Thiel Owners

IMHO, the 3 series were Thiel's sweet spot, and the 2 series were/are Vandersteen's sweet spot.

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone...Happy Holidays!

I have been enjoying a vintage pair of Thiel CS 3.5's for well over 2 months now and can honestly say that I am absolutely thrilled with them. Their ability to play so cleanly with that incredibly wide and open soundstage never fails to amaze me as I re-discover my music collection. They truly are full-range...the bass is deep, clean, precise and authoritative. The other thing I've found is that as difficult as they are supposed to be to drive, my Denon PMA-2000 IVR (160 watts @ 4 ohms) integrated seems to be getting on quite well with them. I am using the tape loop in my integrated to play through the Bass Module. The Thiels do like to be driven, though...they really open up and "clear their throats" as I turn up the wick. Truly stunning performers!!!

If I were to have one issue, it's that the Thiels expose poorly recorded material in a ruthless, almost non-correctable fashion. For instance, I have many CD's from the early days of the format that now have a harsh, irritatingly "bright" sound to them. What's even worse are digital files. I've been re-ripping my CD collection to loss-less FLAC, but any "lossy" files really are exposed in ways I never noticed as much before. Of course, Hi-Res files, DSD and MQA Master files from Tidal are played beautifully!

My current set-up is decidedly "Mid-Fi", but has everything I need to get very good sound:

- Denon PMA 2000IVR Integrated Amplifier
- Denon DVD-2900 CD/DVD-Audio/SACD Player
- Denon DJ VL12 Prime Direct-Drive Turntable with Shure M97xE (MC) & Denon 103R (MM) cartridges
- Thiel CS-3.5 w/Thiel Bass Module
- Toshiba Satellite laptop w/Meridian Explorer 2 USB DAC (MQA capable)
- Roon and Tidal digital-file playback/streaming applications
- AudioQuest Golden Gate interconnects
- Gotham SPK-8 speaker cables with Eminence E400 banana plugs
- Pangea Audio AC-9 (amplification) & AC-14 (sources) power cables
- Tripp Lite LCR2400 Line Conditioner

My current plan is to move towards separates. While I truly enjoy my integrated, I have an inkling that something like vintage Adcom, Threshold or Krell amplification will open-up the Thiels even more. What I do wonder is if what I really need to tame the harshness I get from some music is tubes...maybe something vintage from Conrad Johnson or Audio Research will work? 

I've posted several photos of my Thiels and little listening area here:  

www.usaudiomart.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1340

Thanks for any feedback or suggestions!

Arvin