Thiel 1.5 vs. 2.3

I've heard both the 1.5s and the 2.3s. I owned the 2.3s for about 7 months. Both are great speakers, but the 2.3s are definately an upgrade. The 1.5s are very lively and very space concious (i.e. a small footprint) The 2.3s were much more dynamic however, and presented a bigger soundstage. What does the rest of your system look like?

The 3.6s are also a wonderful speaker, though an older model. You can get a used pair of them for the same price as the 2.3s - probably around $1800.

I owned the 1.5's for about a year. I really liked them in a small room with an integrated 100-watt amp and some decent MIT cabling.

After I sold the 1.5's I picked up a demo pair of 3.6ers. These babies rocked the house, but 100 watts just didn't cut it any more, so I upgraded to separates with a Classe Ca301 (That’s 300 into 8 ohms) powering the system.

I then tweaked all the cabling to balanced Mit 330's with 750-shotgun speaker cable. This did a nice job of taking the bite out. I'm currently tweaking the cabling up one more notch to MIT 770 twin speaker cables with 350 twin reference interconnects.

Thiels with MIT cabling are a match made in heaven. Especially if you’re running all solid state.

I've owned the 2.3's and auditioned the 1.5's in my house. I went for the 2.3's in a heartbeat: More natural and dynamic and a heftier bottom. They do sound better with a beefier amp (I moved from the Bryston 3B-ST to the 4B-ST and loved the improved imaging and ease). I absolutely agree with the MIT cable assessment shared by Glen.

At the end, it's all up to your acoustics, your ear, your budget and your significant other acceptance factor. I like more powerful base so moved up to the CS-6's but I'm sure the 3.6's that Glen suggests would also provide you more in that department (though the 2.3's are no slouches).

Thiel's demand increasingly more power as you move up (I ended up with Bryston 7B-ST's with the 6's). Given a choice between 1.5's and 2.3's, I'd go with the latter even if you can't swing more power right away (you may already have enough), since you can always move up in amps later and they sound better with any amp power level capable of driving the 1.5's. Good luck.

Hello I owned the Thiel 1.2, 2.2 and 2.3s. All are very good speakers, excellent build quality, but the 2.2s sounded the best with the 2.3s close behind. The problem with the 2.3s is they need quality power and they tend to sound extremely bright to the point that they do not sound very natural and fatiging. I tweaked all I could within reason, Krell, BAT, PASS amps, various tube preamps, MIT cables etc, endless placements, all helped but in the end they wore me out and I sold them in favor of Audio Physic Virgos. They just sound better. If you are insistant on the Thiel route the 2.2s and 3.6s are not quite as bright, if you go with the 2.3s make sure you give them a good long addition on your oun or similar equipment and that they are the sound you seek.