Thiel Owners

Nice , Same boat here . Picked up a pair of cs7's and cs2's on Craigs last week. Still working out the kinks though . What gear are you liking with them ?

Congrats, I may have been looking at those very same Thiels myself.....Texas?  I went with Proac instead.  I do think about my old Thiels often though.  If I get a larger room someday, I'll probably look for a pair of 2.4se or 2.7.  Enjoy and keep us posted.

Enjoy! I love the demo 2.7's I picked up a couple year's ago. I run them with an integrated Wyred4Sound, Wyred DAC and Auralic streamer. I think I'll stay with that arrangement for a long while unless I could ever be convinced tubes would be better for the Thiels. Every move I made to get to this system was a noticeable improvement.

Congratulations,  have never heard the 2 series but have always been curious.  I own CS6 and 3.6 and actually prefer the latter.   It will be interesting to see what electronics and cables you choose.  Be sure to feed them properly and you will be rewarded!

Much Thanks! guys-

I first auditioned the 2.4SE (2) years ago in NC and was hooked.
At that time the dealer/retailer- Audio Video Excellance in Raleigh
used Anthem, Cary and Audioquest gear.

(3) years ago i got my 1st taste of the CS 2.4 w/ Creek , NAD and Audioquest gear. I was hooked then as well.  I feel the "SE" is a little sweeter to my ears.  Of recent I have read about Conrad Johnson and Pass Labs being a sonic match. I am interested in both companies and each makes a new integrated amp. As we all know their separates are superb.  Above all, cabling is my "thing". It is going to be a fun ride!

Second note;
I am interested in the newest Mark Levinson integrated amp No. 585 as well.
Anyone own or demo?

Keep me posted & Happy Listening!

3rd note;

how do I clean/maintain the Vermillion maple finish on my speakers?

Cabling is apparently my thing also - I have tried maybe 20+ pairs of speaker cables and almost as many IC's, all different price points.  You know because you know Thiel, they have a very revealing, slightly lean, but extremely coherent sound.  If mated right I have never heard a speaker with better timbre and tone to my ears.  I do think lean is a slightly unfair description.  They have such a clean midrange it can accentuated with cables or equipment with the same qualities.  That IMO is why they can sound lean.  

I am am currently using Kubala Sosna Fascination IC's (musical but clean), KS power cords which add clarity and no bloat, and Stereolab Diablo SC (small copper AWG, revealing yet musical - don't know how he achieved that, and very fast similar to Nordost.  This is the best combo I have used.  Although cables addicts like us can never say I am done haha...

Unsound you are correct and good call out!  Straightwire Maestro II is the most consistent match that I go back to alot - it is also my base to compare other cables.  It does everything I like.  I owned SW Virtuoso for a while but it was a little grainy compared to Maestro.

I also like and own Goertz M-2's, need new zobel networks, mine are broken.  I tried the M-3's but the larger AWG seemed to make them more on the bright side.

Congratulations jafant, you finally getting a system together, I like to come listen to your system when you get done building it, cheers. 

Much Thanks! guys-

everyone has been very helpful. Yes, I will welcome any comments, thoughts or impressions on Thiel and the gear that makes them great!

Pops, you nailed it on timbre' and tone- this is the upper hand of these speakers, IMO.

Thank You! dgarretson for the "special sauce" of this SE loudspeaker.

Do you own Thiel speakers? Have you DIY'ed the ESA product(s)?
Or know someone whom has performed this mod?

Keep me posted & Happy Listening!

How about Thiel 2 2s (no decimal point)? Mine are 20(!) years old now, and whenever I hear another pair of speakers that sound really good, I go back and listen to the 2 2s, and realize that, nah, it really doesn't get much better than this, at least not for any rational amount of money. I drive them with a Classé CA-200 amp connected with Kimber 8PR cables. The system also includes a Mirage BPSS-210 sub, and its active tune-able crossover crossed @ 60 Hz, which isn't loud but is undistorted and remarkably flat and enables the system to go cleanly well below 20 Hz. State of the art at the time, and still darn good! Not so good with most turntables, however. Infrasonic TT rumble can make the sub nuts to the point I have to take it out of the system.

I haven't spent much time auditioning the newer Thiels since I bought the 2 2s, but at the time it was certainly the case that Thiel speakers in general, being rather inefficient and often a bit challenging to drive, were decidedly best with solid-state amplification. Pairing them with a Classé amp was, and likely still is, a match made in audio heaven.

^classe and Thiel classic for sure.  Congrats on knowing what you like and liking what you know!!!  Rare amongst audiophiles.  

jafant...
I've driven my Thiels (2.2,  3.1,  and currently 3.5's) with both tube and solid state amplifiers and have found that they are excellent with either.  The one complaint I have with these "vintage" (minty!,  in eBay parlance) designs is the speaker cabling,  specifically where Thiel located the binding posts themselves.  On the bottom!

