tomthiel......yes, I'm a tree hugger too! :-)
...on the other hand I come and live in a peaceful place here in Tuscany, in the center of Italy and close to the sea, so could I not be?
I try to encourage you a bit more telling here how I ended getting, only few months ago, my since long time wanted pair of CS 3.6.
It was around 1995, I was young (now fifty five) already in love with the Hi-Fi but with much less money in my pocket, I already had a modest system in my room but was permanently on the search for better sound, so my main hobby was going around to attend to all the best hi-fi show that I could (obviously in Italy), my enjoyment was to listen to the best that the glorious brands had to offer, not depending by the cost, I clearly remember when jumping from so many rooms (it was in Milan) I remained shocked by a performance that sounded to me like a live execution more than any other, not so loud but so true: they were a pair of loudspeaker of which I didn't know the brand: the Thiel CS 3.6s.
I fixed that sound in my mind and never forgot it and I started to say to myself, maybe one day I will be able to own a pair. Many years have passed since, with some terrible things occurred to my life in the between but few months ago, after a long and deep search, I succeeded finding a pair in perfect cosmetically and sounding condition, this is unbelievable being them twenty years old but it is. Now I'm happy like a child and I'm sure that never and for any reason I'll let them go.
I'm well aware that Thiel speakers mean more, much more of a nice box, good drivers, well working XO and great manifacture, I mean, the Invaluable value behind them as the Coherent Source concept, the custom drivers, the extreme high level in assembling and finishing...and the soul of all Thiel's workers. All this is Thiel to me and I think that no other speaker manufacturer did or is doing the same.
Tom, are these reasons enough good to you to seriously think to a book?
PS I want apologize with all of you for my not perfect english and hope my words are understandable at least!
Silvano