JA - Let’s call off the hunt for additional 02s. I have 4 pair which are serving my purposes well. As an update, I have used them as a baseline to directly compare ’normal’ vs ’phase coherent’ as well as additional approaches and solutions. The 02 has both positive-polarity drivers with the woofer following the tweeter output by a nicely timed single cycle. This is where Wilson and most others landed after experimenting with British style reversed polarities. The 02 had hand-wound coils and entry level xo components from which I mapped the upgrade territory. For the ongoing laminar wavelaunch development with Doug Pauly, we settled on fairly radically modded 02s with the woofers on a standoff and tweeters behind a wave-guide, and first order slopes. The drivers and XOs were changed to CS.5s which are better in every way than the original 02s. The cabinets have been braced via various methods, teaching effective solutions going forward.
In short, the 02s have served as a learning lab and launch pad from which we have graduated to the SCS4s which incorporate most of Jim’s late career advancements, and are now carrying the development load and teaching additional lessons in an economical, compact and more sophisticated package.
From my personal perspective, coherence lifts veils that allow my work to move forward. So, let’s consider the 02 as a lovely historical starting-point for Thiel’s journey. A pair provides daily music in my living room.