Thiel CS 1.5 vs Linn Katan

No experience with the Linn Katans but I did own the Thiels for a while. On the plus side, the Thiels are attractive, one of the few speakers my wife liked, and very easy to place. They are extremely detailed. One of those speakers people will say "hearing things I'd not heard before on my cds." Beware though, if the recording is not well engineered it can be grating. The Thiels are also cool and thin sounding with very little bass energy. Their lack of warmth is what prompted me to sell mine for $700.
Check out Meadowlark Kestrel Hot Rods. Similarly priced, and sized but a very warm sound. Good luck.

I owned the 1.5s, pre Revel M20s and Harmonic Precision, Caravelles. 1.5s do not equal sonic nirvana, that's for sure, but you're heading in that direction. Like Tim, I found them to lack warmth, as well. They do have phase coherence to die for, great for jazz and vocals. Top is chilly and you need a sub. peace, warren

I would think they are entirely different sounding speakers. I have some Katans, never heard Thiels. I read that they sound just as Timrhu has described. Katans on the other hand are rythmic and soft on top, not so detailed.
What is your amp/other gear?

i have to say that i have never heard a decent thiel until the 2 2 model and higher

dave.

darn, so it doesn't sound like a good trade up. My rig's like this:
Audible Illusions L-1 Tube preamp
Jolida JD-100 CD Player
Linn LK-85 Amplifier X 2
Linn Katan Monitor Activ
REL Acoustics Storm Subwoofer
Harmonic Technology Truthlinks Interconnect
Linn K-400 Speaker cable
Virtual Dynamics Power 2 Power cord
PS Audio P-300 AC filter
The setup is very nice, but now looking towards a larger speaker to fill up the sound more. On the weekend, I heard a great transmission line 3 way IMF Studio Reference monitors and loved the way that the bass hit you in the chest. My friend then turned on a set of classic Rogers LS3a and I loved the warmth there in the vocals. Linns are known to be clean and analytical and the bass I find to be dry an even thin at times. Anyone want to recommend some larger speakers? I was thinking of going to a set of Totem Mani2's, not larger but much bigger sound!

On the larger (and bigger sounding) side of monitors, you may want to look for a used pair of Tyler Acoustics Linbrook Signatures... New, they are sold direct from Tyler at about 3K, but they can be found used under 2K. These have top-notch SEAS Excel series drivers, and they get down to about 35HZ.

---Dave

great system though the linn mini monitors are musical. but somewhat 2 dimential. the thiel 2.2's are musical and 3d. the thiels just disappear as if the music presented to you is just right in front of you. i have never heard any other loadspeaker do this so well

good luck
dave

I owned a pair of the 1.5s a number of years back and I did not like them too much. As noted by others, they always sounded thin and they were not very dynamic. On the other hand, I like the Katans even less than the 1.5s. They are veiled and two-dimensional compared to the Thiels and you can do much better for the money. The Totem Mani-2s are considerably better than both the Linn and Thiels (IMHO) but, of course, they are also considerably more money. You will also need a good amp for the Manis with, at least, 100 wpc. You might also want to consider the Totem Tabus or the Model 1s - also very good and considerably more effecient.