Thiel Owners

Hi Guys - a report from the trenches. This week I have received my CS1.5s and 3.5s with EQ plus an Adcom 5300 amp. Thank you forum for providing these units for the hotrod garage! My setup is getting fairly flush, allowing comparison between various products with various sources and amplification changes via throwing a few switches. Also, I'm accumulating measurement data with FuzzMeasure to correlate what I'm hearing with detailed data. And add the decades of reviewer and user experience and your long-term observations and opinions, plus my recollections of how and why various developments occurred . . . the picture is getting much clearer.
Today's fun was hooking up the 3.5s I picked up yesterday from Harry Lavo. What a trip; I haven't heard those in decades. I get it. You 3.5 guys saved me from dismissing them as obsolete due to replacement driver hassles. Rob and l are actively finding optimum drivers to take the 3.5 into the future. That 20 cycle sealed bass is stunning with realism and immediacy. The 3.5 was the last product designed before CNC machining and all-MDF construction. I'll do the measurements, but my stethoscope says the walls are much quieter than the newer products. Their 1-1/8" particleboard is nearly double the stiffness of 1" MDF and the spans are smaller than later bass reflex cabinets plus the internal bracing is end-grain spruce, which is quite effective. CNC manufacturing dictated gravitation toward one material (1"mdf) including shelf braces. This week the EQ and its schematic are going to my tech for upgrade analysis. Anyhow, I'm loving the 3.5s and plan to tackle them after the 1.5s which are simpler as a sandbox. 

Tom,

Congratulations!

If you want to have some fun, listen to the 3.5s with and then without the equalizer.   Eye-opener.

George - I am aware of the veil imparted by the EQ, and also the magnificence of the 40Hz and especially the 20Hz bass boost. I am investigating alternatives to the EQ, since it has always been considered a mixed blessing, and is inherently limited in its audiophile values, is un-repairable in its present parts list. I've spoken with Joe who used to make the Golden Flutes for the early Thiel 3s. Hmmm.

The equalizer "went South"on mine. I've often wondered if a redesign of the XO would have made a difference. (And a midrange driver that wouldn't quit.)

jafant, It's interesting to think about what an ideal location for a retailer might be.  40 years ago I bet a pretty high percentage of people walking into Audio Consultants were people who lived in the neighborhood.  I bet now almost none of them are.  Certainly not the ones buying the expensive stuff.  I bet they're mostly taking special trips to the store and it makes almost no difference where the store is as long as it's in the greater Chicagoland area.  I was just poking around and F1 audio is moving to just south of where the Libertyville Audio Consultants was located on the same street.  They'll be in a shopping center kitty corner to a former United Audio/Tweeter.  There must be some demand around here.  The only thing in the area that interests me is the SS3 in Libertyville on audiogon.  I don't need it, can't justify it, won't buy it, but I want it.