I wonder how many of these respondents have actually heard the new 1.6? I'm guessing that most are just generalizing about the Thiel "house sound".
I listened to the 1.6s a couple of weeks ago and found them to be a far departure from most Thiels that I've listened to (1.5, 2.3, 3.5, 3.6, 6). They sounded quite warm and...could it be?...a bit dark. Excellent soundstage (a lot more height than the 1.5s) with a lot of depth, too. On the negative side, they were kind of boring...at least to this listener. I followed up the audition with a pair of Sonus Faber Concerto Homes. The SF line is just so darned musical. My foot began tapping and I found myself becoming much more emotionally engaged in the music.
Front end, by the way, was all ARC. CD-3, LS-25, VT200.
I listened to the 1.6s a couple of weeks ago and found them to be a far departure from most Thiels that I've listened to (1.5, 2.3, 3.5, 3.6, 6). They sounded quite warm and...could it be?...a bit dark. Excellent soundstage (a lot more height than the 1.5s) with a lot of depth, too. On the negative side, they were kind of boring...at least to this listener. I followed up the audition with a pair of Sonus Faber Concerto Homes. The SF line is just so darned musical. My foot began tapping and I found myself becoming much more emotionally engaged in the music.
Front end, by the way, was all ARC. CD-3, LS-25, VT200.