@jafant
I thought you already had a Twenty version?
I thought you already had a Twenty version?
Thiel Owners
Guys-
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!
Keep me posted & Happy Listening!
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!
Keep me posted & Happy Listening!
13,684 responses Add your response
beetlemania Good to see you, as always. I really must hear your upgraded 2.4s sometime for a sonic comparison. In the Spring, I will send my AX-5 to AYRE for the full Twenty Series upgrade. I believe the previous AX-5/20 was a 2017 model. It is going to be interesting to compare mine against the previous Amp auditioned. Happy Listening! |
I have bragged about those yellow caps as state of the art, and they were in their dayOh, no! Time to remove the radiator again? Lol I do occasionally wonder about different bypass caps on the CSA coax feeds. We went with Multicaps but, in hindsight, I’m curious to hear something like the Audyn True Copper Max or Jupiter. Likewise, wonder how the Path Audio resistors better the Mills MRAs, if at all. Then again, that was a lot of work to make one change in one channel, wait for it to burn in, and carefully compare in mono. Maybe I’ll just listen to music and be happy rather than compulsive? :) With the 3.7, I wonder if Rob Gillum’s experience is related to those massive ELs which cannot practically be upgraded due to size and cost. But, yeah, the Mills seems like low hanging fruit that is likely to make a nice sonic upgrade and for not much money. |
Ayre power amps are also a great match with Thiel100 My AX-5 Twenty and CS2.4s are singing. Years ago I ran a pair of CS1.6 with the AX-7. Also nice other than I yearned for more bass. And my only experience with the CS7.2 was paired with, I think, the V-1. That system was just short of the very best I’ve heard. |
Tmsrdg - I can add a general perspective comment. The level and extent of exploration and custom development that went into passive components at Thiel was considerable. Many folks may consider Thiel's choices as strictly budget driven, but scores of hours were spent on each product to optimize and match the components both for sound and for cost balance. The biggest exception might be the resistors. Swapping in Mills MRA12s costs very little and has produced noticeable improvement in the several builds we've done recently. I have no direct experience with the 3.7, I'm merely extrapolating from general experience. |
I had a discussion with Rob G. several weeks ago about replacing caps in my 3.7s. He basically said don't bother, it won't be worth the effort. He sent me a couple pictures of designs he has tried with the 3.7 and maintained the sonic improvement was minimal compared to cost. If anyone else here has modded the 3.7, it would be nice to chime in at this point! |
Myself and others have applied an opposite or different method to the mounting of crossovers internal to the cabinet.. We do secure the individual components to the board using rope caulk or other soft adhesives as well as zip ties. Instead of slowing down and storing some of the vibration inside we direct couple the slowed and misdirected energy to the floor or wall of the cabinet. I use small brass Audiopoints and the brass coupling discs. The board rests on these devices and the board can be secured with brass screws to the cabinet base. We have an extended method that allows for resonance tuning from outside the cabinet. This method while more invasive the improvement can clearly be heard by using a hex tool..To provide a continuum of thoughts on this mechanical conduit we set the speakers on our Audiopoints or our Sistrum Platforms and speaker stands. We use the same materials and geometry to maintain the capture and redirect direct the exit speed of resonance to the largest mechanical ground plane..the floor. There is also a similar method that can be applied to bass and midrange drivers which also allows for resonance tuning outside the box. Tom |
Thoft - I've been messing with the 3.6s for the past few months. I consider their stock components highly optimized and am therefore investigating other upgrades in priority over component upgrades. That said, there are ongoing DIY upgrades happening behind the curtain on this forum - perhaps someone might comment. I can recommend the fruits of our research, which lands on replacing series feed caps with ClarityCap CSAs in the highest voltage you can fit or afford. Swap resistors to Mills MRA-12s, especially in feed stations. As background, I have bragged about those yellow caps as state of the art, and they were in their day - tin foil on styrene film, they measure and sound quite good. However CC's CSA invention replaces the normal zinc spluttered end caps with a copper-containing matrix, and updates the geometry to wider and shorter, for a significant performance upgrade. BTW, I've compared the CSAs and CMRs to many of the sexy caps out there, and I believe the CCs are as good as it gets in terms of truth and accuracy, especially at their affordable prices. Another nearly free upgrade you can DIY is to re-mount the crossover panels on rubber standoffs to reduce vibration in the crossovers. |
Is there a recap kit available for the 3.6? Also my thiels aren’t bright like many keep saying the 3.6’s are. Very smooth. Yes the tweeter works I tested that with my hearing aids. Anyways my amp search may be pushed back yet again due to my car having exposed metal on the rocker panel that I only noticed after I took it to a car wash. (Dried Salt spray and bare metal/primer hide each other well). So more time to look for amps. Still trying to find out what the adcom has. 60+ amperes and more than 300 watts is the recommendation right? I wish there weren’t so many possibilities. More than a few people on Facebook are recommending class d amps. Will those have the power to drive thiels current wise and headroom wise? Trying to stick to class a/b personally |
