Thiel Owners

Arniespin...

The reason I went for the BAT over a more powerful Rogue model was twofold; 1.) One just wasn’t available at the time and 2.) I like swapping out stuff as quickly as possible and getting a decent enough trade-in toward the BAT expedited that. Easy peasey. 

The biggest difference is the Goertz speaker cables. Slapping them in over the Transparent resulted in the 3.6’s being more defined in the bass. It’s kind of funny how much I carp about bass reproduction, or how we carp about it concerning loudspeakers in general. While I’m not a “bass” guy - I like “bright” - Thiel and Maggies get it so right that many other brands pale in comparison. Maggies lack it far more than Thiel, but both, to my ears, just sound natural. The ported Totem Hawks I had were truly good speakers but the bass was far more colored, kind of emphasized, whereas any Thiel I’ve owned just sounds right. 

We all have to employ a certain degree of “forgive and live” with anything we buy. Listening space, aesthetics, significant others, 
finances, etc. I will say that Thiel is about 10% forgive and live whereas any other component I’ve had is around 50%. Thiels stick, amps and stuff have come and gone. 

Warren,
your one of the lucky few that own a 2.4SE model and it sounds like judging from your measurements you must have a large room.
Have you tried moving them out a little further apart ?
Only the Indigo Girls song is familiar to me , buy coincidence
I listened to thier second album earlier , it’s Friday Folk for me.
I don’t have any of the albums by other artist you mentioned.

The room is about 14’ x 23’. You can see it in the Virtual Systems.

Oh I’ve played with the positioning of these, and my previous Thiels, extensively. I could always get decent soundstage and imaging regardless; but was never convinced by the vocals. i.e. the wider spacing always made it seem like the singer’s mouth was a foot wide, and accompanying guitars were 6 feet long.

I reassessed the positioning by using the Cardas placement equation as a starting point, and readjusted from there--4" farther apart, and 2" closer to the front wall. So yes, the dimensions break the golden triangle, but it seems to work, and impresses me with the most realistic aural output. Soundstage width is never a problem, as these speakers (unlike most others I’ve heard) push right to the side walls when appropriate.

As for the music:

Pierre Bensusan - Awali
From the album Wu Wei, the French version of this Folk/New Age song features solo acoustic guitar and bass, with layered vocal tracks and percussive sounds. I use it to test image size, voice distinction, and Pierre’s tenor articulation (he has a slight speech impediment).

Olivia Newton-John - Warm and Tender
This is a relatively unknown album of nursery rhymes and light AOR songs from the late 80’s. She uses her softer breath voice exclusively on it. It’s really close-miced, and sounds like she’s singing 2 feet from your face.

Rush - Red Barchetta
From 1981’s classic rock album, Moving Pictures, the headphonic quality of the bridge pushes the limit of soundstage width. "Wind in my hair..."

Deadmau5 - Sofi Needs a Ladder
This is an EDM (electronic dance music) track that can punish a system with the punchiness of the bass and sibilance in the vocals. There’s a lot going on here with its 3D density, and nontraditional instrument placement. Not for everyone.

Rammstein - Los
The original version from Reise Reise is my preferred test track of a audio store’s tolerance for continuous rolling bass notes and German industrial metal. This tells me a lot about room interaction and whether there’s enough absorption and decay occurring. Also, there’s rim ringing from the snare drum hits that many speakers miss. Plus there’s harmonica!

Cheers,
Warren

arniespin-
regarding Rogue Audio, the Stereo100 and M-180 are popular amps to use w/ the CS 3.7 model. Are you able to get an audition there in NYC/NJ ?
Happy Listening!

Good to see you- Warren.
second, Rush- Red Barchetta is an excellent demo/placement track.
Happy Listening!

Warren

I have used the Cardas golden rule using the near field formula,
When I got to 8 foot wide
(  as suggested in the Thiel owners manual )
I had the simular problem with the center stage , 
toe-in solved my problem , it took listening to classical music to fine tune it, the speakers are pointing about 16 inches out from each ear.  
Speaker placement and toe-in are personal and a great discussion .
the Prof has his speakers 8 feet apart and sits less than 7 feet away 
and no toe-in,
you have yours 80 inches and sit 100 inches away , toe-in ?

I've tried to get into Rush , a few songs maybe but I just can't.
You have created an interest in Pierre Bensusan after listening to  allmusic's snippets of him, never heard of him before so thanks.

Back to Classical Sunday ,
just finished Beethoven's 1st and 9th by Fritz Reiner & CSO.

Rob