Thiel CS3.6 with issues: take the chance?


I am considering purchasing some used CS3.6 from a dealer. I auditioned the speakers and it seemed to me that the drivers were all working fine. One of the passive radiators looked as if a cat had had a brief go at it with its claws -- maybe a dozen scratches, one or two amounting to a little gouge, but there were no obvious punctures. On audition, I noticed that one of the speakers -- the one with the scratched radiator -- seemed to have a lower gain than the other. Instruments seemed to be predominently coming from the other speaker (the amp being used had no balance control, so assume equal output to each speaker). This was especially noticeable with cymbals and voices, but overall balance was maybe 40/60 left/right. The salesperson confirmed my impression, and said they would look into seeing what was up. They report that they suspect a crossover issue, and that they do not want to chase it down and repair it themselves. Their tech is mostly in the field to do installations,and it is not worth it to them. They are offering me the speakers as-is for $900. I am pretty well lusting after them, but do not want to get them unless they can be put exactly right (in a way that I will confident of) for an amount of money I can live with. So I am asking advice,

Specifically,

1) Should I be concerned about the scratched passive radiator?
2) How many crossovers are there -- two in each speaker or one complex network in each? I imagine the former.
3) Would you trust a reputable speaker repair place to diagnose the problem and/or repair the complicated crossover?
4) Should I repair all crossovers if one of them needs repaired?
5) Should I have the service tech simply remove and send the crossover to Thiel for repair?
6) Is there anything else that might be the culprit here?

Please forgive my verbose questioning. I could tell from the audition that if these were made to work correctly, i would have found the speaker for me. I currently have CS 2 2's, and while I love them, the 3.6 has everything they do, but greater dynamic range and bass control, depth and most importantly authority.

Any help much appreciated.
rnm4

Showing 4 responses by rnm4

Thanks all.

Pops: It happened in every recording I listened to -- about 6 or 7 different ones. There were two sources (CDP and computer), one amp. But the salesman listened with me and then again later and was convinced that there is an audible problem. Believe me, if he had ben able to make it go away by switching amps or some such, he would have, because he knew I would have bought them.

Don't harsh on the dealer. They took them in on trade having been told they were not working -- as a favor to the client upgrading. When I called asking if they had any used speakers I might be interested in, they didn't even mention them. They had some others I wanted to check out. When I got there, I saw the 3.6s -- which I have wanted but haven't shown up locally -- and was told they didn't work, and were likely to be sold as cabinets alone. I asked what was wrong and whether they could be fixed. they said they'd check them out. When I called a couple days later they said that much to their surprise they were working. So I went for a listen, and discerned the balance issue, which was subtle, but pretty definite once you became aware of it.

Surely these speakers can be fixed! The question is whether I should undertake to get that done without knowing exactly what the problem is. And so far you 'gonners seem to think I should not.
Wow this is unprecedented neat unanimity, which makes me suspect my formulation of the issues.

Anyone wanna sell me some thiel 3.6 in perfect functional and unobjectionable cosmetic shape? If not, what else you got that can clearly compete as a definite step up successor to my cs2 2s?