Thiel 3.5 equalizer advice

^This is contrary to what Tom Thiel has reported,

The Thiel 3.5 EQ works from 70 Hz down. The last I heard Thiel had some left at a cost of $600. IMHO, it's silly to have the 3.5's and not use the EQ. It even has different settings for 40 Hz and 20 Hz to adjust for smaller rooms.

The midrange units on the 3.5's are paper, while they have a pretty large magnet, and are otherwise well built they do have a tendency to need rebuilding from time to time. Thiel is very good about this. Even if one wanted to use a a sub-woofer I'd recommend using the EQ and using the 40 Hz setting. If your not going to use the EQ, you might as well go with a smaller, cheaper Thiel that will actually go lower than a non-EQ'd 3.5. The EQ does put demands on the amplifier though. I think most of the objections to the EQ are based upon some sort of purist's prejudice. Of course one alternative is to put the EQ in a pre-amps tape loop and depending to the music, one could switch it and out. The only real down side, is an extra set of cables and having the signal passing through the pre-amps circuitry one more time. Once in a while you can find a used 3.5 EQ on e-bay, a much less expensive and less complicated alternative than adding a sub-woofer. The 3.5's EQ's stereo bass will be much better than a cheap sub-woofers.

Keep in mind that the same cross-over philoshpy hasn't seemed to burden Thiel's other lines of speakers the same way. My 3.5's have only had their midrange drivers rebuilt once and they're over twenty years old. This was just a few years ago, Thiel did it gratis despite being well out of their ten year warranty. Kudos, Thiel!

^CS 3's had two pairs of binding posts on each cabinet, the 3.5's only one pair.