Thiel 3.5 equalizer advice

The Thiel 3.5 EQ works from 70 Hz down. The last I heard Thiel had some left at a cost of $600. IMHO, it's silly to have the 3.5's and not use the EQ. It even has different settings for 40 Hz and 20 Hz to adjust for smaller rooms.

The complaint that the reviewers had about the 3.5s was that the equalizer compromised the sound overall by robbing the speaker of naturalness in the mid and upper frequencies; they felt the speaker deserved a better equalizer. There were a number of companies, including JPS, that modified the equalizer to make it more transparent and more up to the level of the speaker otherwise. I used the equalizer with my CS3 and heard it in and out of the 3.5 at my dealer. Given that I like deep bass and listen to a lot of music with it, I was willing to accept the tradeoff, and I really didn't feel that the equalizer did as much harm as the reviewers might have led you to believe. I also felt that the equalizer made the speaker slightly more spacious sounding, even in the upper frequencies (perhaps that was upper frequency "hash" that the reviewers didn't like?).

The units are no longer available from Thiel. They will refurbish any units though. They have good deals on discontinued CS6 and replacement drivers for many units.My suggestion is to leave the speaker alone and get a mid priced shb and cross the sub at 60-80 hz

JPS made the Golden Flutes which was an upgraded replacement equalizer for the 3.5. These were a significant upgrade to the Thiel unit. They do occasionally come up on the used market. The theory is that as the bass naturally roles off at the lower frequencies, the equalizer boost the same frequencies in order to keep the response flat. Go to the Merlin website and read about the benefit of the Merlin BAM and you will get an idea of what to expect.

I still own a pair and use them in my home theatre as the front channels. I agree with Vernneal's suggestion to just supplement the low end with a sub. The midrange unit on the 3.5 goes quite low, and with it's first order crossover point, it can receive excessive bass especially with the eq in the circuit and set to 20hz. I blew a midrange unit years ago when the eq was in the circuit. Theil replaced the unit at no cost (thank you Theil). Since then, I use them without the eq and have not had a problem since. FYI, I also feel that the eq effects the sound in the mid/highs imparting a slight transistory flavor to the sound.