Thiel Owners

thoft

Have fun in your Audio journey!

Happy Listening!

Happy Friday! All

I wanted to share my experiences in the past few weeks with using Townshend Super Tweeters on my 3.5s. I have deleted my earlier post on this as it was published in the middle of a deep conversation on amps and I think it must have flown over everyone’s radar. Therefore I am reposting it as I do think my findings are worthy of note for Thiel Owners, and actually anyone with great speakers... and I’d be very interested to hear of other Thiel owner thoughts on/experiences with super tweeters.

Given that Max Townshend developed these around Quad ESL 57s, I actually bought these first and foremost to accompany my own 57s.

While they are highly impressive in that application, I have to report that they actually make a much bigger difference with my 3.5s.

The effects of these super tweeters are far more wide ranging than just improving the top end, which they do incredibly well. They actually benefit the entire audible spectrum and provide much greater clarity, definition and musicality right down into the deep bass.

Soundstage improves in all dimensions. Images occupy far more palpable spaces and it’s the sort of upgrade that has you listening late into the night to hear elements of your music collection rendered better than ever in the context of your own system.

The super tweeters have multiple gain settings to allow a lot of adjustment to best fit the system/room. It’s pretty easy to dial them in and find a beautiful sweet spot position. They are quite small and fit perfectly on the veneered top section of the speakers.

Rather than changing the sonic character of the 3.5s, they seem to make it even more obvious and my own feelings are that these wonderful creations by Jim now sound in a different, much higher class.

The UK-made super tweeters can be imported direct from Townshend via Audiogon and I can vouch that Townshend’s service is first class. They even offer a money back deal, but that’s easy to do as I struggle to imagine anyone ever sends these back after trialing them.

They certainly aren’t cheap, but the overall effects more than justify the investment. It seems that every subtle nuance is improved. Yes I think they are that good. They still seem to be running in and progressively improving even further, which can be most easily heard in ever more convincing timbre and astounding extra detail retrieval.

Not sure if Tom’s plans include adding a super tweeter to his 3.5 tweaks, but here’s a no brainer upgrade you can try for yourself right now.

Highest recommendation. A great addition after you’ve first added dual subs. I think you’ll love your Thiels even more. I know I do, and I didn’t think that was possible.

So, Nelson seems to doubt the forte’s ability to drive the 3.6 more than the adcom’s oddly. So I decided to risk it. https://youtu.be/X540Levd5nU
I don’t think the bass is as dynamic as it could be as it would be with other amps of higher quality.

thoft - Nelson designed the original GFA555, but not necessarily the other Adcoms. I think he designed all the Forte gear, but I’m not sure. He used the Thiel CS3.6 as a design load, so he would have the definitive opinion for Thiel with the models he designed.