Thiel Owners

geoffkait, you mentioned the XLO Test CD.  Did you do the setup and calibration yourself?  If so, do you have any tips?

The XLO Test CD speaker set up track is self explanatory. The person who is speaking walks you through it. It’s ridiculously simple. 

want to have some fun and give your system a real workout.   try this one.   i have used it for years to test speakers for a number of variables.   https://www.amazon.com/One-Second-Yello/dp/B000AC5LD4/ref=sr_1_9?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1528039...

Batman, please remember that I was not involved with THIEL since the mid 1990s, so my observations reflect general approaches rather than specific product knowledge. Jim's approach was very analytical and different from many audio engineers. Jim chose to make the speaker's job that of translating its input signal into the room. A corollary is that preceding links in the chain were also required to do their part. A signal chain must be clean, which is a tall order. Most designers of my experience hedge their bets toward forgiveness. Jim went for truth.  When it came to amps and cable, Jim would measure and listen and determine how well a link, cable in this case, was performing its job transparently. I judge that Jim chose that Goertz wire because he determined that it did a better job of being wire and that silver, being a better conductor did it better, both measurably and aurally . . . and so forth. This determination is different from whether he preferred the sound of silver to copper, flat or round but rather that one was a better wire having less distortions. The lab amp lived under the measuring tower with cable runs of about a meter and the listening room had several highly regarded amps with short cable runs.

thielrules...

I have to say that my lack of enthusiasm with the 3.6 was due more to my high level of anticipating a significant improvement over the 3.5’s sonics which were and remain impressive. I have to admit that I pretty much thought, “wow, a BIGGER version of my 3.5’s...”.  Purty dumb...

Unfortunately, it is near impossible for any one of us to live audition Thiel because...   I, for one, was willing to invest in the upgrade path without having a chance to hear them first because Thiel speakers are truly outstanding stuff.  And I started with 2.0. 

I don’t know when I’ll be getting back in the game but my wheelhouse will always include Thiel, Maggies, Vandies...