@oblgny
If those 2.4s have undamaged drivers and 7+ cabinet they are probably worth the asking price. Doesn’t matter about the SE or not. Most of the SE features were cosmetic (the finish *is* stunning). The only change affecting the sonics was use of Clarity Cap SAs on the coax feeds. In fact, some older 2.4s might have otherwise higher parts quality than the SE. Regardless, I promise you Tom Thiel’s upgrade will be head and shoulders beyond that.
I recently had the opportunity to hear a couple of uber $peaker$ and the experience confirmed my impressions: in terms of resolution, transparency, soundstaging, and neutrality, my modded 2.4s sound as good as the best I’ve heard.
Not surprisingly, the 2.4s can’t match the bass performance of $$$ designs. And not simply bass extension (the 2.4 has energy down to about 30 cycles which covers nearly all musical content). In particular, a sealed box design I heard has a clear step up on the Thiel’s passive radiator. Bass definition/ articulation was notably better via sealed box. That said, I consider the passive radiator to have a good mix of tradeoffs considering their price point (when I got the 2.4s, the first thing I noticed was tighter bass compared to my Vandersteen 2Ce Sig IIs).
The uber designs also have a more tangible image density. One speaker, retailing for about $80k, had an unbounded, open sound that was exquisite. And I’ve previously heard a $peaker that recreated the sense of hall space on live recordings in a way that no other has.
Would I trade my 2.4s for the $80k model? Yes, I would. Can I afford the $80k model? Not even close! It’s quite amazing how much SQ Jim Thiel brought to regular working people. The 2.4 is a speaker that working class people can realistically afford. And Tom Thiel’s XO upgrade brings the performance on par with the best I’ve heard in the parameters that are most important to me: resolution and transparency. The weaknesses I outlined above are minor. The $$$ designs showed me a few places where they outperform my 2.4s but they never left me feeling my speakers are broken or deficient in any way. I just bliss out to music on a system that is paid for!
Highly recommended :)
