Having begun with the CS2.2's, then CS2.3's, then CS3.5's, then CS3.6's, and now with my recently acquired pair of CS2.4's I think I can offer a little healthy opinion upon what one may encounter when "moving up" the Thiel product line. Again, I stress that all the forthcoming observations are exclusively "IMHO" based; I don't know a mosfet from a misfit, but I know what I like.
For the life of me I cannot recall the associated equipment I had when I acquired the pair of CS2.2's, but I do remember how astonished I was when I first hooked them up. I would guess that the power source and playback equipment I had at the time was pretty modest - I joined Audiogon in 2013, somehow stumbling upon it as I was searching for yet another piece of vintage, circa 1970's stereo receivers. You know, the old Marantz, Pioneer, Sansui two-step.
All of a sudden everything sounded better. I was hearing things in my collection that I'd never head before. The music sounded natural, clean. I didn't keep those for too long because a pair of CS2.3's appeared. A move up the line? If these "cheap" speakers sounded so good I imagined what stepping up a model would provide. So I did. And I was right. The two models struck me as being very similar, with the advantage however small or large going to the CS2.3's. The CS2.3's just..."rounded" things off for me, developed a keener sense of space and depth. It was here that I started looking into better equipment. I was still using - *gasp!* - big box store basic cabling throughout my system. I never truly gave the notion much thought.
Not much longer after this pair, a pair of CS3.5's appeared on another site. By this time I had delved into Jim Thiel's legacy as deeply as I could, reading anything I could, whenever I could. I was impressed by his philosphy, his common sense, and the technical prowess hepossessed that all came to fore with what I was hearing. It was very much like the first time I tasted a bonafide Chablis. I had a bottle, I had a rather weighty and opinionated tome to refer to as I sampled the wine for the first time. "Wow. I actually GET this.", I thought. (And thus began my career in the wine biz.)
I met the gent who was selling the CS3.5's in a shopping center parking lot somewhere in lower Massachusetts. I forked over the $850 smackeroos, loaded the heavy speakers into my vehicle and sped home. Literally. I think I averaged 85 mph all the way - including my driveway.
These were noticeably heavier than the CS2.3's were. 70 pounds a piece, but relatively shorter than the previous pairs, and substantially shorter than the pair of CS3.6's that I would obtain later on.
Now here is where my appreciation for Thiel quite literally exploded. I wired 'em up, tossed a disc into the player, and started back to my seating position. (Which was then as it is now, approximately 10-12 feet away depending on what time of year it is and what holiday/home decor is going on.) I was literally stopped in my tracks. A true "a-ha!" moment if ever I had one. The CS3.5's simply opened up everything into another sonic dimension. For one thing there was a lot more bass, but it was natural sounding bass, as if it it wasn't being reproduced by a loudspeaker. It had bounce...pressure. It "fit" is the best way I can describe it, it didn't crowd or muffle other things. The mids and highs were indescribably defined. Wow. I put on Joni Mitchells's Don Juan's Reckless Daughter and cued up "Paprika Plains," bumping the track forward by 30 second intervals until I reached the point that Weather Report brings the tune to its end. Damn! Even at the modest volume level I was listening at, that truly amazing finish could be felt.
For the record here I submit that I employed the bass EQ all of the time. Not knowing a mosfet from a misfit, I figured that Jim Thiel designed the system with that in mind and who was I to decide against using it? I cannot offer an opinion to how they sounded without it.
And then I got silly. Since joining the site in 2013 I have catalogued over 100 sales and purchases combined, and this excludes the same I have catalogued via other sites and the two bricks and mortar shops I occassion here in New York metro. My soon to be married nephew was bequeathed that particular pair of 3.5's. and he still has them.
The convoluted point I am trying to reach here is that the described progression up the line was organic. Each model paid tribute to the previous model while offering superior sonics. The 2.2 struck me as very similar to the 2.3, but the 3.5 just upped the ante by miles.
Various pairs of relatively local CS3.6's appeared on the sites from time to time, and I let them slip away. Some had seen some rough service - which struck me as odd for a speaker as revered as Thiel - people usually take very good care of them, right? Then a pair appeared on the Saturday Audio site, or US Audio Mart - I forget which. $1300. Hmmm.A fellow member here messaged me to relate that he had only just been in their store recently and saw the speakers on display. I pounced. $300 shipping + $1300. The other pairs I had let slip away were right in that average. They still appear to be in that range currently. Also, it was the beginning of the new year and I was flush with holiday bonuses and tax refunds. Whee!
Man, did the seller over-pack the shipment. I think I was swimming in cardboard dust and styrofoam peanuts for days. (I absolutely LOATHE the styrofoam peanuts.)
What I was expecting was that same sort of bump, that same sort of rush I experienced with the CS3.5's. The 3.6's are physically larger than the CS3.5's so the drivers are positioned at different heights. Where the CS3.5's defined everything at my preferred listening level, the CS3.6's would not do so until I turned up the volume. This is not to imply that the CS3.6 is inferior to the CS3.5, but it is a remarkable departure from it where as the progression I described from the CS2.2 to the CS3.5 was...well, progressive? A little more this, a little more that as I moved ahead. When I played the CS3.6's at volume levels higher than usual there was absolutely no doubt it was a Thiel.
I had to sell off all of my equipment last year because 2018 was very unkind to your's truly. In a word, it just sucked. I shipped off the Modwright KWI200 integrated, the Sony HAPZ1es, the Marantz TT-15 Turntable...but I wouldn't ship the CS3.6's. They arrived to me in excellent condition and I wanted to make sure that their new owner would receive them in the same condition.
All of my stuff was sold off this site. The new owner of the CS3.6's picked them up. I actually apologized for not having an amplifier on hand so he could listen. But the buyer knew what he was getting....
Anyway...2019 has improved enough to the point where I started regrouping the necessities of my humble life. I stumbled upon a Belles 250i integrated amp. Wow. This is SUCH a Thiel champion I can't restrain myself.
The biggest difference I am finding about my newly acquired CS2.4's is that they have a much narrower sweet spot than any of the other Thiel models I've owned. Almost Magnepan-like. I have been playing around with positioning, as well as with a few of the remaining cables I hadn't sold off, and all is going well. Was it Jim Thiel who mentioned the "other room" test?I was returning from my outside deck to the kitchen one afternoon and noticed how beautiful the sound was. There, some twenty feet away from the right speaker, partially blocked by two walls, I thought, "wow."
And that's Thiel in a nutshell.
