Scoring on Used Thiels here

Tons of great info on "Thiel owner’s thread".

I bought a pair of CS2.4SEs just a few weeks ago knowing that Thiel was in serious trouble. I figured I’d be OK as long as the drivers were in good shape (they are flawless). Short of abuse, drivers usually last many, many years without issue. I figured I’d buy a broken pair for parts in a worst-case scenario. Capacitors can wear out over time but these can be replaced without much issue. In fact, it’s a good chance to upgrade to better sounding capacitors.

Meanwhile, Rob Gillum has just opened "Coherent Source Service" and says he has the parts and abilities to repair or replace almost anything on a Thiel. In fact, he’s even willing to honor warranty repairs for speakers still under coverage despite that he has no obligation whatsoever. Most exciting for me is he is planning "hot-rod" kits for owners to upgrade the passive pasts to maximize SQ.

I’ve listened to a wide range of speakers over the years and I’m unaware of anything <$10K than sounds better than my Thiels. Upgrading the crossovers should put me on par with most anything up to $20-30K.

To summarize, I'm a recent - enthusiastic -buyer. Zero regrets!

Have to agree with beetle: With the opening of Rob’s Coherent Source Service, legacy Thiel speakers now have a brand new lease on life. Rob is from the days of the original Thiel company & has been servicing/restoring Thiels for years. Since Thiel (in this latest iteration) went kaput, he was able to acquire all the assets to the service part of the business. He has a stockpile of parts, crossovers & drivers that will allow him to pretty much rebuild any model. He is also offering cabinet re-finishing services, which, if you have ever seen a pair of Thiels, is awesome because the cabinetry on them is not only integral to the coherent source design, but in a class way above the price point even when new.

As always when looking at pre-owned equipment, buy the best conditioned pair you can afford. Cabinets are real-wood, so scratches & scrapes can easily be addressed; a good cleaning & polishing will make the wood shine! Drivers are very unique to Thiels...Jim Thiel designed them all himself & in later models, they were completely sourced & built in-house. More importantly, crossovers are First-Order (meaning the drivers handle a wider range of frequencies), so make sure the previous owner(s) didn’t blow out a driver & end up replacing it with something from some catalog. Having said that, if they were treated with care, Thiel’s build-quality & engineering resulted in very robust speaker designs...they are heavy & very well-built. Shipping usually costs a fortune.

I have a set of CS 3.5’s that I bought locally from a vintage stereo dealer this past November. I am only the second owner. Even with their age, the Thiels have been such a revelation, have been such a joy to listen to, that I’ve decided to make them the focal point of my system with regards to components & upgrades. They are ruthlessly revealing of poorly recorded material & poorly engineered components. But, if you have the goods & the high-quality amplification they require (Thiels love watts & especially, lots of current), you will not find better without spending hundreds or thousands more. In the last three months, I’ve swapped out most of my gear for Audio Research seperates (amp, line stage & phono pre-amp), all in effort to make the Thiels sing that much better. Even with all this, I have not once considered "upgrading" from my 3.5’s...the Thiels sound that good.

Good luck in your search...Enjoy the music!

Arvin

Thiels have always had fairly poor resale value.  It's a testament to the bad taste of an awful lot of audiophiles.  I got a used pair of 2 2s 7 or 8 years ago and they were a revelation.  For a small amount of money I got some fantastic sounding speakers that do nothing wrong.  They were laughably better than anything I'd ever heard around the price.  It took me a while to admit it but when it comes to enjoying listening to music they were better than the B&W N802s I had at the time.  I traded the B&Ws in for Thiel 3.7s and haven't looked back.  

I have been pondering some different speakers in my second system.  

Amp is 60w/ch Bel Canto c5i.   Current speakers in there are 90db efficient Triangle Titus XS and a sub.  

These sound great but am interested in trying something different and bigger.  Waf is a factor.  

Thiel appeals to me.  The low efficiency is a concern for me.   Its a large family room kitchen area.  I do not need to go uber loud in there but do like modest volume levels when I can.   Most of the time things are not played loud in there.   I go down to my main rig for that.  

Klipsch Heresy III has been a leading contender.   I have heard and liked these and the higher efficiency is a plus.  

I've used OHM Dynaudio and the Triangle speakers with the c5i and they all sound wonderful ( but different).  

c5i is very airy and detailed with no edge ever.   I feel like most any speaker could work well with it save for volume limits with only 60w/ch.  

is that enough for any particular model Thiel?