Thiel Owners

Thanks @tomthiel, I appreciate your words.  I do want to keep the 3.5s, and I would hate to see them fall out of favor because of lack of replacement components.  I have the curves of the common replacements, and maybe the original (see my post above).  I'll publish them on my website at some point.  I'm also working with Oblgny to retrieve the components he so graciously offered, and I have an email out to Rob to inquire as to if he can rebuild them (assume he can).  Maybe what I could also offer is that once the original mids from Oblgny are rebuilt, I could divert them to either you or whoever could analyze them for a week or two.  That might be a start, no?  

Yes.

Damn!


I've been switching up my speakers with some others I own, like the Waveform Mach MC monitors and then my old Thiel 02s.


Sometimes I think I shouldn't do this, because every time I throw on the Thiel 02s I'm bewitched.  I think "THAT'S what I'm looking for!"  They have a magic tone, actually a sort of rainbow of tones, where cymbals and horns pop from the mix in shiny metallic, warm hues, guitar strings sparkle and sound EXACTLY like an acoustic guitar, with a woody body, voices sound beautiful, and drum snares sound so organic and have that papery "drum snare" pop and texture, bongos the same thing.  They have this magic ability to give electric keyboards, and electric guitars (no distortion) a beautiful shimmering quality like I hear in real life.   Strings have such beauty and texture.


And they image wonderfully.   Though they do have a slight upper midrange peak that helps give that glow and palpability.  They aren't as coherent as the bigger Thiels.  


But when I hear them I can't help but think "have we really come that far?" in terms of speaker design.


My 2.7s are wonderful and produce a far larger, richer sound.   But in terms of sheer tonal beauty, and in terms of the palpability and sense of life, I find myself leaning towards the 02s!


Then again, leave anything in the system long enough, the flaws come out and it's time to switch.  But...jeeze...there's a reason I just can't sell these things.   "Thiel 02s...girl!...I can't quit you!"

:)

Prof - your interest has inspired me to resurrect and study my 02s which are in transit from Virginia. the o2 is second order like Wilson, ps etc. stock peerless tweeter and normal coils caps resistors woofer and port. Unbraced cabinet, no anti diffraction tricks. A thesis could written on why you like them.

I’m glad to report that bluestone is local enough and/or intrepid enough to arrange pickup of the 3.5 drivers and crossovers next week. Seems as though he is as fond of these old speakers as I had been. And I’ve had a few. They are most definitely worth sustaining for as long as feasibly possible.  30 year old speakers that sound this good?  Yeah!

The pair of 3.5’s that I gifted to my nephew - with the mids repaired by Rob a while ago - still sound excellent. At low to moderate listening levels I don’t think I’ve had a speaker that put out such impeccable sonics - which may very well be the strongest suit of this model. Yeah, it’s an old design, replacement parts are scarce and growing even scarcer, but they’re still an absolute bargain on the used market.  There’s a pair in California asking $800, and there’s been a pair in New York for well over a year asking $1000.  That would be my personal ceiling given all the drawbacks aforementioned.  

It has been a LOT of fun watching the discourse continue here; the conversations regarding upgrades and tweaking these speakers is interesting as all hell even though I wouldn’t know a first order network from a short order cook. That so many others also find Thiel to be something very special is - forgive the very weak pun - music to my ears. 

Thiel was responsible for me getting back into “hifi” around six years ago with my first pair of 3.5’s. Hard to let that kind of influence just go away. 

Rock on, thread!  Best there is ...