Thiel Owners

Hello everyone, it’s been a long time. Lost my job and finally got a new one, so my audiophile hobby was put on hold. Had a chance to dust off my system and start listening again. Man I love good music and good sound!

Curious if there is a sonic difference (improvement) when adding outriggers, or it is merely to stabilize the speaker? In particular, does it change the sound from my 2.7s? I got them used a few years ago and the original owner didn’t have any but if there is a difference, I might try to track down a pair, perhaps Rob might have some?
Also, is there a difference in sound (again improvement) if I use the stabilizer feet that does come with the speakers in case I can’t source any outriggers? I apologize if this has been discussed previously or in another thread. If so, I would greatly appreciate a link to them. Thank you for your thoughts!

hey Batman,   i have used both 2.7 and 3.7 speakers with outriggers and think they help.   however i strongly recommend testing feet from Gaia and the brass feet from Mapleshade.  i used them both with the outriggers.  However if outriggers cannot be used,  then  try those feet directly under the speaker. 

Talking about the value of our systems versus everything else,  I too had to laugh.  not counting my home,  my audio system is my most valuable asset.
True story:  in 1978 I bought my dream car,  a baby blue 1976 BMW 2002.  It was so cool and sharp.  a year or so later i got a job working in a mid and upper end hi fi store.  sold Dahlquist,  Maggies, and Infinity among others.  At this store,  we were able to get things at a special employee "accommodation price"  that allowed us to get things below dealer cost.  Oh boy.  since i really had no extra money (still in grad school) I did something totally stupid and sold the BMW and bought a cheap ass little honda cvcc (a pregnant rollerskate).  took the money that was left and bought audio stuff.  Been crazy about this hobby ever since. 

I would like to explain the basic principle behind Outriggers or spikes under the speakers, so that each of us can answer the question of "need" for ourselves. Basically, when a woofer’s motor structure (this means the magnet and voice coil) applies force to the cone, causing it to move in and out, the woofer itself has enough mass that an equal-and-opposite force is applied to the entire speaker cabinet. If the bottom of the speaker cabinet is not firmly coupled to the floor and rigidly stable, the speaker will rock in the opposite direction as the woofer, causing inaccurate sound from the woofer (primarily Doppler distortion). So we apply cone feet under the speaker, to stabilize it, and even better, puncture through the carpet to the floor itself. We are simply trying to make sure there is not even very slight cabinet motion possible, under the force of woofer motion.

Since Thiel speakers have a relatively small footprint compared to their height, it can be helpful for the cones to be situated farther apart than the depth and width of the cabinet. The Outriggers help in this regard, compared to simply adding cones under the speaker, due to their greater separation distance, as well as their firm attachment to the bottom of the speaker.

But, however you stabilize each speaker, if you cannot rock either one, and so they are firmly unable to move even the tiniest bit, then you have accomplished this "rigidly stable" condition, that I am claiming is so important to producing accurate bass. A well known TAS reviewer from the 70’s and 80’s, Enid Lumley, claimed she stabilized the speakers by hanging them from the ceiling with fishing line. She claimed that the weight of the speaker, and the long length of the line, did the trick, PLUS decoupled the speaker from the floor completely, so there was absolutely no interaction of vibrations in the floor with the speakers. I have noticed recently there is a growing number of audiophiles applying heavily damped, but not rigid, feet under speakers to accomplish this. This is a current "fad" that is growing in popularity. But that is another story, beyond this spike/Outriggers explanation.

By the way, Enid’s speakers were Magnepans, so their moving panels had lower mass, and therefore applied lower "equal and opposite" force on the cabinet, than cone woofers.

--Warren (aka "Sandy")