Thiel 3.5 upgrade to 3.6 or 2.4 worthwhile?


Hi Everybody,
With some wonderful help from forum members, I have my recently aquired Thiel 3.5s sounding really good. I'm using an Oppo 83SE player with a Threshold FET9 preamp and a Hafler 9500 amp with Kimber PBJ interconects and Symphony cables. I am loving the sound with no disatisfaction, but am already looking for a step up in the sense of being closer to a live performance.
So, what I'm wondering is would a move to either the 3.6s or 2.4s be a substantial improvement or an incremental one? The 3.5s are old, but in great shape and the equalizer is working well, so I am not too concerned about reliability. The issue for me is the sound. I know Thiel speakers have improved since the 3.5s, but since the company's design goals have remained constant I'm just not sure the change in performance would be that great.
I would really appreciate hearing from Thiel afficiandos who have heard all three models about their impressinons of the differences in realisim of the sound of these models.
Thanks in Advance,
Jay
drjay

Showing 1 response by audiolui

The 3.5 is a high value speaker system. I never owned the 3.5s but listened to it at a dealer's showroom. At the time, it was a great speaker.

I auditioned the 3.6s at the same dealer before I bought it and thought they sounded better than the 3.5s. The 3.6 was more transparent, dynamic, and quicker transient attack. However, in the wrong position, its bass could be overwhelming. It could be too generous and made the images bloated.

I borrowed the 2.4s to audition at home and thought they sounded more neutral. It didn't have the 3.6s deep bass, but its soundstaging was bigger. The images were a bit smaller than the 3.6s. In a smaller room, I would prefer the 2.4s. If you have to position the 3.6s very close to the back wall, the bass would be hard to tame unless you have lots of acoustic treatment.

I won't say it would be a quantum leap in sound quality upgrading to the 3.6s or 2.4s. I personally think the less components in the audio chain the better. So I don't prefer the extra equalizer in the system.

Regardless, you should try to audition either the 3.6s or 2.4s before making the decision. There could be a very nice synergy between your 3.5s and the rest of the components.