Anyone hear Thiel CS1.6?

Apparently, JA's review was based more on measurements than his hearing. He spoke a lot about frequency anomolies which can be measured. I still find it odd how he loved the Revel M20's - maybe due to good measured performance. But if he listened with his ears he would find ringing, harmonic problems, and some boxiness. None of which the Thiels have.

I went to the dealer to audition the Thiels 1.6's and was disappointed. No bottom end, not even a hint of one. They also carried the Joseph and Totem speakers. Both of these brands blew away the 1.6's for around the same or less money. I ended up purchasing the Totem 1's for my music room (with the REL Strata III sub) and the Totem Arro's for my den. The Arro's have more bottom end than the 1.6's and the Arro's have a 4" woofer. I also liked the Joseph speakers and probably would have purchased them if not for the Totems. Best thing to do is go audition them for yourself, only you can tell what sounds good to you.

Danke.

Frankly, this speaker (and probably the Wilson Audio Sophia) are two of the most overhyped speakers of the year. There are so many great speakers for the same or less money that it is irresponsible and irrational to hype these as new standards. One thing I've learned is to never bye into the hype, just trust your own ears. More times than not, hype is just that --- hype.

Ironically, if you strip away some of the sugar-coating, JA's review in Stereophile contradicted the hype on his own magazine cover.

I haven't heard the Arro's, so this is strictly a guess, but a woofer that small in a cabinet that small couldn't possibly really have more bottom end (and the reviews I remember reading of it - which were positive - unsurprisingly acknowledged it didn't do bass). What most speaker designers will do with a model too small to make real bass, and what I'm conjecturing the Arro's designer probably did, is to plump up the region in the upper bass that contains the harmonics of the missing low bass. This is a proven technique to make a small speaker sound as if it had big bass, and one that Jim Thiel will simply not practice, for better or for worse. I am not saying there are not competitors for the 1.6 in its price range (it is definitely possible to get more bass, for instance, and I certainly don't buy into the hyperbole of cover-copy writers), but I am saying that it is absolutely capable of outstanding performance, and if someone doesn't hear that from it when they audition it, suspect the set up first.