What to do with old Thiel CS-2s

Funny. Mine definitely didn't have it originally. And when it had been on for 15+ years it was a bear to remove and did damage. Oh well. Yes, not a problem unless one wanted to look at the drivers (not to play them, just to see the condition). The nominal load was indeed easy, but it fluctuated over the frequency range. At least mine did. More than many speakers I think. There was no question the B&K did better than the Krell at least for my pair. Go figure. The Krell was better with successor speakers, but not the CS-2s. At least to our ears - always sounded thin and underpowered relative to the B&K.

I agree with everyone - random off the shelf drivers seem like a bad idea. Probably will ditch or try this:

http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/retrofits

I guess I might just list them on craiglist and offer them as "yours if you come and haul them away". Would be a shame to just trash the cabinets. And oh, by the way, the tweeters are trashed too. I am pretty sure our movers crushed all the drivers. Not any other likely explanation. I just wish we had caught it at the time and I could have put in a claim. Part of the issue was I couldn't easily check them because the grilles were so hard to remove! Oh well.

Did you see the graph on the Stereophile link? That is one smooth, easy impedance load.

I did. I have no explanation. But mine didn't behave that way. I even tested them a bit once and they were not very even. And back in the day - late 80's, they had a reputation for being amp sensitive... Not sure how to reconcile all that. Oh well. they are gone anyway!

Actually on reading the entire review, despite the nominally flat impedance, the speakers sound like they are finicky and prone to interacting with other components. Moreover, he refers to the grilles being off in his earlier sample - I suspect they were of the same generation as mine (no sticky tape, so easier to remove). And I think I got mine in 1986-1987. So I bet I have an early CS-2, which is consistent with his description. I got mine from someone who worked at Goodwins who had had them for a year or two. So they might be very early in the production.

Given that I was forced to ship a 2.4 mid/tweeter driver back to Thiel for a full rebuild (rather than being able to purchase a new one), I highly doubt that they have any have anything for the 2s still sitting around.