Does anyone have any experience with the 1.6 and either the 1.5 or 04a? My dealer in town does not have the 1.6 in yet, and I wonder if it is even worth the trouble to go listen to them when he does.
I am currently using a 17-year-old pair of Thiel 04a's and have found all other Thiels too "bright and analytical". I owned a pair of 2 2's for a while and had to sell them due to listener fatigue. I downloaded the TAS review of the 1.6 from their website, and it hints at the fact that the 1.6's are a bit bright.
The 04a's roll off above 15khz and below 50hz. In between, the tonal balance is very Proac-like, though a little lightweight in the lower midrange.
I have been trying to upgrade from these 04a's for 17 years and have briefly owned Fried G2A's, VMPS Minitower IIa's, and the afore-mentioned Thiel 2 2's, but I always keep the 04a's to fall back on as an intermediate solution. So of course when I hear about a new small Thiel floorstander I think that it might finally be the one to permanently displace the 04a's. I remember thinking the same thing when the 1.5's came out. I wanted to like them, but they just sounded too thin and bright.
My heart wants to stay with Thiel, as their customer service has been amazing. In the last year alone they have given me two new tweeters and reconditioned the rubber surrounds on my woofers for free. But my head says to stay away, because it usually hurts after listening to any new Thiel model for an extended period of time.
Jim Thiel obviously know his stuff, but I often wonder how much more product he would sell if he voiced his speakers to be more musical.
