Thiel Owners

Looking to upgrade my Thiel speakers - What should I get / look for?

Back in 1988 (when I was 23) I was looking to upgrade my Polk Audio floor standers, the Polks had plenty of bass and treble but lacked detail. I made my way over to a small audio store in Cambridge, MA  (Q Audio - still in business after all these years) and saw a pair of used Thiel 03s. I listened to the Thiel’s briefly, was impressed but the setup in the store was less than ideal to make any sort of sound judgement. The salesperson very kindly told me “take them home and try them out for a few weeks, if you don’t like them, bring them back and i’ll happily give you your money back no problem!” I took them home and have now been delighted by them for 34 years! What I noticed right away was their uncanny ability to reproduce the human voice so naturally. The Thiels are not just “speakers” but really fine instruments that come alive with the right recordings. After many years of use I had the foam around the woofers expertly replaced. A few years ago I also added a subwoofer to the 03s, extending the bass but more impressively adding more 3-dimensionality to the sound stage. 

After 34 years, I’m feeling the itch to upgrade:) I need some help. I want to buy a more modern/advanced pair of Thiels (used of course) in the $2K range. I have a few questions If anyone has some input:

1) When evaluating a used pair, what should I look for a far as defects, things that might to be fixed? Ideally I don’t want to fix/restore too much.

2) My current listening room is narrower than ideal but my 03s work just fine in the space. Do all the models require the same space or are some better suited to narrower L to R walls? I can sit as far back/away as needed. 

3) Is there a particular model in my price range that stands out?

My idea is to look at any that come up for sale within 100 miles away to check them out in person. It may take a while for the right ones to appear.  

Any thoughts are much appreciated, I found this wonderful forum a few days ago!

~ Jeff
 

jeff_pvd

Welcome! Good to see yo here today. Thank You for sharing your Thiel 03s experience.  After 34 years, you are certainly due for an upgrade. IMO, the sweet spot is a pair of CS 2.4 loudspeakers. These are easily found all over the internet.

Model CS 2.4 can be placed 8-10 feet apart. Then, 2-3 feet away from back walls/side walls. This particular speaker sounds great with as little as 75 watts up to 200 watts per channel (wpc). Again, easy to drive and easy to place without too much fuss. Most sellers are honest about the condition of a demo/used pair of Thiel Audio loudspeakers.

What other gear is in your system? I look forward in reading more about your Musical taste.

Happy Listening!

Happy Friday! All

Hello everybody.

I would like to ask your opinion on the crossover update of my CS3.5.

I have already ordered (and am awaiting delivery) two 8.2uf ClarityCap CSAs, which will replace the two equal capacity Solen polypropylene caps installed in the tweeter’s cell (these are the two units to which - following the precious advice of Tom Thiel - I want to allocate the largest budget).

The doubt concerns instead the replacement of the two electrolytics in the woofer cell. As you may know, in the latter there is a 66uf electrolytic cap (branded "Versa-Tronic") and another 24uf electrolytic cap (also branded Versa-Tronic). These two capacitors are bypassed by a 1uf polypropylene (Solen) and a small 12pf polystyrene.

Now, as the two electrolytics mentioned above have come to the end of their service period I would like to replace them.

With which units do you recommend replacing them, having to replicate the overall capacity of the two groups of capacitors (that is 25.012uf (24uf + 1uf-12pf) and 67.012uf (66uf + 1uf ​​+ 12pf))?

Thanks to everyone who will want to advise me!

magnet7 - Others here might help you find your best brand fit. Here’s my broad input. Those woofer electrolytics are in shunt (shaping) resonance circuits which are the least sonically important. The Solen 1uF bypasses are very good. The styrene ultra-bypasses are extravagantly good. Those woofer shunt circuits are least worthy of expensive audiophile electrolytics.

On the other hand, the caps in the midrange circuit are of greater sonic importance. The 100uF electrolytic mid feed cap is worthy of the best cap you can afford, perhaps a ClarityCap 250 volt (or $higher) CSA with a very good 1uF bypass and then decide by ear to keep or toss the styrene bypass. Similarly the 100uF mid shunt.

The tweeter also has a 100uF electrolytic feed, which is at least as important as the midrange.

Short story, concentrate your budget on the upper drivers. I suggest looking at Nichicon for those woofer shunts. (high quality pro-level audio cap.)