Thiel Owners

The CS1.7 is a different story. Its development was finalized by New Thiel via Mark Mason, formerly of PSB. Shortly after the sale, Steve DeFuria was hired as national sales manager and he contacted me to arrange a consultancy for product/ philosophical/ historical backgrounding for the new owners. The new owners were not interested in the "old perspective" and I was not invited until a couple of executive generations later when I judged all had been lost.  The 1.7 was a focus of contention for Steve. The new CEO wanted to call it "Coherent Source", a moniker they had bought. Steve judged that it could not honestly be called such due to its 4th order crossovers and resulting phase distortion. I have read conflicting reports re its slopes, so I don't know where that argument landed.

The 1.7 had an upgraded tweeter and a woofer with a star diaphragm. It got some good reviews, but did not get formal reviews from Stereophile or Absolute Sound. I'm guessing it sold very poorly in the confusions of leadership transition.

Prof - The 2.7 is on my long list. I am gaining experience by taking on older designs with more room for improvement and more urgent end of capacitor life issues. I am learning a lot as I go that will all apply to more recent models such as the 2.7, which I consider at the pinnacle with the 3.7 of Jim's art. I hope to form some sort of organization to implement the design modifications I am creating. But for now, the 2.7 seems stable and respectable as it is.

Thanks Tom, makes sense.
I keep meaning to address a very interesting issue you brought up earlier about the quest for neutrality vs...I guess..."musicality?"
I'll try to get back to this.

Prof - my present work on these products strongly suggests that "neutrality vs musicality" is not necessarily a dichotomy. The assumption that we must sacrifice Articulation / Neutrality / Resolution in order to get "Musicality" is not necessarily so.

And Unsound's slippery slope is certainly slippery, but perhaps doesn't slope the way we thought.

The work I am doing seems to increase A/N/R and increase Musicality by removing some sources of propagation aberration which have plagued Thiel speakers in varying degrees over the decades. Trials in progress.

Hi Everyone,

3.7s owners I would like your feedback.  What is the minimum size room you think is appropriate for them?  I'm not asking for the optimal size, but one whereby if you went any smaller, it significantly damages the ability for the 3.7s to image properly.  If you've moved from a 3.7s to 2.7s (I think that includes you Prof if I'm not mistaken), or moved from 2.7s to 3.7s, I'd be particularly interested in your thoughts.  I've got a pair of 2.7s and there are a couple of 3.7s on the market that are whetting my appetite.  The 2.7s are perfect for my current listening room right now but we're in the process of moving so I'm curious as to what size room I should have to fit a pair of 3.7s appropriately.  Not sure the wife agrees with my priority list for the new home though:
- Short commute distance to work
- Quality schools for the kids
- Properly sized listening room for 3.7s... 

Tom,
Curious when Jim was developing the 3.7s did he use a particular room for listening/voicing them?  If so, what size was that room?  Or was not a part of the equation?

Sincerely,
Batmanfan