Thiel Owners

harry - regarding 2 vs 3. The target frequency response is identical, including the upper bass x midrange. I suspect the difference you hear is based on power response in the room. The 3s go deeper and move more air. The 3s have a larger diameter midrange with a lower crosspoint, so room fill can sometimes benefit. Also, the top end of the 10" woofer breaks up more than the 8" in the 2 - that breakup adding more "meat" in the lower midrange. Some folks like that even though Jim considered it a flaw - less than accurate. Both the 2 and 3 have a first-order hand-off from woofer to midrange.

The bass rightness I was referencing is the deep bass. The sealed bottom end of the 3.5 and 5 allow a 12dB/octave bottom end which makes a gradual phase shift as it rolls off, supplying a natural sounding foundation.

The ported / reflex models (1, 2s and news) add a pole for 18dB, and much steeper below the port tuning for significant phase shift at the bottom. (Remember that the industry judges this phase shift as of no consequence. Most modern products and subwoofer crossovers produce 4th order / 24dB/octave slopes.) Nonetheless, real acoustic instruments played in live spaces and recorded carefully do benefit, in my experience and opinion, from more shallow rolloff with greater phase integrity. There's something less hi-fi and more real.

Yes, I would say the coax feed cap upgrade removes a slight coarse veil over the mid- upper frequencies. The MRA-12 Mills resistors add some ease. The drivers / cabinet have enough inherent quality to support considerably better XO parts. Keep up the good work.

Regarding wire. I suggest leaving it as is. Thiel pioneered great wire before wire was a thing. I believe I alluded some details in a previous post earlier this year. Summary is that Thiel hookup and coil wire is world-class and most attempted "upgrades" would in fact downgrade the wire. Our first wire in the late 70 resulted from cousin Teddy's recommendation for ITT aerospace 6-9s pure long crystal in teflon twisted 2/inch right-hand. ITT abandoned the wire business after aerospace contracted and similar wire is now made by others. Thiel wire is all certified at least 4-9s+ twisted in teflon. The coils are of the same wire and the gauges are optimized per use. Don't think that larger diameter, lower gauge coil wire is superior. It is not. The exception is late-stage 3.7 XOs from China with CYC caps which have Chinese wire that claims the same specs, but which can't be verified and industry insiders doubt its purity.

Our upcoming upgrades will add gauge to some input and driver runs, and replace series-feed coils with foil for extant wire. All certified 4-9s+ best-of-form. 

Thanks, Tom, for the explanation.  I think we hear the same things, but you know why whereas I just hear.  In any case, the 3.5's give me music .... I've mellowed in my old age.

BTW, I was part of a small group of audiophiles who formed a listening group for Jim once.  A mutual friend in Louisville where I was living at the time asked me to join in ..... he had a baronial place in the far suburbs beyond where I lived, and when I arrived the large living room was set up with an oracle turntable and Audio Research gear.  I believe the speakers may have been early prototype 3's (this was probably 1982).  In any case, the superior imaging and fulsom frequency respond were immediately apparent.  Once I got back home, the flaws in my own Audio Research gear driving IMF TLS-80's made itself known, although I kept them for another ten years.  Finally, after moving to Burlington, VT in 1989 I snagged a pair of 3.5's that served as dealer demo's.  Been happy ever since and later added the additional 3.5's and 2 2's for surround.

Thanks Tom for clearing out the wire quality 

Tom, I was thinking to change the resistors for the Mundorf MResist Supreme one's, but will the MRA-12 Mills be the better choice? 

Like the pricing of the MRA's compared to the Mundorf's :-)

Br,  Mario