Scoring on Used Thiels here

beetle one has to hear the MBLs set up properly to hear what prof is talking about. I’ve heard it in a showroom but never at a show.

The OHM F5 speakers I have in my main rig are my attempt to capture that at home. They do quite well for a fraction of the cost. Most peoples rooms, including mine, are limited compared to the dealer room I heard the ultimate mbl demo in, often in practice bringing mbl back closer to the pack mainly in terms of soundstage depth and 3-D holographic imaging.

The OHMs do probably have an edge on mbl in terms of coherency of the sound top to bottom, as do Thiels and a handful of others over the rest. I’m used to that very coherent sound top to bottom and tend to levitate to speakers that exceed in that area.

http://www.fredsoundofmusic.com/specials/pre-owned-components.html
U15040
THIELCS2.2FLOOR STANDING SPEAKER PAIR 999.00
95U15186
THIELCS3.6FLOOR STANDING SPEAKER PAIR-AS IS 899.95

If you live in the Northwest Fred's in Portland has these .

Thiel 3.6’s impedance drops below 3 Ohms.

A little off the track, but four or five Thiel 3.5's make a superb surround sound system.  the various locations tend to cancel out room resonances and without room correction allow their smooth bass to really make itself known.  You haven't heard an organ at home until you hear 16hz on such a system.

Another oft overlooked consideration .... the 3.5's equalizers serve as a buffer for high impedance tube preamps feeding low impedance solid state amp inputs.  This is particularly advantageous for me as I use ARC SP6a preamps into Outlaw M200 monoblocks (10k ohm inputs) to drive the system.

Re MBLs, rooms etc.

I have a very nice sounding room as fortunately it was a reno done with the assistance of an acoustician. All the acoustic "treatment" is hidden as part of the design, so for instance the ceiling is built down and is actually covered in stretched fabric (you wouldn't even know until you looked because it's so flat), with bass/mid traps at strategic points behind the fabric.  And it acts as a first reflection absorber for the ceiling bounce.  Big shag rug, huge stuffed sofa, and a variety of velvet curtains, thick and thin, which I can pull along the walls as required.  So I can have my room "more damped" or "more live." 

I've recently gone "more live" with my room, even have experimented adding a diffusor at first reflection points.   I really enjoy the added energy and presence and airiness of the more live rooms in some ways.  Though ultimately if I had to choose one, I think I prefer a bit on the damped side (e.g. when I pull my velvet curtain across the first reflection points of the speakers).    This cuts out any wall bounce/room hash and the sound becomes lush and smooth, variations in instrumental timbre more nuanced, voices more fleshy and natural, and the finest details of room and reverb on the recording become apparent - different recordings sounding more different.

I'm trying to add a bit of diffusion to see if I can split the difference.

Anyway, I pretty much anyone who ever thought the MBLs sounded bright, harsh, strident or metallic at demos would not find them so in my room.  No doubt due to the more damped nature of the room.  They sound smooth, easy, yet ridiculously resolving - on a level I still don't think I've heard elsewhere.  I agree with Jonathan Valin who long touted the MBL tweeter as the best, or one of the best, in the world.  It provides astounding clarity yet sounds so utterly "un-tweeter-like."   Sonic objects are just "there."

Back to the Thiel show....and hey, Thiels are pretty good too...:-)