Thiel Owners

@tomthiel, Yes, you would think with quality that originally went into them, that some of the amplifiers on the used market would be especially appreciated at their now discounted prices.  Too many are caught up in marketing of the “latest and greatest” gear getting all the most recent attention. While there has been some improvement in some specific parts, these parts are not necessarily exponentially better, and many can be retrofitted to older gear. Some of the newer amps don’t actually perform as well as the older stuff with the speakers at hand. Interestingly, some of the more recent amps are actually based on even older circuit designs. Which in itself might or might not be a good thing. The perception of the suitability is sometimes different than the reality. The physics hasn’t changed. Not being mindful of the criterion used to make the lists, or how the maker of the lists keeps a revenue stream going; it’s as though if it’s not currently on a Class A rating list it can’t be any good.
I hope all your super good work(!) comes to fruition for us Thiel lovers soon!

I want update my journey with the Thiel CS3.7 now that some changes were made.

1) A speaker repair tech came to my house today and re-soldered the crossover wires to the tweeter and midrange of my right speaker. They were wired out-of-phase during a prior DIY OEM COAX replacement. The speaker seller has volunteered to pay for todays repair.

2) I discovered a damaged screw thread on the left speaker frame. Rob Gillum pointed me to a toolkit to repair that. It is being shipped to me now ($44). The original speaker dealer seems to have gone torque crazy with the driver screws.

3) I will sandpaper and lacquer the speaker because this speaker is never leaving. Rob Gillum gave me instructions on best approaches for that.

4) I ordered the outriggers from Rob G. for the day that my 4 year old son decides to climb the speaker.

After #1 was done today the speaker sound just opened up. The harshness is gone and the soundstage is huge the imaging is better. Just like I remembered 12 years ago at the store demo. I think it actually sounds better today on my all Benchmark stack than the all Classe gear of the demo.

Getting to that Benchmark stack. I have been disparaging the AHB2 Stereo amp with the CS3.7. Saying it sounds lean and not dynamic. I was thinking in my small room 194 watts at 4 Ohms should have worked. The amp also goes down to 2 Ohms but I do not remember the numbers for that. However, the sound was not that good wherever I positioned the speakers. I think I said on a scale of 100 it felt like a 75, even less on dynamic music. Today, after the out-of-phase fix the sound is powerful, dynamic and glorious. I would say a 95 out of 100 now. The room is still there so not a 100.

I am kind of curious still about the CODA #8 amp with the CS3.7 but I do know that the AHB2 will never leave this system. I caught a lucky break by not selling it a few days ago to fund the purchase of the #8.

So in a small room, see my Virtual Systems, the Thiel CS3.7 + an all Benchmark stack (with a single AHB stereo amp) sounds amazing.

I will explore the DRC implementation tomorrow now that the drivers are working right.

BTW - I was just thinking that reason that the it was easy for me to hear the out-of-phase problem was because of the revealing nature of the Benchmark gear.

I also now feel that for my room the Luxman m900u and the CODA #16 would also be viable alternative amps. I do not need the massive amounts of power at 2 Ohms for this room.

@jafant I ordered the Mofi version of Santana’s Caravanserai. My current SME version now sounds better on the CS3.7 than on my Meze Empy headphones. It sounded better on the headphones prior to my speaker repair today.

Looking forward to the MoFi version since you say it is the better version.

yyzsantabarbara

Thank You for the update. After a few listens to the MoFi- let me know how the 2 discs compare in sound quality.

Happy Listening!

@xyzsantabarbara, Yes, for a small room you can get away with less power. But, it’s at 2 Ohms where you need it. The 3.7’s don’t just visit that impedance, that’s where they live. What you don’t need is massive amounts of power at 8 Ohms; they don’t go there. Keep in mind that 2 Ohms loads are about 1/4 as sensitive as 8 Ohm loads. It’s all about what the amp can do in the actual working conditions at hand, all else is moot.