This rules out using the "garden hose" variety of speaker cables since keeping them off of the floor proved to be problematic.  I've used Goertz Alpha Core,  Transparent Music Waves,  and now I have AntiCables level 3 - which I've long been a fan of.  That aside,  very few loudspeakers have impressed me as much as Thiels do.  My 3.5's are full range,  20hz - 20khz,  and I've never used a subwoofer.  They still continue to deliver outstanding sonics.

I think my favorite match up with mine was a Pass Labs X150.5,  150 watts into 8,  300 watts into 4 ohms which the Thiels are.  My listening level is very conservative,  and I've had fun listening with a McIntosh MC275 Mark VI tube amplifier,  75 watts per channel into virtually any load.  Also a Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum integrated,  100 watts per channel.  In retrospect I think I have to give the nod to the Pass Labs.  Having all that extra headroom made me believe I was treating them right even if my listening level wouldn't stress a modest amp.

I've just purchased a Peachtree Audio 220SE integrated which will out put 350 watts into 4 ohms for the heck of it.  (Pretty good deal direct from them.)  I'm also looking at an Audio Research 300.2 amplifier - which is class T,  capable of 500 watts per channel into 4 ohms.  

One thing I will never do is part with my 3.5's again.  The first pair I owned I gave to my nephew when I purchased a pair of Counterpoint Clearfield Metropolitans,  an Alfred Von Schwiekert design.  They were physically HUGE speakers.  A few months ago I found another pair of the 3.5's right here not he gone and bought them without contacting the seller first.  Regardless of price Thiels are some of the best loudspeakers out there.  I love 'em.  Good luck with yours!

lp2cd-

Many Thanks! for sharing your listening experience. This is the 1st time that I have read about Classe' being used w/ Thiel. Very nice intel indeed!

Keep me posted & Happy Listening!

oblgny-

Yes, Pass Labs is a terrific sonic match indeed. I want to demo their integrated amps for sure.  This is the 2nd or 3rd time that I have read about Transparent cabling being use w/ Thiel. Also, good to learn that Transparent matches Pass Labs.

Keep me posted & Happy Listening!

oblgny, the older Thiels such as your 3.5's (I'm a big fan) were much more accommodating to tube amps  with very steady impedances that didn't drop below the 4 Ohms. Thiels such as the CS 5's, and later ones with concentric drivers presented a very different load to amplifiers.

Hi jafant,  I'm working my way this year to a new front end and speaker's,  an endeavor I dread! , likely,  build my own speaker's to compete with stupid money speaker's,  you know,  they have state of the art machine shop's here in mobile,  al,,, thinking cabinets like magico! 

Do Model 02 count ?
IMO Jim and Richard Vandersteen are on the short list of engineer / designers / music lovers who get it..RIP Jim

We moved a bit of Jims stuff with Audionics CC2 amps....back in the day..

Unsound...
Thanks for the information,  I was not aware of that.  The only thing that would make me move these into storage would be moving up the food chain.  I've been watching a pair of CS5's....but they're too large for my current domicile.  *sigh*

^The CS 5's are wonderful, but besides the need for an appropriate room, they really need a large amplifier budget.

Gentlemen, I agree,  the Thiel's are an incredible value on the used market,  great speaker's in general, ahead of their time really. 

Btw, great thread. 

Listening to my pair of Thiel CS2.4s connected by Audience AU24SE to the 4ohm tap of my phi upgraded VAC PA100/100.  

Hard to go wrong with used thiel these days.  Especially with the right amplification.  I may pick up a pair a t some point as well 

used gear shop u district Seattle almost always has a pair or three at fair prices..

should have checked before my last post.
they have:

CS 2

CS 3

CS 3.5

I had a pair of 3.5 (or 6)...anyway, my wife passed and I needed a present so I replaced them.....but I really thought they were wonderful.

How do you guys setup your Thiels . I have read that no toe in is recommended ? Why is that ?

I had a pair of CS2.4's and recently traded them in for CS2.7's. I don't find that toe-in is necessary at all. The imaging is fantastic from almost anywhere in front. BTW, the 2.7's definitely have better articulation than the 2.4's and don't seem to lack for a full sound (compared to other speakers of a similar price range; I compared with Aerial 6T and 7T).

I do have a question (and being a newbie, please let me know if a different forum might be preferable). My room is approx. 22' x 13'. I have my entertainment center on the long wall with the speakers fairly close to the large cabinet. I figure I'm sitting maybe 8 to 9 feet from the speakers. When I'm sitting, my ears are pretty level with the mids/tweeters and the speakers are still too bright (I have Transparent cables and an Ayre Integrated, so the perceived shrillness is not due to these components). If I stand against the opposite wall the whole system sounds very good. Sorry for the long prologue. I am wondering if I either need to eliminate the cabinet's interference with the speakers or if the ultimate solution will be to move my system to a short wall so that I can move the speakers away from the wall and cabinet and also move the sitting to a range greater then 9' away? As things are now, the bass is getting lost somewhere. I'll eventually experiment, but I'm wondering if others have had experience with this?

