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Thiel Owners

Guys-

I just scored a sweet pair of CS 2.4SE loudspeakers. Anyone else currently or previously owned this model?
Owners of the CS 2.4 or CS 2.7 are free to chime in as well. Thiel are excellent w/ both tubed or solid-state gear!

Keep me posted & Happy Listening!
128x128jafant
holco's avatar
holco
110 posts
 
Hi Thiel lover's,

Sorry for my crooked English.

I am a new proud owner of a set CS 2.4 loudspeakers,  running them with Audio-GD pre/DAC/amp and a Mano Ultra streamer.

Really love the CS 2.4 and in my experience the best sounding loudspeakers I ever had, but knowing the crossovers are always a compromise to keep loudspeakers affordable I upgraded the crossovers of the tweeter/mid unit with Jantzen caps, see also,
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/thiel-cs2-4-upgrade-to-cs-2-4-se

Because off the great!! improvement I like tho do the whole crossover but I am not sure what to upgrade, only thing I can think of is to replace the woofer coil for a nice Jantzen  wax coil, but what about the resistors in series on the tweeter/mid crossovers?
They are not part of the 6db crossover but the signal is going true them, confused!!??

Greetings from Holland, 

Mario
andy2
1,546 posts
 
but what about the resistors in series on the tweeter/mid crossovers?
They are not part of the 6db crossover but the signal is going true them, confused!!??
There are two possibilities:

1. The resistor is in series with cap that eventual leads to the mid/tweeter.
    In this case, it is worth upgrading them to better spec resistors.

2. The resistor is in shunt to the mid/tweeter network then it is not in the critical path which means it is not critical so upgrading will not yield any meaningful improvement.  But resistors are mostly less expensive so since you're already in there, might as well upgrading then as well.

I have not seen the xover network in person yet so I am not sure if the resistor is either #1 or #2.

Also, in my experience, caps make a lot more differences vs. inductors so upgrading the inductors may not yield a lot of improvement.  That said, there is sonic difference between foil and wire type inductor.  Having seen the xover in picture, the inductor coil in the bass xover is of wire wound coil inductor so it may be better to replace it with another wire wound type inductor.  The original inductor looks like having a 16 AWG, so upgrading to something like 12AWG inductor may give you slightly more bass.

Also looking at some of the xover pictures, the wiring may deserve some upgrading as well.  I guess it won't be much work to upgrade to something like Supra wire from Madisound.com.


holco's avatar
holco
110 posts
 
Thanks for your input andy2, much appreciated :-)  

I have the xover network,
https://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/16061554/1024/Thiel-CS-2.4/CS-2.4%3ESE.png
unsound
7,329 posts
 

tomthiel, I humbly(!) submit that I'm a bit disappointed that you would choose the Benchmark as a reference amp. While probably a very fine amplifier in other circumstances, it seems less than ideal for the task at hand.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/benchmark-media-systems-ahb2-power-amplifier-specifications

This rated 100 Watt (which is the minimum power recommendation for many Thiel loudspeakers) amp with it's balanced only inputs is not compatible with Thiel 3.5's, is not spec'd to double down into 4 Ohms, is only spec'd to 3 Ohms where it's only putting out 240 Watts and not to the sub 3 Ohm levels of some Thiel loudspeakers.

If one had already purchased Thiel maximum power recommended amps capable of 2400 Watts into 2 Ohms (wall power permitting), I think they might think twice before upgrading to "hot rodded" versions that were not tested the maximum output, never mind only tested into 1/10th of that.

After hearing years of complaints from those that have not done their due diligence and used inappropriate amplification and then gone on to disparage the Thiel loudspeakers, I would imagine that setting such an example might be fraught with potential backlash.

Most of the Thiel loudspeakers under consideration here are far from new. I submit that amplifiers with much better and more appropriate capabilities from their own era can be found at comparable prices.




holco's avatar
holco
110 posts
 
I have a Audio-GD Master 3 power amp (250W 8ohm / 500W 4ohm / 1000W 2ohm), it drives my CS 2.4 perfectly. 
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