Thiel Owners

For the record, the CS1.6 is on my  upgrade list, as it has sophisticated, all-Thiel drivers and represents the pinnacle of the 1-series (pre-coincident driver) and there were thousands of pairs produced. There has been no expressed interest in the 1.6 upgrade, nor do I have a pair. So it is on the back burner, but simmering nonetheless.

Oh man, I’ve been spinning various records on my system and the Thiel 2.7s have just been killing it!
I’ve been receiving old Brazilian jazz/funk records and they sound gloriously huge and rich and punchy on the 2.7s.

Spinning the Police record Reggatta De Blanc - the 2.7s just reproduce this with such verve and energy. Having had the CS6’s long ago and then many speakers in between, one of the things I always missed was the Thiel’s way with bass - so focused, punchy and dense, vs the more bloomy quality of many other speakers. That’s what the 2.7s give me as well. Bass and kick drums have such a satisfying solidity and impact and density that just drives the music.

I can never see myself getting rid of these speakers. (Even if I buy more speakers).
Gotta sell my Thiel 3.7s though, within the next couple weeks! (I have some time off work to get such things done).

hi Prof,  after all is said and done,   and room size or traffic not being a consideration,   do you think the 2.7's out perform the 3.7's

ronkent,
I still think the 3.7 is the "better" speaker.  It's more open, slightly more detailed, more evenly controlled top to bottom, more neutral, casts the bigger more impressive images and soundstage, and disappears better.
That sounds like a slam dunk for the 3.7, but subjective taste enters the equation and that's where the 2.7s catch up quite a bit for me.
I find the sound of the 2.7s a bit more tonally rich and dense, with even more precise reach-out-and-touch-it palpability.  And a punchier mid-bass on down that really drives music even more than the 3.7s which can sound more reserved.  For instance, that tune I may have just heard on the radio may or may not satisfy on the 3.7s, but it's likely to have the "fun factor" and drive on the 2.7s.
And as I've said, the 2.7s seem a bit more dynamically alive - even the way a trumpet player or saxophonist will run up and down a scale, there is a bit more lively micro-dynamics of each note that give the 2.7 presentation a bit more life-force-like presentation.
Plus, the 2.7s image huge as well, so it's a very life-like presentation even given their more modest size.

So it's a question of taste, really, for me.  Sometimes when I hear the way the 2.7 doesn't image as well to the sides as the 3.7s - instruments panned hard right or left tend to sound more coming out of the speakers than floating behind them like the 3.7s - I'll pine a bit for the 3.7s.  Other times when I hear the utterly engaging density and punch of, say, drums on the Police record on the 2.7s, I feel like I couldn't live without that.
From my experiments with a subwoofer so far, I get more of the speakers disappearing, even for hard right/left panned instruments, on the 2.7s once the subwoofer is on.  So I think I won't really have anything to pine for if I can successfully integrate the subs.  That is, so long a I can maintain the tone of the 2.7s that I like so much.  I'll finally have time within the next couple of weeks to give my JL Audio subs and crossover a real go.

Sorry for the ugly formatting above.
I"m having trouble on this site:  I format a reply just fine, but once posted the formatting is all screwed up.  I don't know why - if it's a browser thing, a site problem, or what.