Thiel Owners

thanks again tomthiel for your input.

Cable land report - I asked for advice on speaker cables, andy2 recommended Acoustic Zen Hologram IIs, which I procured, and they are a nice improvement from the AQ CV-8s I had been using (thanks andy2!).  I describe the improvement as adding more depth to the stage and more resolution in the mid-upper bass (male vocals, some percussion and strings).  Then I came across this from millercarbon on another thread, "The AudioQuest House Sound is articulate and detailed but weak in harmonic development and tone. It emphasizes attack relative to fundamental development," and that sounds about right, talk about good ears and words!  If that's accurate, seems to me AQ cables would not generally be a good match for Thiels, or those who search for tone and harmonics in their idealized listening experience.  Does that conclusion ring true with Thiel users? 

Please be clear I am not trying to start a cable argument, just curious what others have experienced?

and fyi millercarbon prefers Synergistic Research cables.

prof - your written descriptions of what your speakers sound like is always fun and educational to read, thanks, and wish you could find a way to get a pair of devores into your rotation.  I remember reading your listening/audition comments about them in the past, if I recall they were favorable?  I do remember you are not a cable guy, you run CJ 140s, assume a CJ pre, but what do you prefer as a source?

dsper - you are ahead of me as well on your Thiel/digital journey.  Have you thought about a DAC with tube based output?  Also, if you haven't, check out the "taming digital glare" thread and think about all the possible ancillary improvements like power supplies, conditioners, cabling, etc, many believe this all makes a difference with digital and although I have a ways to go, so far I agree.  Also agree with prof's comments above re continuing to recheck speaker placement, including tilt.  Finally, and there are many on this thread who have better more experienced ears than me, but from what I have heard in my journey so far, "live" comes from tube based amplification.  

Not to turn this into a ss vs tube discussion, just sharing my opinion.

Last weekend I had the chance to visit Glenn Poor's Audio and Video in Champaign IL, had some questions about my BAT VK-55, and luckily Geoff Poor was in the house.  I told him about my set-up, he said he sold Thiel back in the day, loved their speakers, was complimentary of my amp/speaker pairing (salesman alert!), and then, unprompted, he offered up that "most people don't remember, but Tom Thiel was a true craftsmen, the fit-n-finish of his cabinets were always superb, and what a lot of people don't realize is the enclosure and cabinet design and manufacture was a good part of what made the speakers sound so good."

Then he had me listen to some new Quads and I was blown away, even with the flash-drops.

Enjoy your weekend listening to music!

Thanks guys.  Good to know re the MW KWA 150 SE, but it's in another league compared to the 100, spec and price wise.  Dan didn't share any details in terms of peak current, his was just a quick response.  I do have the newer tweeters, same as the 2.4s I think.  Guess it's smarter to hold off and consider either the Peachtree or LSA GaN or maybe Audio GD Master 3A or used Ayre.  

Thanks Unsound, your thinking makes sense to me.

Re bright Thiels, it was the one thing I didn't like when I first got my 2.3s, but it can be tamed.  For me it meant that each and every upgrade/improvement had address this, and room treatment amd arrangement (rack to the side wall), careful speaker placement (including height), speaker cables (AZ Holograph, thanks Eric Squires!), and Isoacoustic GAIAs all helped in different ways, the clincher was upgrading the digital source (went with bel canto 3.7).  All the while I was rolling tubes, and one thing I have learned to appreciate is being able to hear most (not all) of these little changes.  One reason I went for Thiels in the first place as a newbie audiophile was bc of their reputation to be very revealing of the signal, as TT mentions above.  I knew I'd be cycling through equipment cables etc and wanted good chances to be able to hear the differences.  Thiels have delivered!

Has anyone had success driving their Thiels with Modwright KWA 100SE?  Dan's response via email struck me as honest but maybe conservative - he said "The Thiels are a high current speaker and difficult load. The 100SE can drive them, but not as well as a more powerful amp. A load like that might even trigger the amps over-current protection."  Which is too bad bc I really would love to hear this amp.

Currently greatly enjoying my setup of Sonic Frontier Line 1 -> BAT VK-55, which is only rated at 55 wpc but sounds exceptional until 92 dbs or so.  Also tried an NAD M22v1 which sounds too squeaky clean in general but is much better at higher volume levels.  

I have CS 2.3s btw and am still thinking about modifying the xovers as well.  

My two cents on room and speaker placement, just keep experimenting with placement and room treatment.  For me clearing the space between the speakers by moving rack to sidewall and using heavy draperies and/or diffusion on front wall made a big difference.