nkonor,
Cool. Again, I'm sorry if I'm asking you to repeat info that exists somewhere in these 30 pages of posts....but did you try the last models - CS 2.7 and/or CS 3.7?
If so, what did you find more compelling about the older model's sound?
I'm certainly not trying to second guess your decision, I'm simply curious. (I happen to have been auditioning many possible replacement speakers for my 3.7s and it's been very hard for me to find something competitive).
It's been quite a while since I had the older CS6s which I loved, or heard the 3.5/3.6s. But one of the things I immediately heard from the 3.7 is a smoother, more coherent midrange, and less fussy about the listener positioning. There was always something of a slight "combing" effect I heard on other Thiels, and a hollowness that could appear in the upper midrange, which I never get from the 3.7s. Just my impressions...