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Hey Jafant, good to "be back"! ;-) Aside from the Thiel speakers which I hope will one day be restored to their full glory, I have an old Kenwood amp from my father, which must be about as old as the Thiels. At some point I'd like to get more into DIY electronics and try my luck at making my own amplifier using some valve tubes, but I think I've still got a long way to go until then! During the lockdown I've actually gotten into building my own (mobile) 12v sound system - geared more towards bass-heavy music i.e. dub, roots, jungle - which has been quite a nice experience and learning curve. I began with a 12v AGM battery and 1200w Pioneer amp, and then built a "Cubo 15" and some custom enclosures for 2x 8" mids and 2x 1" tweeters in a mono stack. I've since crafted some separate (and nicer looking) horns for the tweeters and some "mini-scoops" for the mids - now stereo - for home and studio use, until I can take the system for a ride in warmer weather. |
Hey all, hope you're well as can be expected! I posted in September 2019 about a pair of CS 1.2's I received, with one of the tweeters not working at all. Well it took me this long to get around to doing something about it, but I finally received a (new) replacement diaphragm / voice coil from SEAS, but I still can't get it to work. I already switched the tweeters back and forth when I first got them and the functioning one works on both speakers, so I think it's safe to assume the issue must be something with that defective tweeter, correct? I've just measured the impedance on both tweeters (removed from the circuit, with the magnets detached. The functioning one reads between 4 and 5 ohm, and the new one doesn't register anything. When using the multimeter's current detection function (or whatever it's called; the one which emits a beep-tone when a circuit is closed), I don't get any signal on the new diaphragm, whereas I do when I measure on the positive and negative terminals of the old (functioning) one. Does this probably mean the new diaphragm (which I spent months waiting for) is defective? I can't detect any breaks in the wires leading to the voice coil, but also don't get any signal-beeps when I hold the multimeter to these wires. What do y'all think? |
The GFA 5802 is a highly regarded Adcom amp. I owned one at one point (prior to my Thiels though), and it drove a pair of Aerial Acoustic 10T’s nicely. However, I understood that it would be very difficult to repair if any issues arose with the output hexfets (NLA?). I ended up selling mine partially because of this concern, but I don't know how valid of a concern it was. FWIW, I am running Levinson 436’s (CS5) and Aragon Palladiums (CS7.2) currently. I have thought about buying one of the big Krells to compare, but haven’t pulled the trigger. |
Hello Jafant, On 1-27 you asked about products from Starsound. With a host of new people, the Company name will change along with the current product roster. The new company is scheduled to go online shortly and will feature Audio Points™ that were introduced thirty-two years ago, Rhythm Platforms™ and Energy Rooms™. Two new lines of equipment racking systems will be featured titled Rhythm Junior Platforms - a more affordable version of the multiple Award-Winning Rhythm Platforms and Timbre Platforms™ which is our initial venture into the world of wood shelving now infused with Live-Vibe Technology™. We will be back in the compact monitor stand business and are currently prototyping new products based on the Energy Room mechanical grounding methodologies designed to compete with the current oversized acoustic panels, pillows and bass trap products. In the musical instrument industry, we remain active and plan to expand the cello end pins while prototyping mechanical grounding products for the violin of which I am nearing completion. Tom Audiogon member Dale Humphrey has his Virtual System on display on these pages. Dale is located outside of Madison and if you would like to hear the Energy Room which is hidden behind the drywall.. drop him a PM..Dale is a member of our corporate group. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8168 As for amps most of the Krell amps that are class A/B will operate fine with a 15 amp circuit. The best Adcom amp is the GFA 5802 and Nelson Pass did have design input on this piece as he also had input on GFP 750 and the GCD 750..these pieces stand up very well even today. The Ayre power amps are also a great match with Thiel. Never a dealer for Ayre. I worked for 2 dealers in the past and we sold Krell, Adcom and Forte as well as Thiel. The Forte seemed gassed easily.. The big Krells and that Adcom 5802 were excellent. Tom |
FYI there is a smorgasbord of vintage thiels for sale on the SF Bay Area Craigslist. 3.6’s for $850 that look good 2) 2.2’s one for $250 w/ the probable blown woofer one for $395 1 or 2 3.5s in questionable shape 3 or more! .5s and a 1.5 I was thinking of grabbing that $250 2.2 but don’t need another project or pair when I really think about it. |
tomthiel Thank You for more Thiel Audio history. I hope that you are well and enjoying upgrade projects via Hot Rod Garage. It would be interesting in hearing a comparison between Nelson's original GFA 555 vs the current replacement model. Back then, Adcom made a 565 mono block Amp as well. Happy Listening! |
I can contribute a bit of Thiel historical perspective. Among all the good, great and worthy amps out there, Thiel gravitated toward a few brands, who also gravitated toward Thiel speakers for mutual product development. This thought is up to 1995 when I lost touch. Those amps of choice included Krell, Mark Levinson, Bryston and Conrad Johnson (and early Classe & Threshold). Part of what manufacturers need is political affinity: sharing dealers, design philosophy, potential mutual customers, and so forth. But they also need performance-compatible products that make each other sing. There are undoubtedly other good matches out there, I'm just sharing where Thiel as a company, that is Jim Thiel as a designer, felt most at home. |
To re-iterate a tiny bit of anecdotal amp data on Thiels. I’m still having fun going back and forth between a loaned Bryston 4B3 and my CJ monoblock tube amps (140W side) on my Thiel 2.7s. Anyone who thinks Thiels need gobs of SS power should hear this set up. Even compared to the Bryston, 140w of tubes sounds absolutely balls-to-the-wall energetic, punchy and dynamic. The Bryston provides a tiny bit more grip on the sound, but the bass is by no means "loose" with the CJ and it sounds at least as punchy, probably even more so. With the CJ the sound seems more "live" IMO. |
https://www.arcdb.ws/model/D110 I mean look at the capacitor bank like holy crap |