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!
I sold my CS3.7’s with the matching SS2 with appropriate crossover to a gentleman who loves them, but he has way high end power, like 80g’s stuff.
I then bought a pair of Pioneer S-1ex’s and added a Pass Labs INT-60 , with a Parasound JC5 to switch off once in awhile, and for half what I got for the Thiel’s. Not a regret. The mid’s On the so-called TADS are really great.
Hi Jafant, I would go so far as to say there's excellent audio components available from multiple continents and many countries. I find Thieliste's auditioning/assessments are very interesting and his wife's input is telling and insightful. Charles
So, I have the new to me CS5's set up (sort of) in my listening room. Still need to be positioned properly, but I've got to move some gear to make room:). Regardless, they already sound fantastic. I am already feeling better about the speakers I'll likely be selling to make room. There is one issue though. The top woofer (mass loaded) on one of the speakers makes a flapping (or maybe rubbing) sound at volume. The same driver on the other speaker is fine. The surround looks good, so I can only assume that the voice coil is rubbing? Does anyone know if the CS5 woofers tend to have issues with sagging voice coils or surrounds? I will probably send the driver off to Rob, but I'm wondering if this is something I should be concerned about with the other five woofers.
esprits4s - mass always tries to sag, and these speakers are about 30 years old. Before incurring expense, I suggest turning all 6 woofers top for bottom. The offending woofer might take some time to re-center in its gap, but it could fix itself.
Was someone's feelings hurt? It seems as though more posts have been deleted. If that's the way this thread is going to go, I'm not sure I can continue here with that type of censorship. We have already lost valuable contributors here for the same reason. I don't really want to split this up , but perhaps we might need to move this dialogue (!) to another thread where the discourse has greater freedom?
Have to gently disagree in part. That poster's message was , IMO, just plainly nasty - - as if a troll had written it, looking to start a fight. jafant does contribute, but in sentences rather than long and detailed paragraphs.
I happen to moderate a closed mailing list for over 400 of my college classmates. I'll guarantee you, if a message with similar tone had shown up, I'd have yanked it. Civil discourse has little use for the self-appointed righteous .
Wow , I must have missed something censorship ! trolls ! One of the best things about this tread is the intelligence of the conversations and advise ( not like power cords or outlet treads ).
I remembered a post about 40 pages ago where the conversation was about sitting / ear height , at the same time there has been some talk about the importance of convergence . Being newly retired and having a boring day I thought I'd try a little experiment , my 2.7 speakers have the 2.4SE spikes so they can penetrate the carpet . I stared with putting floor disc/savers under the rear spikes raising the rear about 1/2 inch , the sound was like a line from speaker to speaker, no height or depth and thin on bass. Removing the discs and raising the rear spikes about 1/4 inch the sound was now like an oval and still thin on bass , Next at 1/8 inch still an oval with a little more height and depth but like an oval the outside was thin , bass was still on the light side . With the spikes screwed into the speakers as tight as they could go the soundstage now was fully extending to the outside of the speakers , the height and depth from floor to ceiling and from front wall to the middle of the speakers . Point being even an 1/8th of an inch can make a large difference in the listening experience , plus I could do all of this for free , not like the tube rolling I've been doing with my phono pre-amp .
Rob - if boredom continues, find a pink noise source - equal energy per octave - and experiment with ear height at 8' to 10' from one speaker. Find the height where it just sounds right and deteriorates if you move up or down.
If your listening ear height is different, you can brush up on your trig and compensate the spikes. Have fun and let us know how it goes.
unsound- The Rules of Engagement have been expressed several times. Those that cannot comprehend will be excused from participation. Now, back to the discussions regarding Thiel Audio and associated electronics. Carry on.
Nothing missed, simply taking out the trash. Thank You for sharing your point of view on ear height and convergence. A few factors to consider is one's personal height and the floor clearance from furniture- standard vs. custom/over sized. Hoe you are well and ready for the Christmas, New Year festivities.
They are just that...his rules. Don’t seem to apply to him however. I just read this a couple of days ago on AA.
brayeagle...how is this for “self-appointed righteous”? This is the type of person ( OP ) leading this thread. Follow him if you want, sheep have to be lead by someone...
You’re entitled to you opinion regarding my post, but I’m no troll. Been here on Audiogon as long as most any of you have if not longer. Just that I don’t live on here 24/7 , no 10,000+ posts for me. I do kinda have a life, ya know.
IMO, this is a comment by real “trash”.... To make a comment like this regarding the late Bobby Palkovich tells me that you are a self-appointed judge regarding morality. No peace to a man that died, huh? You know all about what he was going through do you? You decide who is to receive peace or not? IMO, this is about as low as one can get. Karma’s a hell of a thing.....now go whine to the moderators and have my post deleted. You saw it, got called out for your lowlife comment.....and that was my intention.
Posted by fantja (A) on August 27, 2015 at 10:59:18
Jafant......just so there's no doubt, it is personal as I knew Bobby, spoke with him numerous times and owned his speakers. However, what you said shouldn't be said about anyone. ...And you have the audacity to go around here telling everyone "Happy Listening" and "Merry Christmas"....ya, a real christian kinda fellow. Just want people here to know who they're dealing with. Obviously, they can make up their own minds....
But I was doing this for shits and giggles , before the conversations turned to upgrading / rebuilding crossovers there was a lot of talk about sitting height and the value of time coherence as well as a lot of conversation about speaker toe-in , spikes or no spikes and placement .
I would like to thank you for stating that the 2.7s would benefit from upgrading components on the crossovers , my project for 2020 since my 2019 project will be upgrading components in my amplifier , capacitors can be expensive .
brayeagle Precisely. Flamers and Trolls are not welcomed here. There are plenty of other threads and Audio sites for such childish antics. I consider you an Elder statesman and valuable contributor. Hope you are well today and enjoying this special time of year with family and friends.
