Thiel Owners

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 :)

My statement about the CS5 vs 5i woofers was misleading. I did mean that the 3 woofers were different between the 5 vs the 5i. But I did not mean that the physical mass loading was the difference. That is merely the evidence by which to distinguish which version you're seeing.

The MDF and rubber mats act the same, governed by their mass to load the upper and lower subwoofers which cross out at 50Hz (-3dB). The third, middle woofer crosses out at 400Hz. All 3 contribute to the low end to create a system -3dB point below 20Hz. -1dB @ 23Hz with a gentle 12dB/octave extension below that. This bass alignment is highly unusual and innovative. I believe it could have defined Thiel's future if the entire speaker had maintained a higher impedance. As it is, the impedance magnitude falls below 4ohms at 3kHz and steadily drops to below 2ohms @20Hz - although its curve is smooth and non-reactive it is nonetheless punishingly low and requires brute-force high current delivery from its amp.

Those 3 woofers are two separate circuits with 2 separate enclosures. The mid-woofer with its lighter cone mass produces the bass transients. The pair of sub-woofers (below 50Hz) are physically tuned via that additional mass to both roll off at 50Hz as well as to attenuate sub-bass frequencies. That physical shaping allows a very simple XO circuit of an inductor to help roll off its top end plus a zobel network to control its impedance. Note the absence of the usual bass impedance humps in the stereophile curve. 

The actual upgrade between the original 5 vs the later 5i drivers is the more sophisticated motor with focused magnetic field and copper pole and voice coil shunts. The sonic improvement is considerable resulting in greater clarity with considerably lower distortion.

If that 5i system could be implemented with higher impedance across the board (it could be), then a wide variety of amplifiers could drive it without audible degradation due to current-delivery demands beyond their capability. In the day I lobbied for such in a model 5.2, which never came to be.

tomthiel

Thank You for providing another Thiel history lesson. By the time you are ready to launch Thiel Renaissance, there will be plenty of Aural weapons in your arsenal.

I hope you are well this Winter as we kick off 2026.

Happy Listening!

Tom,

Great info thanks. You know how I feel about the CS5i and the thought of a CS5.2 would be too much for one to bare. 

My experience is most people just do not know what type of amp the CS5i needs. 

I will not mention amp brands but I have clipped some big names in the business powering the CS5i.

Stereophile’s initial review they under powered the CS5i thinking it was laid back, not engaging. These are Thiel speakers we are talking about. 

With the CS5i sealed cabinet and an amp that that can take the CS5i where they can go it is one hell of a ride I assure you. I have never felt bass that hits like this.

It has that iconic mid-century design and the sexiest front baffle I’ve seen. 

The back story of how you procured the Brazilian rosewood that specifically relates to my pair of CS5i is memorable. 

I know your name is one the front of every speaker but want to thank you for all the work you do to continue and build upon the legacy that is Thiel.