Thiel 3.7

Cardas was the very worst cable I have used with my Ayre stuff. Try something else to discover what's there.

A local buddy uses Siltech G3 and G5's with good luck.

Are the 3.7s bright or piercing in the upper mids which I remember the Absolute Sound review mentioned?

The 3.7s seemed to much more highly regarded around here in the forums than the reviews (which I find interesting).

I also remember a Stereophile reviewer saying he very much preferred the Wilson Sophias (2s I think) to the 3.7s.

The 3.7s seem to fit my space & budget but aggressive highs are the kiss of death for me (with speakers or headphones).

(Yeah, I know I should find some place to hear them, so please don't flame me for that. I heard previous Thiels, 2.4s I think, and thought they sounded a little thin. But I have seen so much praise here for the 3.7s I am curious.)

Anthony Cordesman said this in his Nov. 2008 3.7 TAS review that was otherwise a rave:
"You will hear the hardness & excessive upper-octave energy that is actually present in far too many classical recordings of piano, flute, clarinet, violin. You will hear the bad moments on recordings of tenor and, particularly, soprano voice....Accuracy has its costs..."

Whenever I see the word "accuracy," I think it's a code word for fatiguing.

Thiel actually has this review on it's site (a tribute to their honesty, I guess).

Any comments? Are these the anti-Harbeth?

(note: above I said that Stereophile compared them to the Sophias, but I can't find that right now so I may be mistaken about that. Sorry. I will keep looking. A Stereophile review actually said the 3.7s had more "grace" than the Wilson WP8s -- by Wes Phillips posted Dec.15,2008)

Rgs92,

TAS, was knocking the recordings not directly knocking the speaker. But there is truth to the review. They are very reveling and can be fatiguing if your recordings are not up to pare. But and it is a big but, if the recording quality is there they are extremely hard to be for the money.

They are not bright in the upper mids and no more bright in the upper mids than the Sophia 3. They do not have the rich color mid of some other speakers. If you want a warmer mid look into Kef or Dynaudio. If you like a flat detailed sound you might like the Revel Studio 2 also.

If you did not like the CS2.4 you will most likely not like the 3.7 either. They share a house sound but the 3.7 is better in every way than the CS2.4

Here is another review from Tone Mag.

"All in all, this is one of the most enjoyable systems I’ve heard. The imaging and dynamics in particular were fantastic. There was no sense of any part of the system struggling to keep up and there was nothing fatiguing about the sound, it got my feet tapping with every track and made me feel good enough to want to start singing ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ and eating apple pie. If this is America the beautiful, I’m there like a bear"

http://thielaudio.com/THIEL_Site05/PDF_files/PDF_reviews/CS37/TONE_Mag_37Review0208.pdf