Thiel Owners

yesterday's HiFi Chats via YouTube featured Dave Gordon of ARC.

Fast forward to around 30:15 where Dave said "not all USB cables sound the same".  I am sure a lot of people will have issues with that :-)

I can promise you that to MY ears there are differences for sure.  The deal with all digital is that it's so room/house dependent. That's mostly for power cords and conditioners and grounding.  Ethernet and USB do make a noticeable difference to me though.

Dave is a great guy and really knows his stuff.  He's fascinating to talk to.

As I understand it; a speaker might be phase correct but not time correct, where as a time correct speaker will be phase correct.

Hi @unsound,

All multi-way speakers employ crossovers, and the phase must align correctly or there will be frequency response anomalies and lobing effects.

What I suggest you do is look at the Stereophile reviews for Thiel and Vandersteen speakers and compare them to say Monitor Audio or Wilson. your answer is there.

One area in phase that you is always left out is the phase of the midrange cone during playback.  If you look at the Wilson midrange it's out of phase as it's not a true pistonic driver.  That's not marketing hype by Vandersteen.  

I have no idea, but I wonder if the pre 2000 cones were phase correct for any speaker?  There are break up's when they aren't pistonic and it throws things out of phase.

On the flip side of phase, not everyone is effected by it.  Some folks don't even notice it, but they may notice soundstage depth and pinching in the rear.  Those who don't notice phase anomalies may be more aware of stage size etc...  We all hear differently. 

I'm the first to say that I couldn't listen to Wilson speakers until recently.  They have done a great job of making a dynamic speaker, that is non fatiguing, but to MY ears lack the micro and macro details that I am aware of as my Vandersteen's don't smear.  It effects the leading and trailing edges per say.  

All speakers have to have compromises.  It's who's compromises you like best or who's marketing you buy into.  Makes it fun.