Thiel Owners

@solobone22 My response was for you sorry lol.

@thoft A used Diablo 300 would be within your budget about $8K.The Diablo 300 has everything a 2.7 or 3.7 needs : high current, organic and full body sound.Otherwise Ayre is great but you won't have the bass of Gryphon amplification.

Does anyone know how many pairs of CS 3.7s have been sold worldwide between 2007 and 2014 ?

@tomthiel Thanks for your response, a couple of thousand is not bad at all but it is no surprise for speakers that were in the top 20 best speakers of all time and very reasonably priced compared to the competition.Even by today's standard they can keep up with much more expensive speakers.

I'm not saying buy this gear for Thiel speakers obviously.Just curious about this brand.

@yyzsantabarbara  By musicality i mean organic, meat on the bone , engaging, the opposite of cold, thin and sibilant.This is the type of amp you need for 3.7s to sing.I would rather get the smallest Gryphon amp as opposed to Krell or Bryston for instance.If you live near the US Gryphon distributor he would probably glad to invite you for an audition of the Diablo 120 at his place.
https://onahighernote.com/about-us/

Would it be worth changing crossovers after 10+ years ?

My 3.7s are from 2011 and i’m wondering if i should order new crossovers from Rob.

Same here i downgraded my Tidal membership to regular 16/44 because my gear doesn't take MQA.

I mostly stream from Qobuz up to 24/192 and much less from Tidal.

I agree Vandersteens are the ones that come to mind as the closest to Thiel sound and also build quality.

I just learned something from Rob Gillum regarding 3.7s.He told me that first generation 3.7s coax incorporated a silver bezel, latest generation have a black bezel instead of the silver one.

If Jim was still alive we would have had CS 7.3s, if i recall it was in his plans.

Did anyone hear EAR Yoshino pre-power with Thiel speakers ?This brand is very musical but i wonder if EAR monoblocks could handle Thiel load.

@jafant  How does your Ayre integrated get along with your 2.4SE ?

Do you have enough juice to drive them and does it get really hot ?

 

Jafant, i was at the Paris high end show last weekend and was able to audition the latest gear on different speakers.
You asked in an ealier post about lastest Mark Levinson gear, well i was able to audition the n° 519 all in one network player with a pair of n° 536 monoblocks driving TAD Compact Reference and i can tell you i was very disappointed.
The Mark Levinson gear was very bright and fatiguing.
I was considering this gear for my CS 3.7 but for this kind of money i can have much better.
I liked very much the Gryphon Diablo 300, pretty warm, organic and what a base slam.That would be the integrated to choose for the bigger Thiels.
As of seperates 4 good options are the Hegel H30, the Dan d'Agostino Classic amp, Modwright KWA 150 in stereo or mono config and last but not least Aesthetix amps and preamp.
I'm going to audition Aesthetix gear this thursday at a dealer's.
If you have the budget and want to go much higher end you have Steve McCormack's SMC audio gear.
Regards,

Thieliste

jafant man i saw your pics of your beautiful CS 2.4SE not connected to any system...
How can you look at them everyday and not beeing able to listen to music ?
I know you are in the same boat as i am wanting to build a reference system with them, but meanwhile why don't you do like i did buy a modest used Integrated and a DAC to stream high res files via USB ?
For a very small budget you could at least listen to your CS 2.4SE.
I bought my CS 3.7  2 years ago and couldn't wait any longer staring at them and not beeing able to listen to them.

What do you have on your latest short list in terms of amp-preamp combo for your future reference system ?
I'm also investigating on my side and was able to listen to the Aesthetix combo last week in Lyon, i think that is a serious option for Thiels.
Hybrid solution might be the way to go at least to my taste.
I will investigate on Ypsilon gear also, the Aelius II monos have very good reviews.
Here is some reading if you want to learn about this company : http://www.theaudiobeat.com/visits/ypsilon_interview.htm

jafant which Pass monos did you audition ?
Any particular model that you liked best with Thiels ?

I'm in the south of France Provence area.

jafant like i told you i have a very modest system to drive my CS 3.7 : Classé CAP-151 connected to a Hegel HD12 DAC with balanced Cardas Golden Cross interconnects.
For the speakers i'm using my very old Siltech LS 4-120 speaker cables.
HMS energia powercords.
Streaming high res files from my PC with JRiver and Audioquest USB cable.
All of the gear was bought used except the USB cable.

Are you going to have a DAC in your system ? if so which ones are you considering ?

