31 - regarding your CS5 vs 7.2 query: my considerations would be more strategic than any one aspect of performance. That performance aspect is the type of bass alignment where the CS5 is sealed and therefore produces more coherent bass as it rolls off the bottom end. However, both products go deeper than most program material, plus the ear is least sensitive to time/phase in the bass, so I would attribute minor significance to that aspect. (Albeit, I personally like the CS5 bass, which isn't the point.) On to amplifiers: the deep bass of the CS5 drops well below 2 ohms and therefore requires significant and specialized amplification to drive it well. If I had a pair of 5s, I would split the bass from the upper frequencies for easier amplification.
Repairability: the CS5 lower drivers were Kevlar by ? (I may remember some day.) I don't know their availability or whether Rob at Coherent Source Service can rebuild them. Check on that. But, those were 1988 specialty drivers from a model that sold less than a thousand pair. So caution is advised. The tweeter is Thiel and also used in the 2.2 and 3.6, so it's available. Note that the 5 is a 5-way, so the integration of the drivers yields a very smooth frequency response and reduces excursions required of other Thiel products with fewer drivers.
The CS7.2 uses Thiel drivers and I believe Rob can repair those. He says there are virtually no problems with the 7.2.
As a general observation, Thiel approached product design as a process of incremental improvement. Each design stood on the shoulders of everything that proceeded it. I think of the 7.2 as a fully modern, realized design whereas the 5 as an evolutionary step. As I've mentioned before, I find significant flaws in the 5's use of bucket brigade delay for the 2 midrange drivers. That's a lot of circuitry for the signal to navigate.
FYI: I have heard the CS5s more than the 7.2 and have heard them both perform gloriously with the Krell FPB-600. Reviews suggest that any amp short of that or similar full-out muscle is likely to whimp-out under the CS5 demands.
All that aside, if you are inclined toward collecting icons, the CS5 is unique in Thiel's history. Its development was spurred by demand, especially from Japan, for Jim's ultimate statement. In fact I judge that he pulled some significant punches; it could have been more ultimate, even at that time, had he allowed a budget of $15 to $20K rather than the under $10K at the top of his psychic tolerance.
Now, a flight of fancy. In my dreams I would remake the CS5 to a higher standard. An easy fix is a cabinet resonance or two. Another fix is to break out the bass from the upper drivers for separate amplification. Now we're in no-problem performance land. Furthermore, let's upgrade passive parts for further significant improvement. Then the serious business - reshape the cast marble baffle for physically proper driver placement rather than electronic compensation. I remember the first 100 pairs were Brazilian Rosewood from my private stash - considered the finest cabinet wood in the world. I am unaware of any other fully 5-way coherent source transducer out there.
Such an undertaking would be a collector's edition re-imagined re-issue of the iconic and obscure CS5 from 30 years past. It would fly.
