Thiel CS 3.6 mid-range problem

Al, thanks very much for your advice. No, I haven't but I will start now! Question: should I power off the amp and then wait at least a minute before powering off the upstream components? Glenn

Hi Glenn,

Yes, I would strongly recommend doing that. The one minute figure, though, was just a guess based on my experience with other high powered solid state amps. I suppose that a good way of determining how much time to allow would be to play some music at a VERY low volume level, then turn off the amp and see how long the music continues to play for. It would probably be a good idea to make that determination for going into standby mode as well as for going into "off" mode.

What makes all of this particularly important with your equipment is that your amp is capable of delivering enormous amounts of power (in the vicinity of 1000 watts) into the 2.5 to 3 ohm impedance the speakers have throughout the mid-range region. So even a very brief turn-off transient from the upstream components, applied to the input of the amp while it is still powered up internally, could very conceivably put your speakers in jeopardy.

Best regards,
-- Al

Al,

Once again, I appreciate your interest and advice. You're obviously an expert. In this case, the black wire connecting to the mid-range is the problem. When I removed the mid-range, I observed that the "black connector" on the back of the driver had about 1/4 inch of copper wire still soldered to it. The black rubber-coated copper wire leading from the speaker cabinet to the mid-range was intact, but was detached from the 1/4 inch wire attached to the driver. Inotherwords, I wonder if too much power (or something else) could overheat a wire causing it to split in two. Sounds far-fetched, but I don't know what would make that happen. Thank you again for sharing your knowledge! Glenn

I am interested in a used set of Thiel CS 3.6's and I was talking to the lady at Theil today (Dawn) and she warned that the midranges on these speakers are susceptible to blow if you try to use them with high powered home theater use. You aren't trying to recreate movie sound effects with these speakers are you?You can contact the company and they can either re-build the midranges or they may be able to sell you a replacement driver.

Thanks very much. No, I don't use them with a home theater system, but I do have an audio system with a Levinson amplifier that is 350 watts per channel, fairly powerful.

After further investigation, it turns out that the mid-range driver is actually just fine, but the tweeter is blown. That has only happened once before in the 10 or so years I have owned them. Problem is, Thiel has no tweeters on hand, so they are having a batch made. However, Thiel won't receive them until end of February, 2011. If you like your music like I do (I'm sure you do!), that's an eternity. But, I don't have an option except to wait.

BTW, I am considering purchasing a pair of 7.2's. If I do that, would you have any interest in purchasing my 3.6's? I am the original owner. They are birdseye maple. The cabinets and grille cloths have no scratches or imperfections, but the black bases (which cannot be seen except on extremely close observation) have some dings and imperfections. I live in Louisville, only an hour from Thiel headquarters in Lexington, and could have Thiel refurbish them to like-new condition and avoid shipping charges. Glenn