Thiel Owners

oblgny, I would caution you on assuming that the later Thiel 3.6's are better than the earlier 3.5's. Many would agree with that, but I don't. I much prefer the earlier 3.5's, much like I prefer the earlier 5i's to the later models.

unsound...

Yes, I rushed in and bought the eq thinking it was the 3.5 eq - my error.  I'm going to keep it anyway. 

I've been too caught up in business this week to contact Thiel. (I'm in the wine/spirits biz and the next six weeks are NUTS). I will do so tomorrow in the morning. 

I've read as much on the 3.6 m's as I have on my 3.5's and my curiousity regarding the 3.6's will bear fruit only by becoming geographically desirable. (I started out with 2's). Heck, I drove to Massachusetts to pick up my first pair of 3.5's.  Finding a pair of 3.6 wouldn't make me trade off nor sell my 3.5's, either. Hell, no. 

jafant often mention's a system's synergy in describing his experiences, and for myself, for now and the foreseeable future, Pass and Thiel are the best I've had. Cables and perhaps preamps may still find changes depending upon circumstances, but Thiel and Pass are my reference points.  They're locked. 

I have been reading the strong opinions about the 3.5 equalizer that I eliminated from my system by using a subwoofer so I tried it back in my system again.  I get the same result as before.  The midrange is a bit more veiled and the instruments, voices and over all image appear slightly larger,  When I go back to my arrangement with the Velodyne sub and no equalizer the midrange seems cleaner and the bass is tighter. 

I would conjecture that the slightly larger image that the equalizer produces in my system is due to a lack of overall focus.  I can't be sure if this would apply to all 3.5 systems because: a.  I am dealing with room responses that I can't really alter; but others could; b.  I have a 100-watt tube amp that may be bloating the boosted bass load from the equalizer that a larger, solid state amp could better handle; c.  the tighter bass due to the massive solid state amplifier and active feedback in the Velodyne system may be doing less smearing and enlarging of the midrange image or maybe not; and d. the midrange driver is no longer getting carry over of the boosted bass through it's first order, 400-hz crossover. 

The Stereophile review of the CS3.5 has a graph of the equalizer response that indicates it only affects the frequencies below 300 hz so I question the notion that it is somehow improving the midrange response and image.  In my situation i think it is an extra link in the signal chain that adds an extra layer of veil to the sound.  So much to know, so little time.

oblgny,  Sell the mistakenly purchased eq. The 3.5's eqs are just plain better. It'll end up just collecting dust. I've got a bunch of assorted boxes doing just that. Someone else might actually need it.