Thiel Owners

Tom, thank you!  Very informative, and that's a note I will save.

As for the expiring of the electrolytic capacitors in my 02s, what type of symptoms occur when the capacitors start to expire?  Not sure if I should bother replacing them.

vair68rober,

Thanks for that info.  I finally bothered to check and my 2.7 serial number is # 244.   So looks like they continued after the ones you bought.

The 2.7s were introduced the same year - 2012 - that Thiel changed ownership and Jim's designs were discontinued.  So they sure couldn't have made many of them (I wonder how many if any were made after 2012).

I sure feel lucky to have snatched up a pair, especially in the rare ebony finish, as these feel like a "forever speaker" for me.

thosb

Thank You for chiming in and reporting your Serial Numbers. Good to read that you still enjoy the CS 2.3 model.  Happy Listening!

Wish I had the money to spend ;-)

Thiel CS 3.7
€ 7.190,00
http://link.marktplaats.nl/m1349466028?utm_source=android_social&utm_content=vip&utm_medium=...

Some amp news - about a month ago I acquired a BAT VK-55, it replaced my Krell 200wpc integrated.  I know a 55wpc tube amp is not a conventional choice for Thiels, my 2.3s being no exception.  However, every time I spend time in audio stores, I always am drawn to speakers powered by tubes.  I saw a great deal on the VK-55 on another website, convinced myself that the BAT design had decent chances of working well (so easy to do when lusting for new gear), and was immediately happy when I powered it up - it really opened up the mids, with no loss of bass relative to the Krell.  High treble is still my room's weakness, the VK-55 helped a bit, but as not much as I had hoped - complex passages still get smeared in the top end, and too much sibilants esp in female voices.  Alas, room treatments will need to continue.  One thing I am really enjoying is the resonance and detail - for example, I can hear the sound of strings and the resonance of wood behind them.  Also staging detail, especially height and depth, improved.  If someone has a more technical explanation of why this mismatch sounds so good, I'd love to hear it.  And, just for you jafant, I researched and purchased what I hoped to be a good power cord for this amp - Cardas Clear M.  

Oh, I did make two tweaks to the VK-55 that helped a lot, probably not newsworthy for many of you - plugged it right into the wall outlet, and isolated it from the rack with a giant slab o' wood.  Not really, it was a big 1" thick chopping board I found at TJMaxx, well worth the $38, as this made a modest but significant improvement, even more detail and I think better bass?  I am afraid this means I might become a tweaker.

Prof - for the record, the first New Thiel team included audio industry insiders Bob Brown and long-time Thiel associate Steve Defuria. They lobbied for continuing Jim's designs and the CS1.7 and MCS1.7 were developed on their watch. A few of the original high-quality dealers came on board including Chicago area Audio Consultants. But the wagon never got rolling again. I suspect those 200s 2.7s may be the last of them. 1.7s probably have far fewer. BTW: I am investigating the 1.7 for upgrade parts for the entire CS1 series. Good reason to believe the drivers are highly optimized. Has anybody heard the CS1.7?

Regarding cap failure. Value drift is slow and steady and most audible via direct comparison with new. Since series feed caps block low-frequencies, as they drift the low end of the upper driver gets excess low frequency signal. Caps in tuned circuits (like notch filters) can drift to cause mis-match between the cause and the cure for erratic frequency response anomalies. And so forth and so on and on. 

Failure, however, can come as severe driver distortion, but more commonly exhibits as 'breathing' noises and thunks and stutters.

Bottom line: replace your O2 electrolytic caps, even if with same as new. I don't have a schematic and my pair is not yet here. The O2 preceded our phase-induced esoteric education, so all caps may be electrolytic. And the wire and resistors are 'ordinary'. Whatever is in there is highly up-gradable. This year I'll be fetching my prototype pair and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to resist going down the upgrade path.

Todd - I would not think of tubes as a mis-match. Tubes do some things extraordinarily well. And even their weaknesses sound very nice. My first 'blown away' experience was Tim de Paravicini's big Esoteric Audio Research amp when we introduced the O3 at CES 1978. Awesome, before the word became diluted.