I just scored a sweet pair of CS 2.4SE loudspeakers. Anyone else currently or previously owned this model? Owners of the CS 2.4 or CS 2.7 are free to chime in as well. Thiel are excellent w/ both tubed or solid-state gear!
Here you go, Janfant. It was a long weekend so I took pictures and posted my system. It's not much compared to what most contributors have built but I'm ok with it. I also did a panoramic shot with my iPhone to give everyone an idea how large the living area is that I'm trying to fill.
Tough to tell from those photos, but seem good condition and price. I could really use another MCS1, but do not purchase from Craigslist. If you are thinking of purchasing the package, i would be interested in the MCS1 after checking photos... :)
We hew had a great day of music listening. Attended the Dallas Symphony for a great Beethoven's 8th and a Straus Horn concerto featuring our first horn as soloist before leaving to assume first horn of the Berlin Philharmonic. When we arrived home, CDs 5 and 6 were still playing on the McIntosh 7008, Duke Ellington at the Newport Jazz Festival. My wife remarked that Ellington's music was so sweet, it was like listening to Aaron Neville; kind of makes you want to smile or cry. I reminded her that I had told her of reviews (albeit for the 5 series, not the 2.4s) that said Thiels could make you cry. After the second Ellington CD, it switched to the single slot in which I had placed Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here". Certainly an eclectic mix, but my wife, after making the astute analogy of wonderful jazz and sweet voices made the remark that the Thiels make our whole music collection sound almost like being at a live performance, enhancing any kind of good music. Janfant's "Happy Listening" remark made me feel I should share that we were doing just that. It's not just any speakers that will thrill you after coming home from a world class performance in as great a concert hall as we have here in the Meyerson.
Dave i also bought mine 1 year old used. I have been told it is as good as the HD25 so not worth spending more. Hegel is really a surprising brand. Did you get a Tidal yearly membership ? Let me know when you start using Tidal how it goes.
REL makes the best sub in the business. Very easy to integrate this product into any existing system. The older models cannot be beat (no pun) for their performance. Happy Listening!
you have a large listening space. I would love to see it and listen w/ you next time I travel through Dallas. Now, I can understand how you would feel about some kind of deficiency in the lower registers.
Yes, my pxo2 shares the sub 38 hz signal with the S1. It wasn't until I started to expand my listening of 50s and 60s jazz that I felt I wanted to be sure I was getting the full timbre of the bass ryrhm. It's not like listening to Yes where a little more or less of Chris Squire's not-so-subtle thunks aren't going to make a difference. ive just read quite a bit about crossovers that relieve the mains of the effort of providing the bass making them seem even fuller in the midrange and highs; makes me wonder if the sweet saxophone sounds could become deliriously fine. I love the speakers and would have to have a pair of 6s, 7s, or a point 7 come available in Dallas to make me change. They're powered by a White Oak modified Phase Linear 700 that puts out close to 500 wpc and it must not even be sweating because its heat sinks never warm to 78 degrees or a cooling fan I installed would come on. Our living room is about 20 x 40 if you count the fact the whole downstairs is open with a cathedral ceiling to the open hallway upstairs. The room could handle the biggest Thiels if I could afford them, but retirement is months away and there are other priorities. BTW, I got a call from a salesman (Steve Levin, I think) asking if I was interested in buying the second pairs of NOS 2.7s they sold on EBay because the bases weren't perfect. Rob strongly recommended buying then, saying the coaxial driver was Jim Thiels best and the px02 would be matched for them, too. At $2700 free shipping I was a fool to pass, but I ran an ad for a week online and Craigslist to sell mine and didn't want to risk angering my wife who has been amused with my obsession. As I posted earlier, my system is modest, centered around my old Bang & Olufsen 8002 turntable which I had rebuilt with the help of a kind B&O fanatic in Denmark. im not very good at short answers but 1) I don't find the 2.4s lacking in bass. I just want to get the most possible out of them, staying all Thiel if I can. 2) Rob feels the point 7 series are major improvements over their predecessors, at least in the 2 series.
I can see how the Thiel Smartsub could be added for the sake of "adding a sub." My understanding is that JT built the sub to accompany the SC4 monitor system.
interesting query. I would like to see pics of your system. Are you listed here in Virtual Systems? I did not find the CS 2.4 nor my sweet CS 2.4SE speakers to lack Bass. In fact, upon 1st listening, it was the articulate, natural, timbre of the Bass in recordings that struck me like lightning.
I am a big Jazz Hound as well. I love hearing an upright Bass/Double Bass in all of its inherent glory.
Asking a little advice, if anyone has had the experience. As mentioned earlier, I'm playing 2.4s purchased from Mike (who had the bad shipping experience mentioned earlier with his "new SC6s") and using a Thiel px02 set up by Rob Gilliam to run a Thiel SS1 sub. I purchased the sub after the 2.4s because I sensed I wasn't getting the full bass on old jazz classics. The sub is set to auto-run and often doesn't kick in at our usual listening levels. I'll probably call and ask this of Rob, but does anyone have a sense of what difference going to the SI-1 active crossover (or even maybe a JL CR1 might make in opening up the upper range of the mains by taking the bass load off? I know they seldom come available and wonder if many were sold. Some lucky guy got one on eBay last fall for $250 because the seller didn't know what he had.
you guys really know much about JT older models. I know he his proud that his designs are still being enjoyed by all of us in 2017. There are not many that can make this kind of claim. Sometimes, if we are lucky, a product comes along that gives us listening pleasure for decades.
Hi, guys - just wanted to note that differences in closed box, ported and passive radiator design are mostly back pressure on the woofer and compliance of the air inside the box. As the woofer vibrates to create sound from electrical charge of voice coil it has the compliance of air inside the box resisting it. A ported box has less resistance, so sort of flops around and hard to control. A passive radiator design is not so "loose" since you have the suspension of the passive radiator adding to compliance of air and should be more articulate than the ported design. The closed box is best for control however... I think someone mentioned earlier that they didn't understand why Jim Thiel used the passive set up instead of closed box (With the exception of his subwoofers) and it seems to me he was trying to minimize the size of the cabinet and achieve a deep, well defined bass for the size. Sorry if I am reiterating something everyone here already knows....
Jafant, I'm not sure what you mean by "depth", but if you are referring to extended bass response, well sort of, but not really. The passive radiator for the most part reduced noise from the port. The port is what extends bass, but not without it's own issues.
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