Thiel Owners
One of my favourite sounds are the times I used my little Eico HF81 14/w side classic tube amp on my big Thiel 3.7s! It was utterly glorious - rich, open, detailed, sparkly transients - they sounded even bigger than they ever had before. Really the only negative...if it was a negative...was that the bass became a bit "bigger." (I'm presuming from less damping). I say "bigger" not "looser" because the bass didn't really become loose or flubby so much as just...bigger and richer...a bigger bass booty ;-) Ultimately my CJ Premier 12s and pre-amp make for a bit more even sound top to bottom and allow for easier control of the system (e.g. my pre-amp has remote control which I need as my amps are in a separate room from my speakers). But if that weren't the case, I would have used that little eico on the big Thiels more often. I still have to get around to trying it on the 2.7s! (But..well...that project is now delayed...) |
ish - I know those Hales speakers very well. I consulted for Hales during their development and compared 1st vs 4th order XOs. Paul is very bright and competent and pragmatic. The development time / cost / benefit and all adds up to 4th being "good enough because people can't hear the difference". Note from these impulse responses that the speaker is neither time nor phase correct. Paul didn't think it necessary. https://www.stereophile.com/content/hales-design-group-transcendence-five-loudspeaker-measurements The sealed bass is awesome and Paul thought it embarrassed Thiel's reflex bass. OK. The sloped baffle was for the purpose of what your salesman executed in the store. The German who had resurrected Hales Design Group from the ashes of Hales Audio wanted SALES. By the way, the baffle was not concrete, but Hydrostone a fiber reinforced combination of portland and gypsum cements which I had developed for the CS6, but Jim substituted concrete after I left. Jim thought of "concrete" as the optimum enclosure material and Walter Kling who replaced me had an architectural/ builder background. Concrete lasted a very short time because it shrinks for 7 years and cracked at stress points. I doubt that Hales baffles ever cracked. Nevermind. Hales frequency response is exceedingly flat and its component and build quality is very good. But it is a horse of a different color. |
@tomthiel, my understanding is that the reduction in shrinkage is mainly due to the fiber. Is that correct? I've been wanting to build a madisound kit and make the baffle out of concrete. I have the concrete, a bag of glass fiber and some plasticizer. I went so far as to create the cutouts for the drivers. I've got little kids so what would take a normal person a weekend will take me a year if I'm lucky. I've been buying most of the tools I'll need slowly. Main problem is when I have the time I don't have the energy and vice versa. |
