Thiel Owners

I've done some listening to my gorgeous-looking 2.7s.  Wow!  What a speaker!!

prof,

I know that your excited. Take your time for many good listenering sessions before you make a final decision.
Like I said earlier; a new speaker would need to satisfy me for a year, before I would give up my current 12year affair.
Happy that it is a Wow !! Speaker. Can hardly wait for you to be able to give a more in-depth take on them. I sure others are waiting with me and will settle for short previews whenever you put them out. 

Enjoy and Best Wishes 
Norb

Ok, so here for anyone interested is my initial first impressions report on the Thiel 2.7s:

As I've mentioned, I have the Thiel 3.7s and have considered downsizing somewhat, for space/ergonomic reasons, though not for sound - because they sound mind-blowing.

The 2.7s are in a high class ebony which matches the room really well and they are one of the most beautiful pair of speakers I've seen.  That's huge because part of my move has been for aesthetic reasons.

At first the 2.7s didn't seem that much smaller than the 3.7s when taking them out of the box.  But once set up the difference is really noticeable.  They are much less room-dominating and more sleek than the 3.7s.  (Though I ultimately like the look of the 2.7s better, my wife slightly prefers the 3.7 design).  And certainly moving them around is much easier in terms of their size and weight.

I've had the 2.7s up and experimenting with positions for 2 days, and for the moment have found a nice position that seems to maximize their soundstaging, precision, tone, dynamics.  (They are close to the same set up as my 3.7s ).

Having lived with the 3.7s for years, how do the 2.7s sound?  First impressions: almost exactly like how I thought they'd sound: just like the 3.7s.  That same immediately identifiable tone and presentation, just a bit smaller.   And the bass seems quite satisfactory - a lot of the times it seemed to be going as low as the 3.7s.

But it wasn't long, in going through many familiar tracks, before some sight differences started to emerge.   The first is the soundstaging.  The 2.7s do that wonderful Thiel thing in disappearing as sound sources.  Very "un-speaker-like" sound emanating from all around the speakers.
(Far cleaner than, for instance, the Harbeths I recently had).   Images have amazing precision all around the speakers.  That said, it's not the same soundstaging as the 3.7s insofar as the 2.7s present a more forward, more present and less deep and wide soundstage.   This is something that would not be noticed if I hadn't lived with the 3.7s which are just about the most phenomenal soundstaging speakers I've ever had.  The 3.7s just can cast an enormous soundtage, almost life-sized feeling for jazz and even classical with the right set up.  It's almost like the depth and width can keep going and going.

In contrast, the 2.7s soundstage pulls all the musicians closer.  I can hear all the reverberation cues and spaces, but the instruments aren't placed as far away.

Also, in favor of the 3.7s, the big guys sound a bit more relaxed and sort of softer than the 2.7s, with a bit more carved out "air" around instruments and voices.  Plus, not surprisingly, instruments and voices can be a bit smaller on the 2.7s. 

The other differences are that the 2.7s sound very slightly more forward and present than the 3.7s, with just a bit more sparkle and shine in the upper mids/lower treble, giving cymbals, brass, and anything with a "leading edge" such as guitar picking or piano notes a bit more presence.  It's not an incoherent "tweeter sticking out" sound at all; they are incredibly coherent like the 3.7s, but somewhere just a very slightly different tonal balance.

Then there is the bass/midbass/lower midrange.  Voiced for the smaller woofer, this aspect of the sound changes as well.  It's sort of like taking the 3.7s deep weighty sound and shifting and squishing that energy upwards more into the midbass.  The 2.7s have just astounding "punch" and density - and control! - in terms of bass that goes up into the lower mid range.  There was a thread on audiocircle where the fellow who did some design work on the 2.7 chimed in:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=122636.0

His comments on the bass are right on.  Bass drums and stand up bass are so dense and punchy. 

So what this all combines to on the 2.7 is a presentation that seems more forward, more exciting, more alive, and even more "dense" than I get with the 3.7s.  Everything just vibrates the air as if it's really there, in front of you.  I had wondered  about the specs of the specs of the 2.7s because they are rated as quite a bit less sensitive than the 3.7s.  Though my Conrad Johnson Premier 12 monoblocks (140Wside) have driven any speaker I've used, I wondered if I still might here a bit of dynamic reticence in the 2.7 vs the 3.7.  No, just the opposite!  These things utterly kick ass with the CJ amps!  Incredibly punchy, ballsy and more dynamically alive than virtually any non-horn speaker I can ever remember hearing.  That is their main virtue thus far: the way the field around the speakers is populated by particularly dense, air-moving voices and instruments.  Drum solos have more pop, snap, punch, thereness and I'm more aware of the sounds and variations in how the drummer is playing (or bongos or anything percussive).   Stand up bass panned to one speaker sounds like it's in the room, moving air.

Vocals?  Thus far what I'm hearing gives some ground to the 3.7s, takes away in others.  I'm getting more focused sound, more density and "thereness" and a bit more presence, so vocals can sound quite astonishing.  On the other hand, the 3.7s seem to have a sightly smoother, more subtle, softer and organic texture for voices.   I can enjoy both.

Strings, similarly, have a somewhat more subtle, softer sheen on the 3.7s, just a teeny bit more rasp on the 2.7s, but also more dense on the 2.7s, more "moving air."

Overall thus far I'd describe the 3.7s as sounding more relaxed and cinematically scaled, the 2.7s bring forth more life energy, impossible not to be tapping my toes through pretty much every song.

I'm going to take a while in making my decision (as much as my wife is putting the pressure on!).  Thus far I love aspects about both the 2.7 and the 3.7.

And for anyone wondering about the 2.7 (who thought about grabbing one)...it seems they are pretty rare on the second hand market, but I can't recommend them highly enough if you think the Thiel sound is for you.  I've been auditioning plenty of more expensive contenders recently, but I don't know if I can think of a better bargain than second hand 2.7s. 

Over 'n out for now.

Celebrate Independence Day! Thank You- Veterans.

jafant,

I Thank You for All veterans on this 4th of July.

It was 46 years ago that my name was called from the manifest and I boarded my final flight back to the world.

I left Vietnam behind and 22 hours later was discharged from the service on this day.

 I salute All that have Served and Thank All that remember us.

Happy Fouth of July 

Peace

Norbert