Thiel Owners

Beetle, I do recommend coming as close as possible to the original value, since that affects frequency balance and phase addition through the crossover. I am a big fan of double-bypassing and like your idea of adding the third cap to hit 27.93uF. That 0.33 cap can be ultra-quality which keeps the razor sharp leading edge transients from smearing.

I think that your first proposal built on CSAs is a better idea than the 0.01uF ultra with the SAs. CSAs seem to be a big step up from SAs, which were ClarityCap's best in their day.

If you do this mod, I would appreciate you modifying one speaker and perform whatever comparative tests you can between old and new. We can build a knowledge base here on the forum for the benefit of all, including yet to be identified upgraders everywhere.

Thank You- beetlemania 
for your diligent work regarding updating/upgrading the caps in our speakers. Keep up the excellent research.
Happy Listening!

Tom,
They were indeed Brazilian Rosewood... you picked the pair personally.
I requested a bold pair with great patterning. You chose this pair because I THINK (29 year old memory) that this pattern had 'great cathedral pattern? No,  I sold them about the same time I was going through a divorce. They were not only stunning looking, but sounded other worldly.
I miss them to this day.
Larry 

Thanks for the helpful reply, Tom!

I would appreciate you modifying one speaker and perform whatever comparative tests you can between old and new.

I should buy a pair of standard 2.4s and mod those first, enabling the best comparison. My wife would *love* that! hehe - I wonder if there's a market for modded 2.4s?

I *am* serious about this, and need to decide among the many combos. I could go straight CSA for about $375. I could go CSA/CMR for about $610 or I could go CSA/Mundorf SGO for about $800. Or I could put CSA on the woofer and spend more on the coax. Some of these combos require a 4th cap to get the correct value. Life is too short!

jafant,
I currently own a pair of Magnepan 20.7's. My amp is an LSA Audio Statement ... from the LSA Group that I founded in '06. 150 watts per channel into 8ohms, doubling into 4ohms and almost doubling again into 2. Has a tube pre section and is highly updated with some of the best parts available. Cheap op amps were deleted. The design being done by through the Genius of John Tucker, currently owner of Exemplar.
My Audiophile odyssey began in the late '70's. By '81 I had become a full blown nut. I purchased THIEL 03a loudspeakers from a dealer and picked them up in Lexington, just down the road from Louisville, Ky. That's where I met Tom, Jim and Kathy. Their obvious passion and love for music coupled with their obvious intelligence made me think, 'One day I'm going to be in the Audio Business.' Two years later, I walked away from a job as Vice President of a Company and opened the doors of my very own High End Store. THIEL was the anchor for me. If I couldn't have them I probably wouldn't have done it.  
The Iraq War and a simultaneous ruptured appendix conspired to help me close my doors after about 12 years.
Some years later, in fall of '97, I got a call on my answering machine from Jim Thiel. Those of us who knew him can appreciate this very succinct message. "Hey Larry, this is Jim Thiel.... long pause... I'm calling to find out if you'd like to be THIEL'S National Sales Manager... long pause... bye.'
I thought it over for about 2 milliseconds and called back. By 3:00 I was a THIEL employee.
For those of you who did not know Jim or Tom, and without pandering.... I have to say that they are BOTH two of the most intelligent and inventive people I've met... and I've now been around for 69 years.
That's pretty much it.
Thanks for asking and I hope this wasn't too boring!
Larry