Thiel Owners

Do you mean the ring on the outside of the driver that holds it on to the speaker?

@prof Bingo! The rings outside the driver facing towards us.

 

 

Always wanted to try a pair of Thiel 3.7, not sure if the Luxman 590 would be a good match.

@webking185 I think it will be fine. However, I will look at other pairings that are rated 2 ohms stable as the 3.7 are quite a difficult load.

Greetings everyone.

Am not too sure if this question has been asked before. I am curious and would like to hear from fellow Thiel speaker owners’ opinions with regard to the choice of a spike base/plate (or even a specific brand or material). Presently, I am in the market looking for a set for my 2.7.

It will be helpful to share some feedback and personal recommendations.

Driving 3.7s with monoblocks? "This is the way."

 

I am quite familiar with the family of Audionet integrated and power amplifiers. I do think it can drive your 3.7s with ease and headroom. I think you can be assured of this.

Happy new year to fellow Thiel lovers and fans.

To kick off 2022, I placed an order with Rob for a pair of 2.7 coaxial drivers. Now, I can't wait for it to arrive!

 

@thieliste oh boy, that sounds like a fun shootout that I would like to experience and be part of. I do think (maybe a little bias) that the Audionet will be a good match with Thiels.

Please share your impressions with us!

Hi guys, I apologise for being late to the party. I was aware only when this thread popped up as a result of a google search, and this would be my first post in the forum. I have read a few pages in this thread and I am amazed at some of the system configurations of fellow owners have with their Thiel speakers.


To share more about my system, I have the CS2.7 driven by Benchmark AHB2 mono, Benchmark LA4 preamp, T+A DAC 8 DSD, and a Windows PC running ROON Server (upsampling all of my music playbacks to DSD512). I've got this pair well loved CS2.7 finished in ebony, through a close friend of mine, and I have it for almost a year now.


James
From Singapore

@jafant 

The weather in Singapore during this "season" is crazily warm and humid. We are looking at between 31 and 33 degrees Celcius. The good news is that the weather here is predictable most of the time. While the rest of the time, rain duration is unpredictable. It can be as short as 15 minutes, but it can also go on for hours and hours.

When I have some time to myself, I'll retreat back to my room listening to music. I listen to quite a wide range of genres. Lately, I have been indulging with this particular album called "Plays Gershwin", by The Bassface Swing Trio. Recommended by some friends, I find the recording to be highly transparent, dynamic, and detailed. Soon, it will become my go-to reference album.

However lately, I am beginning to hear more "distortions" from a tweeter when a piano is being played in the music. I am curious if it is a recording distortion or a "breaking up" mode of the tweeter. Sometimes, it can get as bad as cutting through the ambience of the music. On the other hand, I've been thinking if I should get a new driver to replace it. Could you guys help enlighten me?

Thanks cascadesphil, Tom and @jafant for the help and advice.

I've swapped the channels and found that the distortion persists on my left channel, hence I think we can confirm that the issue lies with the voice coil.

Previously, I've contacted Rob for a set of outriggers for the CS2.7. I'll drop him an email soon to arrange for a rebuild or buying a new coaxial driver.

Once again, I truly appreciate the help I'm getting here. You guys are amazing.

Hi sdl4,

I have heard the QLN Prestige 3 and perhaps I can share my thoughts about it.

At my local dealer's showroom, I find the QLN Prestige 3 is a wonderful pair of speakers. It is predominantly musical sound profile with the ability to throw the soundstage behind the speakers and (when needed) project forward. It is very three dimensional if you will.

A close friend of mine owns a pair of QLN Prestige 3. His system configuration looks something like this:

Source - Melco
DAC - Mola Mola Tambaqui
Preamp - Benchmark LA4
Power amp - Benchmark AHB2 (mono) x2

Cables - a mix of Tellurium Q Silver Diamond (USB & Speaker cable) and Acrolink Mexcel 3300 XLRs.

When it is in my friend's system, I find the QLN Prestige 3 was another level above. Music had skin, body, flesh and bone. The coherency and imaging are palpable and firm. For what it is and the system, it is resolving, detailed, yet has a good balance between neutral sound and musical flow. The overall sonic performance can rock hard with its tremendous bass and transient snares, while it can also create a jazz bar ambience that is smooth and relaxing. The real takeaway for me with Prestige 3 and Tellurium Q is the overall "flow" of music. I find it hard to articulate but my experience tells me that I enjoyed the music so much more than I could imagine, and it sounded "just right".

