Thiel Owners

Perhaps semantics but I think of electronics responsible for “black backgrounds”. I suppose the analog in the speaker realm is “transparency”.

IMO, Thiels are generally very transparent. That was one of the strengths of my 1.6s. That said, I heard a subtle “glassy” quality in the midrange when I bought my 2.4SEs in 2018. It might have been the FST-sourced crossovers (lower quality parts compared to crossovers built at the Lexington shop) or, maybe, damaged resistors (the OEM resistors showed evidence of overheating when I replaced them). That quality was mostly, if not completely, remedied by the Mills resistors. And my final boards not only have zero trace of that anomaly but the transparency is topshelf, equivalent to the very be$t speakers I’ve heard.

It could be that your 2.4s are more revealing flaws in your electronics rather than the other way around.

mrpostfire - I concur with beetlemaina, and can add a few further thoughts. I’ve been critically assessing Thiel speakers for future improvement - so I’ve developed a pretty good handle on them recently, additional to my lived experience in Thiel’s first 20 years and professional use of CS2.2s until the present. Rather than speculating on what you might be hearing, I’ll ask a question. Have you tried to isolate your problem sound to one speaker and/or one driver? It is possible that a voice coil might be slipping on its former. When that happens via over-work / heat, there is a raspy, hazy noise both from the physical motion of the voice coil as well as the large non-linearities of the diaphragm motion vs the input signal. I ask in order to differentiate between a problem and a general observation of "less black". Please supply more information because your commentt runs contrary to the general assessment of Thiel speakers and my experience relative to many peer brands.

beetlemania

Thank You for chiming in on this black-background matter.
Good to read that you preferred the FST XO in your CS 2.4SE loudspeakers.

Happy Listening!

tomthiel

Thank You for providing your assessment of mrpostfire's query.
I cannot imagine a modern Thiel loudspeaker (CS2.4, 2.4SE, 2.7 or 3.7) being any Blacker in the background?

Happy Listening!

Just to clarify for our readers - Beetle's 2.4SEs were late production with FST crossovers which proved to be inferior in some ways to the earlier Lexington units. The coils were not well wound and the wire is CDA102, one step down from Thiel's traditional CDA101 best of form. Otherwise, the FST passive components were CYC clones of the usual best of form units that Thiel had used. I have heard conflicting reports of when and how these Chinese units came about, but my direct comparison between FST and Thiel came out with Thiel sounding smoother, more open and relaxed and delicate, with the FST sounding more etched, crisp and clear. Although both presentations were valid, they did not produce a similar voice.; I would not judge them as from the same designer. My preference is for the original Thiel presentation as more musically enjoyable than the FST presentation. YMMV.