Thiel Owners

Jadis I88 is also another good tube option.

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

dspr - Rob at Coherent Source Service could check your serial numbers for whether yours were upgraded to the "i" status. The difference was upgraded woofers and possibly an XO tweak to compensate.

For the room bit, I recommend moving them away from the side walls and back wall as far as practical. Just for input, try 5' behind and 3-4' to the sides.

dsper

Try moving your speakers closer together to 8 feet apart and maybe 
experiment with moving your seat closer .

Rob

Tom, when you say that you listen at spl peak of 90 dB, is that at listening position and if so, how far from the speakers or is that near field?