 600 when I can.
Am also trying to dial in the bass. Soundstage is terrific. Imaging does not beat the 2.4, but neither does anything else.
Great post!
I find that my CS 5's need to be more widely spaced. I think about 10 feet in my room works best, with the back wall 4 ft and side walls more than 2 feet. 10 feet is too close to sit for these as opposed to the 2.4's,which I found to be dialed in nicely in the triangular mode. I sit about 14-15 feet from the 5's.
If my room were larger, I would space them at closer to 12 feet apart.
Just for what its worth, as I live with these on a daily basis.