Thiel 2.3 vs 2.4 the real difference

My Thiel 2.3's were early model, and I know that there was one major change early in the life of that model: an upgrade to the midrange driver that was reputed to smooth out the upper midrange. I can't say for certain that I ever heard a 2.3 with that upgrade.

So, the difference between 2.3 and 2.4 MAY depend substantially on whether the 2.3 has the newer midrange driver.

Art

2.3s started production in early '98 and the woofer was changed after about 400 units were built. The coax driver was changed (small tweaks to reduce resonances and a peak) sometime in 2000, along with a crossover modification to accomodate this. Both these changes are user-upgradeable, though many (most?) of the 2.3s out there came from the factory this way.

The 2.4 coax is quite a bit different than either the original or newer 2.3 coax (or PCS coax for that matter): more open basket due to a much smaller, more powerful magnet structure yielding more power handling and the more open-sounding mids. Apparently more attention paid to further reducing cone resonances, though it looks identical to the 2.3 from outside. Thiel won't allow any 2.4 coaxes to be installed in 2.3s, the 2.4 crossover is set up specifically for the 2.4's new drivers. Though one would think a 2.4 woofer, coax and crossover in a 2.3 would get you 90% of the way to a 2.4...

As I typed, I had both Thiels, side by side, in my room and the 2.3 is already 90% of a 2.4. Maybe 98%. Few people really do side by side listening. We all know how erratic sound memory can be when the element of time is involved.

Tim McTeague

Tim, care to tell us a little about the Linkwitz Orions?

Tim, from my original post with the 2.3 and 2.4 side-by-side for hours I suggested they *were* very close, with the 2.4 doing just a couple things a bit better. Depending on what's important to you and the subjective metric of "%", yeah, the 2.3 is 90+% of the 2.4.

My last post was saying that of the 2.4's ~10% improvement, you might be able to make up 90% of that 10% difference with 2.4 drivers and xover in a 2.3, the balance being their tweaks to the oval passive radiator tuning and enclosure (external & internal).

Like yourself though, I'll probably move to an entirely different speaker brand eventually when (if) I feel a need to replace the 2.3s...