Thiel 7.2 and the 3.7

Tom:

As always, thanks for posting your thoughts. I am pleased to share with everyone that I listened to the 3.7 for the first time the other day. They, according to my dealer, are still breaking in and require 400 hours for the bass driver to fully be at it's best. They are incredible in the midrange. I have never heard, with the possible exception of the 7.2, such lifelike, three demensional soundstaging than these speakers. Jim's new midrange driver technology is the real thing folks and must be experienced to be believed.

The weakest link in the demo system was the amplifier, a BAT solid state example that sounds dull, dry and lifeless to me. BAT's tube amps are another story however! Despite this it was a welcome minor frustration to discover that the sound, like most of Theil's designs, are not "left" or "right". It's just "there" all around you. And that was my immediate reaction upon hearing the speakers whether it was Mozart and especially C.S.N. which sounded so lifelike in the room, I was transfixed.

What was suprising however was the bass response. I am not a bass addicr by any means and the lows weren't weak by any means, just not as loud as I thought it was going to be in connection with the other frequencies. I think break in and system matching are at fault here.

The 7.2, when measured by Stereophile, was slightly elevated in the low bass but I am only too much aware that the sound of any speaker is predicated on what is in front of it along with inherent capabilties.

I still prefer the 7.2. but that could change with greater listening to both. Yet this time around, the new designs midrange driver is truly a technlogical breakthrough.

As you so aptly put it, "I can't wait to hear it with a tube amp". Ditto!

Best:

D.H.

How small or big is the sweetspot. Can everyone on....say a couch enjoy the soundstage or only the person in the middle in regards the 3.7? How does the 3.7s compare to say....Wilsons or Dynaudios?

Unlike most audiophiles, soundstaging is not important to me.

I can say that the tonal balance of the Thiel is more uniform off-axis than any speaker I've heard, by a huge margin.

I thought the 3.7 sounded bad last year at L.A. Just heard them again at the RMAF driven by all Sim Audio or Moon Audio equipment and they sounded wonderful. And the best thing is that the binding post are now on the back, not at the bottom. And I guess if I have to, I can live with them, just need to cover the ugly tin cans with teh speaker grill.

According the the rep, Thiels is working on replacing the 7.2. The new version should be coming out in about 2 years. No plan to replace the model 6 yet.

FrankC

Comparing the 3.7 to the 7.2 does not add up.

Don't get me wrong. The 3.7 is going to represent a wonderful valud at under $5k, and will likely be classed among other lines of speakers costing up to $12k. Add a subwoofer, and I'm sure it will be something to behold. However, the 7.2 was $15k 10 years ago, and is a true full-range speaker. It is heavier, goes lower, and is a 4-way design. It has some of the most accurate and coherent bass I've heard. The 7.2 competes with speakers $25k and below, even today. I have resigned myself to acknowledge the need to spend over $25-30k to get something that betters it. For Thiel to produce a clear improvement on the 7.2, I would suspect it would cost $20-25k taking into consideration the number of sales and in-house production costs. That end of the market is far more competitive than it was 10 years ago.

I heard there are no plans to do a 7.3 as of now. Thiel has probably taken the wise strategy of more firmly straddling the home theater/2 channel market. They have kept costs reasonable whereas most companies are in the stratosphere. Power requirements are said to be more reasonable. Going to Crutchfield is a way to gain more widespread sales by breaking out of the audiophile niche market. Introducing subwoofers has brought modularity to their line. If he does decide to do a flagship two channel system like the 7.3, I wouldn't expect it for at least 5++ years. This is based upon the way new designs are slow to trickle from the company despite rumors that something is just around the corner. So don't hold your breath.

Rob