Thiel Owners


Guys-

I just scored a sweet pair of CS 2.4SE loudspeakers. Anyone else currently or previously owned this model?
Owners of the CS 2.4 or CS 2.7 are free to chime in as well. Thiel are excellent w/ both tubed or solid-state gear!

Keep me posted & Happy Listening!
jafant
Hi, y'all.  Been away from the thread for awhile, but not from the subject.  I'll explain in a minute.

About a year ago, warjarrett ("Sandy") wrote back to Tom and myself about both the Amber amp I had suggested for Thiels, and on the subject of tubes vs transistors in general. Sandy said as the conclusion of the note: " So my advice is that just about any stereo tube amp, with at least 60 wpc, into the CS3.5 is pure heaven. With solid state, you need to be more careful to audition in advance, and don’t go lower than 100 wpc in power."  I now find myself concurring completely.

At the time of Sandy's note I had been thinking about returning to tubes. I had previously driven my first pair of 3.5's with an ARC D90 and later a VTL ST-85. But after many changes to the system I ended up with solid state, and still later substitued the Amber Series 70 amplifiers that both Sandy and I think are well suited for Thiels.

Just after the first of this year, a pristine ST-85 came on the market at a good price and I snapped it up.  It sounded great (again) with the 3.5's, but even better with my 2.2's.  So eventually the 85 ended up with the 2.2's in my second system, and I started looking for ST-150's, which are VTL's "Big Brother" to the ST-85s.  The 150 is a brute-force amp powered by two quad's of 6550 or KT88 tubes and massive VTL transformers.  The thing weighs over 65 pounds out of the box and puts out 150wpc into 5 ohms, which happens to be the Thiel 3.5's actual impedance for a perfect match.  But the aspect that really enticed me is it's ability to be switched to Triode mode, where it puts out 65wpc of pure tube bliss.  My system has now reached a state of musical finesse never before experienced. So Sandy was right in claiming that his Triode tube amp used with the 3.5's took him to a new place.

The moral: if you want to try tubes with Thiels, don't be shy .... but make sure you have 60 or 90wpc, and if it is triode, even better.  And I can highly recommend these two VTL amps for the purpose.

I never got the accolades given to the Cowboy Junkies "Trinity Sessions" album when I listened to it with all the other semi-decent systems I had. With the CS3.7 I get this album. Rather brilliant recording on the 3.7's.
Speaking of tubes i also did consider integrated tube amps to drive CS 3.7s, the ones i was looking at are the Allnic T-2000 25th and the VAC Sigma 170i.Both of this integrated could probably do the job at moderate volumes in medium size room.
Hi All,

I have a couple of questions.

1. regarding Thiel CS 5 versus CS 5i speakers. My pair of Thiels say CS5 on the bottom of the cabinet and I've posted pictures to sell them.

One of the responses to my ad was to tell me that the speakers look like CS 5is because the middle woofer looks different (it has a smaller dust cap) compared to the upper and lower woofers. Does anyone know if this difference in woofers indicates that they are CS 5is?

2. I am also looking for advice on what else to try with my Thiels to make them disappear in the room. I was active on this forum about a year of two ago as I fought my way through amplifiers and DACs to  make the Thiels sound good. My McCormack DNA-500 drives them effortless and my Theta ProBasic III DAC got the treble to my liking. I also used room treatments to improve the bass response and absorption to further manage the treble. 

However, I could never make them disappear in my room. Logistics force  them to be about three feet from the front walls, ten feet from the listening position, ten feet between the speakers, one speaker is within three feet of one sidewall, and there is 15 feet of open space behind me.

By contrast I recently placed a pair of Tyler Acoustics MM5X's, a much smaller speaker, with a 60 WPC CJ tube amp in the same space and they disappeared in the room and have better dynamics. Its like magic compared to the Thiels.

I know the Thiels are a great speaker but want to know if there are any other ideas to try before I complete a sale of them....

Thanks, for listening,

Dsper