ronkent,
"I'm your huckleberry and listening to the Thiel's is just my game". I PM you sir and I'd be honored to be invited.
I knew ig316b would stir up meaningful discussion regarding subs.
What Tom and Unsound mentioned about that no subs, regardless of how good, can match the big Thiel's time coherence.You sure can have fun getting close though. The big Thiel's are harder to integrate into a room, most rooms they are placed in are undersized, and the amplification is $$$. Subs are much cheaper than amps to drive the CS5i.
However, that sealed bottom end is something special. It's in real time (like live music) whereas listening to a ported/passive radiator Thiel seems like your waiting at the bass stop for it to arrive in comparison. You would only become aware of this extreme if you listened to both.
Tom and I are going to conduct separate listening test with the CS 7.2 notch filter.
This critical test passes onto other models so excited to implement this filter Tom designed.
When Tom advises I go outboard with the CS 7.2 crossover to expedite testing you know change is a coming.