Tom and Beetle have been working diligently this year on the whole upgraded XO project that will no doubt benefit many of the owners here. I would be interested in learning more about your Amplifier upgrading project. Always great to have another DIY contributor here. I believe that makes 5 of you guys who can mod electronics and speakers.
Sam - my cap of choice is ClarityCap CSA with potential CMR bypasses. My resistor choice is Mills MRA-12 which is nearly best of form for reasonable cost. Our work is still in process.
Main benefits from upgrade include higher resolution, micro-dynamics and transparancy, which are already Thiel's strengths. I have not yet addressed the 2.7, so have no firm advice except that replacing all the sandcast resistors with MRAs will increase delicacy and refinement.
Edit: lol, Tom Thiel replied while I was typing all this
@samzx12 Tom Thiel is hoping to eventually address the 2.7 but it is the very newest design and he has it as lower priority after older models such as 2.4 and 3.6.
If you read thru this thread you can see his intentions. The sandcast wirewound resistors are replaced with Mills MRA-12. I did this in May, a very worthwhile and cost effective upgrade. Most importantly, it mitigated a glassy quality in the midrange and with added ease of presentation. But I also heard some improvements in microdynamics, “fullness” of sound, soundstaging, and, maybe, a bit more bass impact. I highly recommend this to all Thiel owners.
Tom has decided on Clarity CSAs for most caps. Clarity CMR might be a possibility for cost-no-object CS7.2 and 3.7 when/if he addresses them. @holco used Janzen to good result in his 2.4s (check his comments in this thread or the one regarding CS2.4 upgrades). I currently have CSA in one channel, bypassed with 1% Multicap RTX. I also replaced all of my coils which were OEM from FST-China. These were poorly wound. New coils are ERSE or Janzen, including a couple of foil types, and are clearly of higher quality construction.
I haven’t done any serious comparisons yet as things are still burning in (just did this Sunday). That said, my initial impression is improved resolution and microdynamics. For example, I’ve been startled a couple of times at the clarity and focus of vocal inflections from background singers. My goal was to have a near-SOTA speaker from the midbass up, for a fraction the cost of new. I think I have a good chance of getting that.
Jafant I believe I got caught up with the belief that I needed a bigger amp with more current. Having had more time to compare and measure, I realize that the Bryston 7bst in serial setting only gives me 4 or 5 extra dB compared to my 3bst with no difference in sound quality. As I never play anything louder than 90 dB, this 125 watt amp has no problem meeting the current demand with lots of headroom. I used a watt meter, and on standby it indicated that I use about 65 Watt and playing at 80dB, it registered 135 watt, more or less. The amp is rated at Max 675 watt. I'm planning to replace the 7bst with a higher quality amp of up to 30 watt, class A, tubes or SS. What would you recommend. Been looking at pass labs and luxman.
I'm planning to replace the 7bst with a higher quality amp of up to 30 watt, class A, tubes or SS. What would you recommend. Been looking at pass labs and luxman.
I have a pair of Cary Six Pac Monoblocks rated at 50W in triode mode, but they just cannot drive the CS2.4 effectively. They dynamic is clearly lacking and the music just does not have any life. If you are looking for tubes, I think you really need some really high power tubes.
I was wondering if you had to remove the xover boards from the cabinet then swapped out the components, or do you solder the components while the xover boards were inside the cabinets?
@andy2 Understand I am building completely new boards. When I finish, *everything* will be new from the terminal posts to the output wire to the drivers. Only the drivers and cabinet will be OEM.
That said, when I upgraded the resistors last May I took the boards out of the cabinet. I found that easier but another 2.4 owner replaced the coax caps with the boards in place. The PCBs are soldered from the bottom, so you at least need to unscrew the board from the cabinet even if you leave the input/output wires attached.
Andy - If you are replacing a few parts and they are accessible, you can snip the lead wires and twist your component leads to those stubs - and then solder.
Remember that if you are using lead solder to be very careful with smoke extraction - lead accumulates and causes brain and nerve damage. Thiel solder is 96-4 / silver-tin, but it is much harder to work than lead solder such as Cardas eutectic. You decide, but do be careful.
I hear that, it is easy to get caught up in an entanglement of Gear. I travelled in heavy rotation from 2011 to late 2015. Found and purchased by loudspeakers in early 2016 and have not travelled abroad since then. Good thing too as I had a few unexpected homeowners' financial obligations in 2017 and 2018. As much as I love Audio and Music, my home will always come first. That said 2019 is looking very promising - I have (3) Audio operations in Atlanta (Hifi Buys Atlanta, The Audio Company and Wolfsong Audio) are long overdue for a visit.
Now, to address your query; Yes, at 30W Class A operation, Accuphase, Luxman and Pass Labs are top-tier Audio companies. Contributor dhoff01 here endorses Accuphase power amp for his CS 3.7 loudspeakers. I have not had the aural pleasure of auditioning any of these manufacturers to date. I have found a Pass Labs dealer/retailer (finally) in central Florida that warrants a trip in Spring. Ayre is another hot contender that is enjoyed by a few Thiel owners. Hope this information has been helpful.
andy2 Good to see you again. I must say that you are the first owner of Cary power amps that I have seen mated w/ a Thiel speaker. Several owners out there are using and enjoying a Cary tubed pre-amp to excellent effect, highly regarded. Cary CD/SACD players as well.
beetlemaniaThank You for your dedication and hard work this year on the whole XO upgrade. I am looking forward to a prototype or finished product. Happy Holidays!
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