Yes only the CS 3.7 will stay, this system is short term because i didn't want the speakers to stay longer in their boxes.
As you might know it's not good to not drive your speakers for a very long period of time as some components and filters could dry.
That's what made me decide to put up this little short term system in my office to at least drive the Thiels from time to time.
So your going for an all in one big CD Player like the Esoteric K03-X ?
My future reference system will be as follow : 2 mono blocks, a preamp, a DAC with seperate server from TotalDac and a turntable probably from Bergmann.

Thanks jafant, well yes we have quiet a number of good high end dealers here in France.
I fell in love with Thiel speakers in 1997 thanks do a local dealer who sold me my first pair : CS 1.5, i still have them.
Did you ever consider the Dartzeel CTH-8550 ? even though you prefer going the seperates route.

Hi guys, i posted some pics of my system in the virtual section.

Guys any CS 7.2 owners on this forum can report how good they are and how difficult load they are to drive.
Thanks.

Bob Grossman did a solid review on the classic amp : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po6EhGkExj0&t=637s

jafant the gentlemen you are referring to might be schumy, he uses a Musical Fidelity KW500 to drive his 7.2s.
unsound thanks for the stereophile review.

I think this baby http://dandagostino.com/products-master-power-classic-stereo.php
is a good contender to build a refence system with Thiels.
Price is pretty reasonnable for D'agostino gear.

michaeljbrown have you auditioned the 7.2s before taking your decision to purchase CS6 ?
If so what dit you like better about the 6s ?
I might try to purchase a pair of 7.2s at some point unfortunately they are very rare on the used market.
I love the older Thiels even though the 3.7s are still my favorite.

jafant is the most patient man on earth, but at the end he will be rewarded.

Hi guys,
Ypsilon's distributor called me today to tell me that he is coming down to a client's place to demo the Aelius II monoblocks on his Maggies 20.7
Knowing that i'm interested in Ypsilon gear he proposed me to demo the Aelius ll in my home with my CS 3.7.
I'm pretty excited to hear what these awsome hybrid monoblocks can do whith my Thiels.
He will bring a Nagra Jazz preamp and we'll use my Hegel HD12 DAC to stream high res files.
This should take place jan 14th.

Thanks guys, i'll let you know how it went after the demo.
Merry Christmas to all of you ladies and gentlemen.

Who wants to buy vhiner's beautiful pair of black CS 3.7 ?
At that price i wouldn't hesitate if i was you!

3.7s are starting to be difficult to find on the used market just like the 7.2s.
I'm happy to have pulled the trigger just on time 2 years ago.

15x21x10 is just fine for CS 3.7 with good room treatment.

Happy new year to all of you Thiel audiogoners!
If you want good bass with the CS 3.7 medium size room with good room treatment and a solid amp is the way to go.
I personally wouldn't use them with a sub.

Pops or jafant do you thing Rob Gillum still carries spare parts for older Thiels like my CS 1.5s ?
I would like to find spikes for them as i broke 2 of them last year.

There are no outriggers for the CS 1.5 just 3 thin spikes that are screwed underneath the speakers.
I bent 2 of them last year when i dropped one of the speakers on the floor.
Yes i will e-mail Rob, thanks.

Well if at Thiel they still have some spare spikes left then i can order them through my distributor.

Guys i saw a pair of CS 7.2s for sale in amberwood finish mint conditions at $4K, should i be crazy and pull the trigger ? lol

Dave it's just that i would like to have one of the bigger legacy Thiels for my future dedicated listening room, i would be using both the 3.7s and 7.2s as my reference speakers.
Problem is that 7.2s are very rare on the used market now days.
The last time i saw a pair for sale was in 2015.
My room size should be around 15x21x10 with serious room treatment.

Yes i prefer not to use a sub, rather have a medium size room with good treatment and plenty of clean bass.

Rotate them both in the same listening room.
Therefore i would need to make the right choice of amp because the 7.2s are harder to drive.

The CS 7.2s i'm looking at is a 2004 model with the composite epoxy baffle and not the concrete one.
The owner is second owner since 2004.

I already decided that i would prefer the 7.2s over the 5is if i was going to buy a legacy Thiel.

I have to see with the owner if he can lower the price a bit because if we came to an agreement i would have an 11h drive to go pick them up.
Luckily i'm equiped with a van.

He is using an Accuphase A45 to drive them.

I made an offer to the guy, let's wait see if he accepts.

First offer not accepted.

Well i guess this pair was not for me, second offer also not accepted by only 100€.
I gave my best offer, i guess i will have to be more patient and wait for another pair to pop out.

You are damn right jafant.

I found another pair of CS 7.2 for sale, the guy is asking $2K but unfortunately not mint conditions probably not more than 7/10.