Thiel Owners

I hope everyone's day was filled with Family, Friends and Good Music.

Happy Listening!

Hi all, hope everyone had a great holiday!  I'm already ready for the next 3 day weekend.   I was able to listen to two different setups this weekend, thought I'd share my impressions- the first were the CS6 with the ML23.5, and the second a pair of CS3.6 with a Krell KAV-1500.  Very interesting to hear both in the same weekend! 

While both were similar sounding and obviously in the same family, I felt the 6s just had that extra bit of naturalness  to them over the 3.6.  There was a SLIGHT veil sound behind the 3.6 that I don't remember there being with the 6s, almost like a high end set of JBL, but with more Thiel characteristics if that makes sense.  I did notice a little more sibilance on the 6s however in a track I use to test that.. 

Not sure if the difference was in the amp choices, the concrete baffling in the 6s, or something else because the driver array seems pretty darn similar to me.  Maybe my mind is just playing tricks on me, tough to say with so many variables and time in between listenings.   Still on the fence myself because of finances, although the KAV has been offered to me at a discount so I intend to buy that regardless.  Have a great night!

coop_301

Thank You for sharing your aural experience. Have fun on your Audio journey.

Happy Listening!

@coop_301 , Please indulge me as I offer some thoughts. IMHO, the CS 6's play with greater ease and with greater dynamic range than the CS 3.6's, at a very premium price difference (at least when new). If you have a rather large room or intend to play your music very loud the CS 6's might be a better choice, otherwise the better value could be the CS 3.6's. A contributor that I've long come to respect here on Audiogon @pops has extensive experience with both, hopefully he'll add his thoughts.

 As for the Krell KAV 1500, it's really a bridgeable 5 channel amp. The Krell KAV series was introduced to cater to the then growing Home Theatre market. They are biased more into Class AB, don't have the low impedance prowess of the built for audio biased into Class A and capable of doubling down with impedances of some of their more audio centric models. The KAV 1500's 5 channels can be bridged, but that's not something that I would consider with these Thiel models and their rather low impedance loads. Not all Krells fit the stereotypical (ha!) model that comes to mind when one hears the name Krell. I'm not at all surprised that you preferred the CS 6's driven by the ML 23.5. I say this despite more often than not preferring the house sound of many Krells to Mark Levinson's.

When I was much younger, I believed that the most important component were the speakers and therefore most of one's budget should be spent there. I still believe that speakers are the most important component (after budget and room) but no longer necessarily believe that that should dictate budget. The used market has changed that. Market value and intrinsic value do not always run parallel. Speakers and amps are more dependent on compatibility than most components and this is especially true for these and many other Thiel models. Unless one intends to upgrade in the very near future, and caution must be used in that case, the combinations results can be more important than the individual prowess. 

As always, the above is IMHO, YMMV!

@unsound thanks for the compliment!  I feel the same - and I also agree with your well written and insightful post.  Makes perfect sense to me regarding the difference between the ML and Krell KAV.

@coop_301 I own both the CS6 and the 3.6, love both speakers.  The 3.6 is my favorite speaker, it just has a see through transparency and utter disappearing act the CS6 can’t quite reach.  The 6 will play louder but the 3.6 plays plenty loud in my room and my primary genre is classic rock.  Even though bass on the  6 is more abundant on a large scale I prefer the 3.6’s punchiness and transparency.  I switch them in and out but the 3.6 seems to stay in the longest. 

I

Personal tastes, rooms and upstream components all make choices subjective to a degree.  As my friend unsound says IMHO, YMMV.