Thiel CS 2 2 vs Snell C IV

The Snell CV speaker was released in late 1993 while the Snell C-IV was still being manufactured til 1994. Kevin Voecks was pretty much on his way out of Snell in that time as cheif engineer. Even though the Snell C-V was under Kevin's reign, the speaker was being influenced by trend of home theater; aka Boston Acoustics design(more drivers and cheaper parts design).

The Snell C-IV is a better sounding purist speaker in two channel. And sticks with Peter Snell's original philosophy of building the best dollar for dollar dynamic bass reflective type coffin style speaker. I say no more , go enjoy whatever you want to believe in.

I currently own Snell B-Minors, C-V's, & D's. I have owned Type A's and Thiel 2 2, 3.5, & 3.6. I had the B-Minors as my main speakers for many years. I had gone from 2 2's to 3.5's to the B-Minors before I got the 3.6's.

I drove the speakers variously with Mark Levinson 27 and 333 and VTL 225 & Deluxe 500. The Thiels were definitely better with tubes. The Snell were good with either tubes or solid state.

I love the Thiels. They are the closest speaker I have found to capture the 3-dimensional sound of electrostats with better dynamics.

I had the B-Minors and the 3.6's at the same time. While I got a thrill with the sound of the Thiels, ultimately the Snells were overall a more enjoyable speaker. BUT, Thiels might be a great choice for the music you listen to. I found them to cause listening fatigue with electric music or anything at louder volume. Also, your room is large. I think the B-Minors would fill the room better than the smaller Thiels. I ultimately sold the Thiels.

The B-Minors are a more forgiving speaker and will play anything extremely well. I currently use them as front speakers in a surround sound set-up and, though I have MAXX-2's for my 2-channel. I can't imagine giving the B's up. They are a classic.

Sorry you can't audition. They are completely different speakers and I don't think anyone could make up your mind. I had a hard time deciding between the B-Minor's and the 3.6's, a much better speaker than the 2 2's, and I chose the B's.

If you're thinking long term, you might want to find both, buy and test them both, and sell one pair. You shouldn't lose money on either. Also, for a few dollars more you could get the 3.6's, a much better Thiel.

Hope I haven't confused you too much.
--Neil

Thanks everyone for their input and suggestions.

My favorite are the Snell B Minors (for music, I love my LaScalas for HT) but I guess I cant find an used pair under a grand (wishful thinking).

Ncarv: thanks for your very valuable input since you had them all. Wilson Audio is currently out of my reach so I am likely to end up with your suggestion to buy both, starting with the "grass look greener on the other side" CS 2.2 since that's a local buy and I still have my Snells to confuse my ears...

Snell C IV review here -> http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_issues/The_Audio_Critic_16_r.pdf

From the review;

"The sound of the Snell Type C/IV is, yes, the best I've ever heard out of a monkey coffin - uncolored, transparent, low in distortion, high in resolution, perfectly balanced, much better on the bottom end than the C/II. The frequency balance-which depends not so much on whether the re­sponse is ±2 dB, or ±2.5 dB, or whatever, but on just where those little zigs and zags occur - is probably the most satis­fying of any speaker known to me."

I own CIV's and I sold CV's when they were being manufactured along with the A reference,B-Minor,D etc. I've always been a fan. I believe that prior statements about Boston Acoustics being under ownership of Snell when those speakers were manufactured is incorrect. At least not when any of those were first introduced to the market. The lines created under BA were XA, E.5 and the like.