Thiel Owners

prof,

On a better note. Good luck with the Thiel 2.7s. In my search to replace my 3.5s. Speaker size was a concern to me due to thinking that we would be moving back to Alaska at a future time. Anyway those thoughts have taken a back seat to other issues.
You sound like you have the knowledge to make them work in your HT system; but will they be as satisfying as the 3.7s for music?  I tried for 4yrs to find Speakers to replace my 3.5s
I came to the conclusion that a fairly large speaker is required for coherence and satisfaction through the frequency spectrum. But as I learned that the room was really the major component; I realized through careful placement and acoustic treatment that you could fully enjoy a large speaker system in a variety of rooms. 
I always told my wife that I intended to downsize one day. She just laughs at me now. Yes smaller Speakers and subs could keep me satisfied for a bit; but long term, a full size/ full range speaker is needed. Just my thoughts. 

Best Wishes on your Journey
nkonor

P.S. --- Ended up with a bigger house, multiple rooms, plus storage capacity.

nkonor,

Yeah, my wife...and especially one of my audio buddies...mock me if I suggest I will end up with "the speaker." If I haven’t by now, I probably never will. I always start pairing down my speaker collection, but then build back up again.

Especially since I renovated my 2 channel room into a home theater/music listening room, the tension between "big and fully satisfying sound" and "discrete enough to work in the room aesthetically" has been a real back and forth. I switch between floor standers and stand mounted speakers. When I set up one of my monitors I always love the sound and think "this is so great, what more do I need?" That happened again recently when I put my old Waveform (egg shaped) monitors in my system. The tone was so gorgeous, the dynamics so convincing, it was only when certain sections of a song would hit where I would miss the drama I was used to with the extension of the bigger speakers that I’d say "Oh yeah...that’s why I tend to go back to floor standing speakers."

I still have one of my all time favorite speakers - the Omani-directional MBL radialstrahler 121s. Within their frequency range they astonish me.
But then I ask myself "Why do the MBLs have so much less time in my system when I have a floor stander like the Thiel 3.7s?" I seem to eventually crave what a big speaker can do. (And adding subs to my monitor speakers is a non-starter for several reasons).

So this time of trying to downsize somewhat, I’ve tried to find an in-between: a speaker that is smaller than the 3.7 but which has *enough* frequency range to make me not feel I’m missing something.
That’s why I’ve been auditioning mid-sized speakers like Audio Note, Audio Physic, Joseph audio Perspectives, Harbeth Super HL5 Plus, and some monitors that are larger and go low for their size - e.g. JM Reynaud Offrande Supremes, and others. And that’s where the Thiel 2.7s come in - they may look good enough in the room to leave there, while giving enough sonically of what I desire. Though, I’m no longer under the delusion that anything will be my "last" speaker.

I picked up a pair of Harbeth Super HL5 Plus speakers to check out in my home and while they were excellent, I couldn’t pass up the deal on those Thiel 2.7s, so I’m selling the Harbeths to finance the Thiel purchase.

BTW... I mentioned earlier in the thread my interest in Kudos speakers as well.  There is almost no talk on Audiogon about that brand, it seems because they are a small British company that doesn't get much word outside Britain.   But a couple years ago at an audio show, walking through the hall, I heard the most life-like symphonic sound coming from inside a room. I popped in and there were these huge horn speakers which I presumed were making the sound. As the tracks switched to - I think Stevie Wonder and other tracks - there was that incredible clarity and palpability of sound, and dynamics, that had me say "Yup, that's why some people love horn speakers."  Turns out it wasn't the horns playing at all, but the modest, slim, non-descript wooden two-way floor standing speakers right beside them. They blew my mind and I took note of the brand.

Recently I was in an audio store and noticed they had the elusive Kudos speakers - smaller, cheaper models than the one I'd heard at the show.
I listened to some tracks and there it was, that sound I remembered from the audio show.  They really wowed me.  It turns out Kudos has introduced a series of flagship speakers, one of which may be within my reach, so it's now on my radar.  In my mind, thus far, my "smaller speaker" solution has come down to between the Thiel 2.7, Joseph Audio Perspective, and the long shot Kudos Titan 606 (if I ever get to hear it...and I might).

I mention this partially because, as a Thiel fan I found the Kudos pushed many of the same hard-to-find buttons (though the Kudos are brighter and less neutral) as the ones Thiels push for me. 
 

prof, 

I tried and tried. IMO you cannot put together a coherent full range system out of disparate parts. That's what designers do. You can augment a full range system down to 16hz ; but a giant killer monitor/sub system??? You can amaze people (even yourself) for a period. Then the cut, the one note that your heart is waiting for and Blah! Your make an adjustment and all is good until the next BLAH!! Bleep+#!?% moment.

 I suspect coherent full range is what you need and have.

There is no substitute.

Best to you and All on this Journey,
 
Norbert