Thiel Owners

The CS5 baffle was cast in Atlanta by a top architectural house. My last big project at Thiel was setting up in-house casting. The CS6, 7 and 7.2 were cast in our own plant without the tech know-how and experience of the Atlanta firm. Jim insisted on using concrete. He loved simple, inexpensive solutions and would not be dissuaded. Those CS7 concrete baffles all cracked. They shifted to a 'mineral-polymer' casting. I don't know the particulars, but most likely an off-the-shelf loaded polyester.

Jim didn't share my aesthetic inclinations.

Stay safe. The same storm brought us sub zero temperatures and snow forecast around 2'.

My apologies, I have been away from this thread too long, but I’ve been rather busy since my visit with duramax747. Looks like you guys have been busy as well.

First I’d like to congratulate and say Thank You to Jafant for keeping up on such an awesome thread for the past 10 years. To be honest its what brought my attention back to Thiel speakers.

To follow-up on duramax’s  post about my visit we had a very productive and informative visit for me. I would also like to thank him for his time in opening up his place for the visit.

I brought with me my pair of SS-2 sub’s as well as a Thiel Integrator SI-1 and a pair of PX05’s configured for mono operation to feed the sub’s. Unfortunately, the SI-1 is starting to act up, and we didn’t get to audition the subs with the SI-1 which has the capability to limit the amount of low frequency information going to the CS 2.4. The PX05 were configured for the CS 2.4’s, they connect to the amp powering the speakers, they are connected to the amp via speaker wire to the PX05 that takes a sample of the signal and feeds the SS2’s input. This configuration leaves the main speakers playing full range.

With that said I felt the session went well and was surprised at the capabilities of the CS 2.4’s, I thought the subs integrated well with the 2.4’s via the PX05, granted we didn’t have the subs positioned in their most ideal location they produced some outstanding low frequencies. The CS 2.4’s with the SS-2 subs produced a complete full range system and with a thorough set-up could compete with any full range system. With the Thiel Renaissance upgrades I’m sure this system will exceed a lot of the more expensive speaker systems available.

With that said I am the new proud owner of a very special pair of CS 2.4 SE’s and with the little bit of listening that I have been able to do I am extremely happy with them.

Jafant I would like to elaborate on your comments about the CS 2.4’s and subs. You are absolutely correct about the 2.4’s and their frequency range, in an appropriately sized room the 2.4’s have the capability to produce a full range frequency for listening.

 One thing I have found when adding a pair of subs to a system is the greater presence of the soundstage. It’s not necessarily about adding more base but it’s the quality of the base that’s produced. It’s like the subs provide a foundation for the rest of the soundstage to rest upon. Granted not all music has this information but when it’s there the subs open that presence up even more.

Take for instance an English Horn or Kettledrums, on an English horn they provide more presence of their resonance and with kettledrum there is no beating them (pun intended).

I guess what I’m saying is a pair of suds, not a single sub in my experience, provides more gravitas to the music.   As Ronkent points out in his post “ The sense of space and fullness in sound was becoming very clear to me.”. 

I have a pair of Vandersteen 2Wq’s as well as the Thiel SS-2’s that I plan to experiment with and will let you know how things turn out.

Hope this didn't get too long winded but with a lot of the east coast home today due to weather it will give you something to read.

Take care everyone.

ig316b,

The 2.4SE. is a daisy of a speaker. In the right room, no subs are needed and you can sit back for hours on end in bliss. I miss them already but need to get acclimated to the CS7.2 again for testing. 

Glad the CS 2.4SE are living up to your expectations. Once you get the SS2 dialed in I can make a day trip to you and have a listening session. 

Pure Class A yields the best performance from my limited experience as they do not need the  power output of the CS6 nor 7.2.

Tom,

If end users opt for outboard XO, as you have outlined from previous posts,  that would allow bi-amping. 

The possibilities that would present is encouraging to say the least. 

jafant,

My purpose is test room, materials, and of course various Thiel models. The only component I focus on is what amp (tool) I am using as I need to be mindful as there is no silver bullet regarding amps as I have many with various outputs.

Cables,front end, preamp pick your poison as there are hundreds of choices. 

Those are subjective. I’m trying to maintain an objective viewpoint with what I am doing. 

ig316b

Thank You for the insightful reply. Keep me posted as you experiment and massage those Subs (2Wq and SS-2) into your room and System. Once completed

make a Virtual Systems page for The Panel. Stay Warm!

Happy Listening!

All -

as we embark a New Year, take the time to make or update your Virtual Systems pages. Let's see those Rooms and Systems!  For those in the pathways of the current Winter storm, stay warm!

Happy Listening!