frozentundra,
Cool. I look forward to hearing my new Thiel 2.7s next weekend.
I also have some "ear issues." I played for decades in a very loud band and acquired quite a case of Tinnitus and some hyperacusis (hearing sensitivity) came along for the ride. It was really rough for a few years but has gotten better over time. It made my ears quite sensitive to bright speakers or coarse distortion (I don't have hearing loss issues though, fortunately my hearing - when tested - is excellent).
So this makes it somewhat ironic that both of us own Thiel speakers, which have a reputation among so many audiophiles as being bright and hard to listen to. It never was quite true in a good set up, but I think it's a tribute to Jim's final designs especially just how smooth and fatigue-free he got them sounding, while producing as much or more detail than ever.
I can listen fatigue-free to the 3.7s endlessly, more than any speaker I've had. (Of course system matching is part of the key; the CJ gear helps here - liquid and organic, but with no sense of darkening, roll-off or making the sound simply polite).
I've love to hear the Volti speakers! I figure they would bring an even greater sense of presence and density to the sound than even the Thiels.
But with other trade offs. I wouldn't be able to place a speaker like that in my room.
As for reproducing voices and intrumental timbre, as I mentioned I find the MBLs the current champ...and the previous champ were the Hales Transcendence speakers - I had the floor standing T5s at one point but...forgot to mention in the above....I have a bunch of Hales Speakers still, Transcendence monitors. They are amazing for having a low noise floor and producing a rainbow of tonal color. They are dynamically reticent though, have less density and texture than the Thiels.
I found the joseph audio Perspectives to edge the Thiels in tonal beauty - just a bit lower noise floor, a bit more surprising variety in instrumental timbre, a bit more pure/smooth sounding high end. Though the Thiels edge out the josephs in other ways (image size, soundstage, density, dynamics, bass control...)
Cool. I look forward to hearing my new Thiel 2.7s next weekend.
I also have some "ear issues." I played for decades in a very loud band and acquired quite a case of Tinnitus and some hyperacusis (hearing sensitivity) came along for the ride. It was really rough for a few years but has gotten better over time. It made my ears quite sensitive to bright speakers or coarse distortion (I don't have hearing loss issues though, fortunately my hearing - when tested - is excellent).
So this makes it somewhat ironic that both of us own Thiel speakers, which have a reputation among so many audiophiles as being bright and hard to listen to. It never was quite true in a good set up, but I think it's a tribute to Jim's final designs especially just how smooth and fatigue-free he got them sounding, while producing as much or more detail than ever.
I can listen fatigue-free to the 3.7s endlessly, more than any speaker I've had. (Of course system matching is part of the key; the CJ gear helps here - liquid and organic, but with no sense of darkening, roll-off or making the sound simply polite).
I've love to hear the Volti speakers! I figure they would bring an even greater sense of presence and density to the sound than even the Thiels.
But with other trade offs. I wouldn't be able to place a speaker like that in my room.
As for reproducing voices and intrumental timbre, as I mentioned I find the MBLs the current champ...and the previous champ were the Hales Transcendence speakers - I had the floor standing T5s at one point but...forgot to mention in the above....I have a bunch of Hales Speakers still, Transcendence monitors. They are amazing for having a low noise floor and producing a rainbow of tonal color. They are dynamically reticent though, have less density and texture than the Thiels.
I found the joseph audio Perspectives to edge the Thiels in tonal beauty - just a bit lower noise floor, a bit more surprising variety in instrumental timbre, a bit more pure/smooth sounding high end. Though the Thiels edge out the josephs in other ways (image size, soundstage, density, dynamics, bass control...)