Thiel Owners

How long did you demo? Did you use CD/LP/SACD?

Thanks! for sharing- oblgny

can you describe the system, including cabling, in which your demo was conducted?  Happy Listening!

I was tortured by NY/NJ traffic to get to the place where the speakers were, but that's typical. 

Physically speaking they were as expected for their age with no deal-killer imperfections to be concerned about. We listened through an amp with a similar power rating to my current one, 300 watts per channel.  

The biggest difference I found was in the mids and highs which were different, not necessarily better nor inferior to my 3.5's.  No mistaking they were Thiel; if my 3.5's were ailing or unrepairable I would have scoffed them up immediately. I could not justify replacing my 3.5's for what I can at best describe as a nuanced or subtle improvement. The bass was equally good, albeit not as deep as my 3.5's - that would not have factored in whatsoever given the aforementioned scenario. They were beautiful sonically. 

I cannot help but feel a little bummed by the fact that Thiel is no longer what it was as I write this. Knowing there is a "guy" with his name on the equipment is a reassuring aspect of owning good stuff. Thiel is great stuff

^I can't help you with that.
 Yes, some of the Coda guys came from Threshold, and the some of the similarities are quite obvious.

unsound-

can you suggest a Coda dealer/retailer? I had read that these guys started up from Pass Labs/Threshold background.

I look forward to your review -oblgny

Oblgny, I'm confident that you would find that Coda amp very satisfactory with either Thiel.

Quite easy, Jafant

"Cyril Davies" - Ginger Baker, off of "Why?

S'all I need for any speaker. 

I wanted to take a moment and thank all of you guys on a thread, dedicated to Thiel Loudspeakers, well done!  Old or new, these are phenomenal speakers at any cost. I have learned much here and the enthusiasm keeps growing- Happy Listening!

Laughing...
decisions, decisions oblgny.  I for one, am very interested in your upcoming demo of the CS 2.4 speakers. Specifically, I am curious to read about your session and impression(s) compared to the 3.5s that you already own.

Take your fave tracks or LP/CD/SACD for  your demo. Pieces of music that you are intimately familiar, know upside and downside, to ease your experience. 

Keep me posted and Happy Listening!

The seller of the 2.4's I'm thinking about is going to allow an audition which I will probably be able to schedule this Friday. This will be the very first time I've been able to hear a Thiel before I buy!

The 3.5's are extremely difficult to best - I love 'em.  Then there's this Coda amp on here...

Interesting query- saffron_boots

I do not have an answer. Have you tried a google search?

jafant,

i know that Thiel crossed it over at 300 Hz and sloped it off accordingly to around 70 Hz. But i was really wondering about the physical capability of the driver.  i.e. If you were to create a mini monitor with it, alone, what could be the usable response as a "full range" driver?  

Tomic601,,,,I would advise to be careful of the tilt.  Floors are generally not level, and the difference accurate alignment is ...especially on phase correct speakers... is very noticeable.  Get a laser pen, put it on top of the left speaker, move it left/right to shine on the opposite wall.  Put a post-it on that wall, mark an X where the laser is.....do the other side and raise/lower one speaker to match the X on the wall. 

saffron_boots

I want to say that Stereophile reviewed and measured the CS 3.7 loudspeaker. I will try to decipher the exact issue #

I did not know about the changing of guards from John Wittman to
Thomas Malatesta though.

Thank You- dgarretson for the info. Yes, that is quite a few hands that have changed in a short period of time. Happy Listening!

Final note why I was sad to part w/ 3.5s.Had midrange " to die for "

Does anybody know what the theoretical frequency range capability is of the 3.7's coax?  Rob G. told me 3k, but I think he misunderstood my query, and just gave me the mechanical crossover point. i.e how low can it actually go?

Sounds like an interesting journey- nkonor.

Owned Theil 3.5s; never liked bass booster/ equalizer. Definitely more transparent w/o it. Straight ahead, 8-11' away, 200-300watts SS and they will sing! Kathy wrote me that warranty was at its end as she sent last midrange driver. Sold them; Went through ProAc, Wilson then ended with Avalon

Another thought;
do we want any other entity carrying on Jim/Kathy designs ?
I do not, as it would never be the same.

dgarretson-

whom owns the Thiel name now? Is the operation still based in Nashville TN ?

We know that for the legacy models, there is still a function in Kentucky.

^ 

yes it it is a sad state. 

Finally, after three changes of management at Thiel since Jim and Kathy, a review in this month’s Stereophile of Thiel’s new $7K TT1 flagship. Higher order crossovers, Chinese cabinet, Norwegian or Danish drivers. The design has no apparent connection to the legacy models save the nameplate.

I can see both pro & con to bottom-mounted speaker terminals.

Thanks! for sharing- saffron_boots

yes, going from the CS2 to a CS 2.4 is quite a jump in quality from the top octave to bottom octave.  Happy Listening!

^I prefer the bottom mounted cable terminals:-).

I was waiting to hear what unsound would say...  