Maplegrovemusic, ones room and listening position will ultimately determine speaker positioning. The Thiels are very accurate off axis to begin with, and straight ahead positioning can help provide a wide soundstage as well as negate some brightness. More importantly to attain driver integration and wave form fidelity; one should sit at least 8' from Thiels.

Unsound could write the manual!  I have tried many locations for my Thiels and Unsounds is about where they sound best for me as well.

Experimentation with placement however is a must.

dar57-

it is good to continue reading about Ayre being a sonic match w/ Thiel.
Ayre gear can be matched w/ Transparent cabling to boot.

I concur with the panel, sit 8-12 ft from speakers, as they throw, a wide and deep soundstage. Most certainly not a near-field listening speaker.

Additionally, I would not place any furniture in the path between you and your speakers. Keep me posted & Happy Listening!

Pops, thanks, but perhaps except for the long wall placement; it's more like reading the manual :-). I have tried other placements, the Dunlavy approach was especially insightful, but Thiel's recommendations seems to work best, at least for me.

VAC/VTL are reported to match well w/ Thiel speakers!
Keep me posted & Happy Listening!

Musical Fidelity & Anthem products are a sonic match w/ Thiel speakers.

Just for the heck of it today I stopped in at my local bricks and mortar shop right here down in good old Lake Grove,  NY.  I'm about to invest in SOMETHING new.

Anyway,  after talking with my sales guy for a while regarding new amps I spotted a used Conrad Johnson MF200 solid state amp with a really good price tag attached to it.  I came home and hooked it up and...pretty darn good!  

The only amp that my Thiels did not like was a NAD 375bee integrated.

Anything NAD is not going to have enough "juice" for Thiel loudspeakers.

Keep me posted as you massage your CJ amp into your system.
I am interested in some of the new models from CJ.

unsound, jafant, others,

Thanks very much for the encouragement. I think the next step will be to borrow some very long cables from the local shop and try various speaker locations. I am pretty much in agreement with everything said and will post (when I have time over the weekend) any progress. Thanks again!

You might consider a Belles amp.  Perhaps the Soloist 1 integrated even.  They have a full, tuneful and robust sound to me that would mate quite nice with Thiels.  However, as a previous Thiel owner, I'd go with a solid state amp, think Levinson, Krell, Conrad Johnson, BAT, Classe or Belles.  Then add a tube preamp which will help to flesh out the sound from the Thiels.  As Thiel's Kathy Gornick was once quoted as saying, " I never heard a Thiel speaker that didn't sound better with a tube preamp."  For cables, go Straightwire, Transparent or MIT.  Keep us posted and enjoy your Thiels.....they're worth it.  Best.

jafant...
I played the CJ MF200 for a few hours yesterday and I can say that it's a pretty impressive amp for its age.  CJ doesn't offer a power rating into a 4 ohm load like my Thiels,  but with 200 watts into 8 ohms I will assume I won't be stressing either.
Anyway,  I'm currently using an ARC LS 3 solid state preamp,  and it may be only my aural imagination but I am not getting any of that "warm" CJ sound - which is a positive.  (Not that the warmth of CJ equipment ever bothered me.)  I thinks its more their preamplifiers that impart that trait in many user's opinions.  (I've had other CJ amps and preamps as well.)

I also have a Classe preamp...model number eludes me right now,  and THAT imparted warmth.  I'll be hooking that up and comparing sometime this weekend.

Overall the CJ and the ARC preamp are a good match.  I heard excellent low end response from my Thiels at a very moderate listening level.  I sit approximately 10 feet away from my speakers so that's a good thing.  I use Ginger Baker's "Cyril Davies" cut off of his most recent release "Why?" as a canary-in-a-goldmine reference since it has dynamics all over the place.  I then use some New Orleans jazz - if an amp can render this and that well its a keeper!

PS:  I got the amp for under $700...

Thanks! dar57, carmenc, and oblgny-

very insightful intel indeed.  Keep me posted & Happy Listening!

jafant...
I'm also thinking of raising my Thiels a few inches higher than their bases situate them currently.  I read much about Maggie 1.7's here and used similar information to good effect when I had those.  (I love Magnepan,  too.)

MHO:  Thiels are Maggies with more bass...

I don't know if that will improve anything sonically,  but it will certainly help in connecting different cables to them.  I doubt it will suffer anything,  either.
My local store just became a Transparent dealer which saves me a 50 mile trip - maybe even money!   I do suggest using spades on the speaker connections since their location and that little tunnel to run them through can be a nuisance with banana connectors.

use the Vandersteen manual to pick locations. very similar design philosophy w Jim. ignore the tilt, taken care of for you w sloped baffle, but the slope creates the limit of the 9-12' ish sweet spot. just design trade...