Thiel Owners

I am a completely newbie to these things, but I am now a Thiel owner. A pair of Thiel CS2's fell into my lap last week. I was utterly amazed at how good they sounded, and how I could hear so much more going on in the music. I leapt at the opportunity to get them. I was recommended to this thread by someone from a different thread. Wow. You all are both extremely knowledgable and kind.

I have a question about adding a subwoofer to the system. Because of some of the music I listen to, and because the speakers are hooked up to my tv, I wanted a subwoofer just to capture some deeper bass. I went ahead and bought one. I guess I rushed it. No worries, as I can return it or exchange it easily.

The system I have is:

Thiel CS2s
Rotel RC-1070
Audionics BK-ST 140 (BT-2)
NAD 5000

The speakers are hooked up to the Audionics, which--along with the NAD--is in turn hooked up to the Rotel.

I bought a refurbished Martin Logan Dynamo 12" sealed sub for $583. It is connected through LFE to the Rotel. The main issue is that it makes me feel nauseous. This is so weird to me. I have never heard of that before. I feel unsettled and just plain physically sick. Some additional points:

1. It's better if I set the Low Pass Filter to 35-40 Hz, so it isn't in the same range as the CS2's. But I can still sense it.

2. It's also better if I set the volume incredibly low. In fact anything past the barest minimum volume on this makes me feel bad, and overwhelms the speakers.

3. I have played around with the Phase selection and this doesn't seem to affect anything.

It seems to me that if I have to set something at the barest level and it still doesn't sound great, I don't have the right sub, or the right set up. Do I need something smaller? Or a different brand or set up?

It's in a roughly 10' by 30' space with sloped ceilings.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

Ryun - I expect you will find good subwoofer advice here. I am not a subwoofer expert, but I have an idea about the nausea you are experiencing.

Researchers have developed Infrasonic Weapons which operate in the 2-4 Hz range which cause nausea to the point of debilitation and death. I suspect you might have an ultra low frequency leak either going into or generated by your subwoofer. If you have a low-cut / high-pass filter, set it around 10 Hz and see if the problem goes away.You can see such low frequencies as cone motion, even though you don't hear them.

That’s a really interesting idea! Unfortunately there is only a high-pass filter so I can’t experiment with that.

Thank you!

Unfortunately there is only a high-pass filter so I can’t experiment with that.

Have you tried the experiment of unplugging the subwoofer? The Stereophile review of the CS2 points out that the 42Hz extension is adequate for most rock music. And your system making you nauseous is pretty much the opposite of enjoying your favorite music.
https://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/1085thiel/index.html

I have definitely unplugged it for now! I can consider keeping it without a sub. But I did notice something lacking while watching a movie the other night. Any sci fi movie with a deep music track will make me want more bass. I also listen to hip hop and trap music. Those sound really great and clean without the sub, but there is a something missing. And even orchestral music, which is the main thing I listen to, sometimes feels like it could benefit from a little bit of something at the bass end. Maybe a smaller or less powerful subwoofer would do the job better?