For me, going from the CS2 to the CS2.4 was a no-brainer. There was enough bass extension and tightness to make the jump. 

The 3.5 (or 3.6) is tricker because of their aforementioned attributes.  I'm not convinced I'd hear the difference at the top end, so it'd come down to the aesthetics of the slimmer design, smaller footprint, and refined craftsmanship.  

Oh, and having the cable connections at the back, instead of the bottom!

Thanks! for sharing- unsound.

Oblgny, the 2.4's will be smoother, more refined in the upper midrange/treble, the 3.5's are more coherent throughout, have deeper bass and is much easier to drive.
http://www.stereophile.com/content/thiel-cs24-loudspeaker-measurements#koJxkckLClGEdits.97
Many, if not most would choose the 2.4's, I much prefer the sealed box 3.5's.

As a previous Thiel CS 2 2 owner and still a fan to this day, I agree with Jafant.  Good luck!

The bug strikes again, opportunity knocks?

There's a very nice looking pair of CS2.4's up for sale here by a good retail shop for $1995.  It's within striking distance of my home. Well, 70 miles or so...

Quiry:. Do I move up from my CS3.5's or...?

It's times like these, when you need to revisit Louis Rossman's rant on YouTube for some giggles. 

https://youtu.be/SkR5lAl22kk

Yes, Thiel is indeed gone - surprised they even kept the name.

Theil is over, they tossed out the lady who ran it with Jim and now it's just sad...

I've been following the new Thiel store on eBay for sh*ts and giggles and their most current offerings indicate the smarmy direction the new ownership has taken. 

The description on the new model is utterly void of any technical information, offering only bad marketing copy that resonates best in mass market publications or cheesey websites.  

*Sigh*

Can we get together a crowd-funded takeover attempt and preserve the legacy?  All Thiel owners MUST crank it up this weekend!

As we enter August and move towards the end of Summer, hope you guys are having a music-filled Thiel weekend.

Happy Listening!

Can we get more of your story- danvignau ?

If you own an older Thiel product (legacy) then Rob Gillum in Kentucky is your guy to contact.

I was always a Thiel fan until I tried to get help with a problem. I emailed them 20 or so times and never heard back. Now I have a piece that sits in a closet with equally dead AV receivers. 

Jafant...

Music Wave on the speakers, Link on the connects.  Cheap seats to start!

Very nice. Which models of Transparent are you currently using?
Happy Listening!

jafant...

I believe I have the Veracity speaker cables from Goertz which I ordered directly from them over the phone.  Again,  I start at the beginning and go up the food chains from there.

I had bananas on both ends which were a nice tight fit on the 3.5's - some of the other brands I've used tended to fall out of the connects on the speakers which I find is more a design flaw in their placement than it is the cables fault.  (Remember,  the speaker connects are on the bottom of the cabinets and one has to go through that small tunnel to make the connection.)
I know later models up the line have the speaker connects on the back of the cabinet which IMHO is a far better placement.

The Veracity line is about as wide as a piece of standard masking tape and as thin as anything I've thus far used.  They require a little more effort in running them so as not to bend them drastically,  other than that it's as simple as any other.

As Thiel owners know in advance,  Thiels reveal.  EVERYTHING in the chain.  The Goertz let everything through favoring the mids and highs,  but the highs were never harsh.  In fact, the upper end sonics is what I find most appealing about Thiel in general.  Writing this,  I am tempted to return the Goertz cables just to see if what I thought holds water after switching them out.  

The only thing I've heard, and through my guys at Audio Den,  is that some people have suffered damaging their speakers due to current overload?  Or something?  I'll re-ask the question to them later this week when I'm in the store - they've expanded their LP "department" so I've been going there more often.  The only cables I have not switched over to Transparent are the cables on my Marantz T-15 turnable which are hardwired into the unit.
As I've said before my vinyl sounds fantastic on my current setup.  I may switch out the Primare R32 phono preamp with a MF unit, one of those small phono preamps that I've had laying around forever,  just to see if it's the Primare's impact.  While my CD and server components sound good,  the vinyl trumps them indeed.  Just...better.

I would like to read your impressions about Goertz cabling- oblgny.

I've used Anti-Cables too but their stiffness creates issues of their own which are more esthetic than sonic.  I think the most dramatic or at least discernible immediate differences I experienced were with the Goertz cables and the Transparent. I still have both brands on hand but it's only the Transparent that I have 100% throughout with; if I'm going to fairly compare results  I'll start with the Goertz. 

Sometime.  

I've not heard the CS5's but a pair pops up on the site every once in a while for about $3k which is just a stupid good deal. Unfortunately they're on the other side of the country.  Typically Thiel sales require local pickup because of their weight, so opportunity rarely presents itself perfectly.  Sigh. 

Of course they would require more power than I currently have but that ain't stopped me before from purchasing anything. I can always drag out my Pioneer SX1050 receiver as a stop gap while I search.  

And I have listened to it through the Thiels before. My, how we suffer here sometimes!