Thiel Owners

Hi everyone--long time reader but never posted. Have loved the Thiel sound ever since I got my CS0.5s back in 1996 which was all I could afford back then.  Gone through several generations from the 0.5 to 1.5 to 2.4 and ended up with a beautiful pair of Morado 2.7s.  After mating them with a pair of Bryston 28B-SST2s, I was in heaven and I couldn't be happier, but in the back of my mind I've always wondered if the 3.7s should be my end game. (That's partly the reason I got the Brystons--they're certainly overkill for the 2.7s, but I've heard they are a fantastic match for the 3.7s.).  That's when I saw Ronkent's ad selling his 2.7s, and I exchanged emails with him re: his thoughts between those and the 3.7s.  He then introduced me to this discussion, and I was blown away!

Over the last few days, I've been reading everyone's comments and not only have I learned so much from this group, especially from Tom (thank you), I was also pleasantly surprised that there is still a loyal following to what I guess I should call the "classic phase-coherent Thiel sound" (as opposed to the current, modern Thiel Audio sound).

Awesome discussion regarding the upgrading path.  Didn't think this was an option until now!  Looks like the 2.7s are last on the list, which is fine because I don't usually like to mess with anything unless I think there is a problem...or unless there is something better, whether it's measurable or even if it's just perceived to be better.  But alas, that's the audiophile's curse, is it not?  To tinker, mess around and upgrade in an endless search for better sound.

That said, I'm guilty as charged, with having this curse!  Heaven knows, if I had put the money I spent on audio equipment over the last 2 decades into Apple, I would be able to retire now, hahaha!  Still, this endeavor makes life interesting.  Again, thank you everyone for contributing to this discussion re: Thiels.  Keep it coming!

P.S. Prof, have you decided to sell your 3.7s or trade them in for another pair of speakers? Last I can recall you were still deciding. Let me know if you end up going with the former route--I may be interested in those 3.7s.

hi Batman,   good to hear from you.   glad my  response got you into this group.   i have learned so much from reading all this and it is great to discuss our wonderful speakers with fellow Thiel lovers.   I use the BHK electronics from PS Audio and could not be happier.  They are a great product at a very fair price.  

hi Arnie,   i checked my settings on my REL  S5 and they are high compared to yours but i am always "fiddling" with them.  I think you might want to raise your crossover setting as that does seem low to me.  
i have mine at about 9:30 for the crossover and about 1:00 for the level.  I had set them originally for the 2.7's and probably need to adjust down a bit.  

Hi ronkent, thanks! I’m still tweaking the RELs settings myself but find that when I go too high on the crossover I start to “step-on” the 3.7s low frequencies, and that’s the last thing I want to do. That S5 is a beautiful looking sub, enjoy!

BTW, how are your 3.7s sounding? I purchased mine “used” but they really started to open up after a few months of enthusiastic play! The previous owner complained about them being “bass shy and lacking dynamics”.. I don’t think he actually gave them a chance to break-in. These speakers really do need a good amount of play to reach their full potential.

hi Arnie,   i suspect i need to bring my settings down but i would encourage you to raise yours.  i had some correspondence with John Hunter of REL and he gave me a rough idea of what he thought i should set the crossover at.  read below starting with my letter to him first

John Hunter (REL Acoustics)

Jan 10, 10:16 PM MST

Sounds as though you are in the right ballpark. Might have the crossover a tad high and the volume a tad low. To get the crossover just right, bring it down about 2 clicks-- if it is too low it will sound cold and hard immediately.

Increase the volume about 1-2 clicks and see if it doesn't get richer, fuller and more consistently fleshed out.

 

Kent

Jan 9, 12:28 PM MST

I have set the crossover at 12 o'clock (no idea what that actually translates to), and the volume around 11 o'clock.

Kent Tager

batmanfan,

I've made numerous comparisons of my 2.7s vs my 3.7s in this thread and I'm presuming you've read them already (as you said you've read through the thread).

Of course I empathize with the audiophile nag in the back of the mind "could I have gotten something better?"   I'd originally been deliberating between buying a pair of used 2.7s in beautiful ebony, vs the 3.7s in other finishes (very nice finishes, but none in my preferred ebony finish were available).

The 2.7s would be an obviously better fit for my room size/aesthetics wise.  But I thought if I bought them I may well end up thinking "these sound so great that I wonder how much better the 3.7s would have been."

I chose 3.7s over 2.7s so that I wouldn't have that niggling doubt that I didn't go for the best I could get.   The 3.7s turned out to be awesome and sonically fantastic in my room.  But the funny thing is, especially due to the 3.7s physical size in my room, I started wondering "maybe I should have gone for those 2.7s after all."

It's a curse ;-)

So when the 2.7s in ebony showed up on audiogon I couldn't resist to try them out.

And it turns out, it seems: yes, the 2.7s are the one that best fits my needs.  

As for selling my 3.7s, I have decided I'd like to sell them soon, but still haven't decided which route I'll take - trade in, selling them only for local pick up, or opening it up to selling them to someone on Audiogon.