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Thiel 1.6 vs 3.6 in Small(ish) Room

First off, here is a link to my system for anyone curious:

The Hologram Generator
https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/5728

The basics:
Thiel 1.6
McCormack DNA-1
McCormack ALD-1

I have a small room, only 10’x12’, and came into the system you see above, but with different speakers. I already owned the Thiel 1.6, and this system came with the Thiel 3.6 speakers. My listening room is upstairs where the 1.6’s already were, and the 3.6’s are downstairs and weight 107 pounds apiece. Thus, they haven’t made it up into the listening room to try out yet, and I’m not sure if speakers this large and tall would even work in that size of a room.

So here is my question: if you were in my situation, and you were going to keep one set of Thiels and sell the other, which ones would you keep, and why?
128x128heyitsmedusty
unsound
7,310 posts
 
Neither. While I generally prefer floorstanders to monitors with stands, in such a small room, I think the smaller Thiels with Thiel's own concentric drivers ( like the MCS ) might work better.
jafant
18,801 posts
 

Dusty-


another vote for neither. Big fan of Thiel speakers here. Most models need room to breathe (no pun). A smaller model like the 1.6 will do well in a small space, while, a larger model (more drivers) like the 3.6 will do better in a larger space. If you feel the 1.6 is a little lean in the Bass, you could always add a small subwoofer (REL or Sunfire).

Keep me posted & Happy Listening!


Sidenote: I just scored a sweet pair of CS 2.4SE and my space is 16x12x14 (w/d/h).

heyitsmedusty's avatar
heyitsmedusty OP
227 posts
 
I currently have the 1.6 in there, and it actually sounds really good. But I'm getting the impression that the 3.6 wouldn't work in there at all. Might not be worth lugging those beasts upstairs just to be disappointed. 

The bass response I'm getting is surprisingly deep and tight. That "punch" you can feel in your chest is there. I believe it helps that I have them loaded in the corner, and my listening position is in the other corner.

So far, I have two votes to just get rid of the speakers and try something different. But when you're talking about a cumulative 350 pounds of speakers, it's no small feat to sell and ship them. 

Anyone else?
geh7's avatar
geh7
29 posts
 
I have owned 1.6's and I now own 2.7's. Both are great, depending on the room, but the 2.7's were a real step up, especially on the bass. 

My guess is the 3.6's are a little much for your room, but what if we are wrong?  I would not be able to resist trying both in your listening room. How often does one get a chance to do that? It sounds like there is no money issue; just the pain of the move. Some people get to roll tubes; you can roll Thiels.

samac's avatar
samac
492 posts
 
I bet the 1.6's do sound great in your room with the diagonal set-up you are using.

I'm with geh7. Give the 3.6's a shot. If you generally don't play at very loud volumes the 3.6's might do very well in there as long as your seating position is an appropriate distance from the speakers.

Cheer,

Scott
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