Thiel Owners

Looking to replace the damaged mid-range in my Thiel CS3.5 speakers.  PBN Audio recommends the Scanspeak 10F/8424G 4” as a replacement.  Apparently no modifications to the crossover are required.

 

Has anyone heard the CS3.5 with the 10F/8424G?  If so, can you describe the sound? Power handling long term max power of 30W and a relatively low 400Hz crossover seem OK?  This is reportedly a most outstanding driver.   Do you think it is an improvement over the original mid-range driver?

Moved this question to the Thiel Forum.  Hope it's in the right place.   Thanks.  

slhijb
Welcome! Good to see you here. Stay tuned until one of the Panel's 3.5 experts chimes in to address your query.I look forward in reading more about your musical tastes and system.
Happy Listening!

slhibj -  Limited knowledge and experience here. I hope that directly experienced users will comment. Although the FR and other performance and technologies of the SS 10F are appropriate, I worry about the 30 Watt power rating compared with 50 or more (memory fails) for the original. Rob and I have chosen the 10F for a CS2 and 2.2 replacement. But the 3.5s XO is an octave lower (400 vs 800Hz) plus the Equalizer boosts the low end of the midrange driver considerably. Consider that the stock MR were somewhat fragile if driven hard - we replaced hundreds with burned voice coils. So, I'm leery of the the 10F for the 3.5. But my opinion is just that, an opinion without definitive experience.

We (here) need to find a 3.5 replacement. I suggest you contact Rob Gillum at Coherent Source Service to learn his recent experience regarding your problem. And I also look forward to hearing from others here.

Jafant, TomThiel & Rob @ Coherentsourceserice.com, thanks so much for the responses.  

 

Some Thiel fans for years have been looking for a replacement mid-range for the Thiel CS3.5.  Several contenders apparently have come & gone.  The 10F/8424G & G00 are highly respected drivers; however, there isn’t enough information floating around the web on the original 13M/8521 to make an informed comparison.  Madisound replied to me that people have been happy with the 10F/8424G swap which is encouraging, but no specifics.  Rob at rob@coherentsourceservice.com (thanks again Rob) just responded to my email that in his testing the 10F/8424G00 is the replacement driver of choice. The 10F-8424G00 is mounted onto a special plate that holds the driver and the trim ring for the CS3.5 mid. He offers the driver, plate & trim at at Coherent Source Service for $250 each, plus shipping.

Tom Thiel’s awesome response above nailed some of my questions on the 10F/8424G as a replacement. The two drivers appear a very close match, but Thiel’s design of the CS3.5 places serious demands on the mid-range, so several factors come into play when selecting a replacement… not the least of which is how it behaves with a soft 6dB slope, low 400Hz crossover, high power handling demands and a bass equalizer infusing a formidable power shift. However; for me, most important is how it sounds.  If it sounds as good or better than the original, there may be subtle work arounds to meet my needs.

I’m still hoping to find Thiel owner who has heard either the 10F/8424G or G00 in the 3.5.

If the 10F/8424G or G00 work as replacements, I’ll try swapping out the original Dynaudio D28AFs with the Dynaudio ESOTAR T330D tweeters.  I have a pair from another project that never materialized.  I contacted Dynaudio concerning the possible swap and they felt it would be a good match. There wouldn’t happen to be anyone with experience replacing the 3.5 tweeter with the T330D? This isn’t a complex a swap as the mid-range. 

Jafant, thanks for asking about my musical tastes? I guess they’re all over the place.  I’m a product of the 60s fused with parental influence from the 30s to 40s.  Beatles, Stones, Buffalo Springfield, Blue Cheer, Tull, Neil Young, Mayall to Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald. As time progressed got into country rock, blues, jazz, bluegrass and Americana.  As I get older my tastes mellow, I now enjoy quieter more emotional music, but with exceptional detail & depth. Clean, clear intimate audio, able to hear a vocalist draw a breath between lyrics, fingers sliding down a 12 string guitar, a tad of darkness. This has led me to SET amps & high sensitivity speakers.  

What it my system?  As a hobby, I diddle with audio equipment.  Finishing building a pair of OB Lowther PM6As (silver voice coils), Tone Tubbys and built in subwoofers (almost done).  Also currently building some modified 4Pi’s, again with built in subwoofers (mid way through). Lastly, finishing a DIY turntable & Transcendent Masterpiece 300B preamp (almost done).      

My main system - Merlin VSMs, Joule VZN-80 & Joule Preamp (on pause due to lightning damage).  Active system - Transcendent Grounded Grid preamp, Welborne Lab 2A3 Moondog monoblocks and diy Tang Band W8-1772 OB speakers (with built in subs).  I’ll eventually mate the modified Thiel CS3.5s and powered subs with my Marantz Estotec SM6 amplifier.  As you might guess, my wife is a patient woman.  

Go guy! Just for grins, my 3.5 dream that never was is to mate the hotrodded unequalized 3.5 to a subwoofer crossed at polarity correct 2nd order low pass to the natural roll-out of the sealed 3.5 bass, which is perfectly aligned in its sealed cabinet. If you have the skills and inclination to mess around with that project, I'm available to work with you.