Thiel Owners

I am interested in what caps are chosen by upgraders among you. I am presently researching my cap upgrades for the two pair of PowerPoint 1.2s I use for my mixing and mastering monitors, due to space limitations. That 6"x 1" coaxial is the same as the SCS 4. And in that near-zero diffraction ceiling-mount sealed cabinet, their performance is surprising. Mine are late, Chinese-made, printed circuit, non Acousta-coil, etc. with lots of room for improvement. I have high hopes for the upgrades on outboard point-to-point boards. Note that the 2.4 SE only replaced two Solen mylar feed caps with Clarity SAs. Today there are much better caps available today from Clarity, Mundorf and other brands. My personal experience (via consulting for other brands) is that the upper end of the woofer circuit is sonically important, especially with Thiel's first order filters, and that budget is the only limitation to sonic improvement in a high-resolution system. I'll keep you informed as I finalize and test my conversion. I suspect that hot-rodded Thiels of many models might make beetle's list. My apology for using the "B" word regarding caps. I meant esoteric high performance, not snobbery.

Speaking of Esoteric. A real eye-opener for me was hearing the newly introduced CS3s at the 1983 CES, paired with Esoteric Audio Research (EAR) tube amps. Astounding 3-D performance. Jim didn't like the under-damped bass that is hard to overcome with tube designs, especially with the increased demands of the CS3 equalizer. I love big tube amps with well-damped bass, or side-stepping the issue with a powered subwoofer. Of course there is the cost to consider.

Note that the 2.4 SE only replaced two Solen mylar feed caps with Clarity SAs. Today there are much better caps available today from Clarity, Mundorf and other brands. My personal experience (via consulting for other brands) is that the upper end of the woofer circuit is sonically important, especially with Thiel's first order filters, and that budget is the only limitation to sonic improvement in a high-resolution system. I'll keep you informed as I finalize and test my conversion.

This is great information, Tom! Is there a particular cap you think sounds best for the 2.4? Please keep us (and Rob Gillum) informed of your findings. My understanding of the CS2.4SE is that the Clarity caps only involved the coax feed. Care to share any details regarding the woofer feed?

I suspect that hot-rodded Thiels of many models might make beetle's list.

Yes, I think I wrote this very thing earlier in this thread.

My apology for using the "B" word regarding caps. I meant esoteric high performance, not snobbery.

Yes, I was admittedly nit-picking. "Boutique" is too easily interpreted in different ways. I simply wish you and Jim had used more direct phrasing to indicate the sonic benefits of the more expensive passive parts.

Tom,

Thanks again and please feel free to keep us informed.

I've never upgraded a speaker before so I'll keep my eye on suggestions, and it may some day give a nice excuse to drive my speakers down to Kentucky to Rob for an upgrade.

What kind of sonic differences might one expect from upgrading crossover and other parts?

Folks,

I'm somewhat amazed that this pair of 3.7s has been sitting so long on Audiogon (and USAudiomart):

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/full-range-thiel-audio-cs-3-7-2018-01-17-speakers

They are in a beautiful finish, apparently great condition. And at a stupid low price considering past prices for the 3.7s.

What gives?

Do you think it's the lack of boxes for them?  Or have the 3.7s finally lost a bit of luster on the used market?   I'd think the scarcity would make them even more valuable.