Even in my system (Benchmark LA4 and AHB2 monos), I am using Tellurium Q Ultra Silver XLRs and Speaker Cable with Thiel  2.7.

sdecker

Hahahaha! Well, I guess I could say that I played a huge part in the "near-identical" components.

My friend and I are clear about the sound signature of our speakers, as he himself likes the Thiels. We came to an agreement that we can live with either. However, if I had to draw a line between the two...

I'd say that Thiel CS2.7 has a "take no prisoners" policy going on while QLN Prestige 3 is striking a good balance between law and compassion.


One thing to note - both speakers are extremely sensitive to the choice of the power amp. In my opinion, it could be said that they take the "flavour" from the upstream.

@thieliste 

Hey mate, I use the Tellurium Q Ultra Silver 2 metres pair speaker cable as well as Tellurium Q Ultra Silver XLR between my T+A DAC 8 DSD, Benchmark LA4, and Benchmark AHB2 Mono.

 

I have tried quite a handful of cable brands (a mix of Japanese and American brands mostly), and I found that Tellurium Q cables happen to match my Thiel CS2.7 and room very well. What I do like most about Tellurium Q is the "musical flow" that brings to the music, and somewhat sounded "right" to my ears.

 

I am guessing that you might be pleasantly surprised with the sonic signature and performance of the Tellurium Q Statement cables that your dealer have kindly loaned you.

@jafant 

I've been popping by the forum every now and then to catch up on the conversations. I am humbled that I am learning more about Thiel's heritage as well as complex topics related to speaker designs. I do appreciate everyone's intellectual inputs.

 

Btw if I may ask - is there a reason for sharing the serial numbers? 

@thieliste

Well, most of the music I listen to... do not have glare in the treble, while I admit there is a handful of recordings that exhibit glare, which I openly welcome. After all, I find Thiel Coaxials to be transparent and truthful to the music. It doesn’t mask or mitigate any shortcomings in the recording or other components in the system.

 

I recall there are some people who prefer matching Thiel 2.7 & 3.7 with amps to tame the glare, or i’d like to describe, "shooting lasers at you! pew pew pew". I think one of the "best" matching amps in those days were Classe.

 

On the other hand, I do not recall Tellurium Q Ultra Silver having silver conductors or traces of it... but then again we will never know because Geoff (Boss of Tellurium Q) did not reveal what is inside his cables.

@jafant 

Yeah, I am familiar with the Tellurium Q (TQ) Black series and Silver series, and now with Ultra Silver. For my next upgrade, I am looking at the Silver Diamond series.

 

While my CS2.7 pairs have the S/N of 101 & 102, with tiger ebony finishing.

@jafant 

 

Before the release/launch of the Statement series, Silver Diamond was the flagship top-of-the-line series. 

Am a very satisfied and happy owner of Benchmark's LA4 Preamp and two AHB2 in bridged mono mode, driving the Thiel CS2.7 !

 

This matching gave me the cleanliness, quietness, transparency, musical detail, and 'right speed' of the music I listen to.

I spotted a CS 3.7!

 

Did you spot it as well?

Hi fellow Thiel owners,

 

Finally, with a help of a very good and close friend (who is the previous owner of the Thiel CS 2.7), we managed to replace the previous pair of coaxial drivers with the newer pair of coaxial drivers from Rob, Coherent Source.

 

At this point of posting, I had them running in with my music playlist for about 8 hours continuously now and at approximately -6 dB from my usual listening volume.

 

I am happy to share with you all that these newer pairs of coaxial drivers sing more lively, more unveiling, transparent, yet almost laser-focused imaging in a 3-dimensional soundstage. I cannot wait to hear how it sounds after clocking in more hours on these.

I'm glad to hear it went well.  I have the 2.7s and a spare coax/bass/passive driver "just in case" that I purchased from Rob years ago.

But I'm curious:  Did you replace the coax because there was a problem with the old one?  Or is there some sort of "new" version of the coax drivers for the 2.7s?

