Thiel Owners

Jafant

Thank you for the tips, very much appreciated! I follow Holt Hill although they’re located clear across the country - love their website and presentation. Their pair of CS5 was local pickup only, however.

The pair in Las Vegas is a DIY project that has had its crossovers modified to allow installation of class D "subwoofer" amp modules, some of its drivers swapped, etc.

The twin listings in Miami are priced attractively indeed, but they’ve been up for over a year so not sure what the story is. In any event that shop is said to be fine to shop in person but buying online is a bit of a gamble. Interestingly, its proprietor is currently involved in managing whatever is left of legendary audio manufacturer Krell.

In an ideal scenario, a set of factory-original CS5i would manifest locally in the Pacific Northwest. No rush :)

Tom,

Differences in material characteristics regarding dampening and weight. 

The MDF I imagine didn’t over dampen the drivers as much as the rubber but was a bit heavier than rubber so seems there was a trade off between the two selected materials. 

How would adding more weight (MDF) benefit a driver you want to move quickly?

Material selection fascinates me. 

devinplombier,

The CS5i do not come up often. If a pair does I’d advise they come from a home where the owner cared for them.

First question should be what amp was used to drive them? 

Tom knows my story on how I acquired my CS5i. In short they were coming from the grandson of a long time Thiel dealer.

He wanted to be sure they went to a good home and didn’t want the drivers blown from someone using a AV receiver to drive them. 

He white van the speakers to me on his dime and he came from a good distance to do that. If that wasn’t enough once he arrived he wanted to set them up for me. 

When I told Tom this story,  when he was at our facility,  he mentioned that Thiel dealers were trained and went to the homes of customers to set their new speakers up. This insight provides clarity when comments are said Thiel’s are bright and air on the clinical side. 

They are a very sophisticated brand of speakers from their design. Set up is critical as is the correct volume of room. 

In our listening sessions we pushed some current through the amps to power the CS5i at a higher than normal listening volume. This was done to see how the room was being loaded and to hear any break up in the CS5i. 

In summary never bright nor clinical. Just a music making machine. 

I have the two upgraded veneers. Rosewood and walnut. 

duramax, that was a happy experience you had. Keeping my fingers crossed :)