Solving the THIEL CS 5i's - vs- CS 7.2 Debate


Well I have been a huge THIEL fan for years. I have owned the CS 7.2's for 4 plus years and the CS 5i's for 3 years. In that time I have been begging for the correct room / source / amplification setup to host an ultimate drag out and shoot out. The stars aligned post new year and I had the extra help to move these monsters around and begin the process to initiate a formal showdown of these extraordinary components and literal masterpieces of speaker construction and design.

To address the weary on what I leveraged to orchestrate this debate, the amplification stage was handled by twin KRELL FPB 650m's, piped through the KRELL KCT, AudioQuest interconnects and woeful Denon CD section. All other things being equal the downside on the CD and speaker cabling should balance the field between the two.

I ran a battery of CD,s and moved the speakers forward and backward, toe in and straight up and I now have what is my ultimate conclusion. At this point I am looking for supporting evidence from the community or welcome an additional party to sit and listen to the setup.

At some point in this thread I can discuss the nuances between the two speakers, however, I will come out and say that the CS 7.2's are pure illustrated magic and profoundly demonstrated a by far greater representation of what I would expect from the original source.

At the end of the day they were the better sounding speakers to my ears in that room, given this setup.

Were the CS 5i's able to bring tears to my eyes? = yes.

Did the CS 7.2's do a better job of handling the soundstage? = yes

I would love to hear feedback if folks have any regarding a direct speaker to speaker comparison.

I will also state that by themselves the CS 5i's sound brilliant.

Thank you,
David
davidstingray
David,
Thanks for the info. What final spacing (tweeter to tweeter) did you end up with for each pair of speakers? Also what distance from the center of the plane that runs between your left and right speaker drivers to your seating position did you end up with for each pair of speakers?
Good to read- David,

like cadence151, I am curious about the measurements as well.
THIEL CS 7.2's are 112 inches apart, center to tweeter.

Distance from center to seat is 144 if I am reading this correctly.


Very nice to read this thread. I now own 7.2 and 2_2 and enjoy 7.2 very much. But i am still very curious about how 3.7 compares with 7.2. Any one has an idea?
Also, I am still looking for ml 20.6 to pair with cs 7.2. However, only 20.5 is available so far. Would it be much different?
Welcome! wayneuncle-

join us in the "Thiel Owners " thread.

Happy Listening!