 

Hi @prof , I replaced the coaxes because one side exhibited break-up mode on the tweeter. Much later, I realised the break-up mode also affected the mid-range cone (male vocalists sounded like their voices broke up and sounded grainy).

 

The "new" version or Rob's version uses a black-coloured basket instead of a silver-coloured one. I checked in with Rob to see if he did some tweak or improvement over the previous coax. After all, I hear significant improvements over the previous coaxes.

 

He answered, "No updates or improvements to the coaxes".

 

Even today, I am hearing improvements as I clock more hours on the coaxial. I am enjoying the running-in process thoroughly.

My apologies to interject at this point of the discussion.

 

More than 10 days ago, I was inspired by Tom and got curious about the Benchmark DAC3 B. So, I contacted my local dealer to arrange for a home audition for the DAC. I replaced my T+A DAC 8 DSD with Benchmark DAC3 B. Right now, my Thiel CS 2.7 are driven fully with Benchmark DAC 3 B, LA4 preamplifier, and AHB2 power amplifier mono pairs.

 

I played a few music tracks in my playlist. Track after track, my jaw dropped lower and lower and it hit the floor. The amount of musical detail retrieved with the DAC3 B is astonishing! Along with that, it feels like CS 2.7 is rejuvenated, energetic, and lively! I am rediscovering music, as well as renewing my vow for CS 2.7.

 

I am very happy with this setup and I cannot imagine upgrading or "side-grading" the components for the next two to five years.... unless maybe Benchmark releases a newer and improved product. I am a proud owner of Benchmark DAC3 B. I implore fellow Thiel speaker owners with Benchmark components to give it a try!

It is uncommon to hear that 3.6 is bass shy. At the same time, I do not doubt Classe, however, will not rule it out entirely.

 

This is what I would do if I encounter the same situation - first, check the physical conditions of every driver, woofers, and the surrounding rubber. Look out for some clues of deterioration or cracks. Next, monitor and observe the behaviour of the woofers, especially with a bassy music track. Look out for driver excursions. It should look tight and fast, with minimal or zero "lag". If all is looking just fine as "how it should be", next pair the 3.6 with another power amplifier, and again continue to monitor and observe the behaviour of the woofers.

Am not entirely sure if this owner is in this forum, but I share the same enthusiasm when I got my pair of Thiel speakers.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/y6xhn3/welp_i_pretty_much_modded_everything_i_can/

 

It also warms my heart to see that there are other Thiel speaker owners in this subreddit.

@jafant 

I've gotten the outriggers for the 2.7 from Rob previously. Just to avoid misunderstanding/confusion and to clarify further, do you mean there is also an original Thiel set of spike base/plate (some call it pucks, Sound Anchors call it conecoaster, Herbie's audio lab calls it cone/spike puckies) for the outriggers?!

In my experience, there was a difference which I could not ignore when my 2.7 had outriggers installed.

The soundstage was more expansive, taller, and deeper with layers to it. Imaging size and "shape" is more articulate. Overall, it is a tremendous wholesome improvement I hear and it gives a music reproduction... a lack of a better fitting description, "an anchor" or a strong sense of foundation to the music.

 

Regarding footers, I owned the GAIA 3 (or 2, I could not remember) footers previously, and it was installed with a bookshelf stand. Earlier in this forum thread, I came across a short report that GAIA took away some bass. This is true in my experience as well. However, it was a good trade-off. GAIA footers took away some "fat" in the bass, and in return, I hear more meat and bone. Bass was "cleaner", authoritative, deeper, and had plenty of rumbling articulation that fills the room it enveloped me. GAIA also gave a more thumpy mid-bass punch and a richer vocal reproduction. If you think your speakers are giving out some unwanted high-frequency sharpness or "shrillness", you may also consider GAIA footers to counter that effect. You'll end up with an almost silky smooth gentle roll-off top end, which adds to the musical "expression" for some instruments.

 

I have ever thought about getting the matching GAIAs with the 2.7, but I figured that the installation is not easy for a one-man operation. Hence, I tinkered with the idea of having spike plates/coasters/bases/pucks.

Am looking forward to hearing more aftermarket spike plates/coasters/bases/pucks recommendations from fellow owners here.