naimfan - Some thoughts on the CS2.2 (where I’ve reinserted the rightful decimal point). The model 2 was a smaller-scale version of the original 3-way model 3 - less expensive for smaller rooms and moods. The model two often benefited from trickle-down tech. The 2.2 got the UltraTweeter developed for our flagship CS5 in the late 80s. Pretty good tweeter. It also got some driver motor technology including custom motor machining and copper coil and pole-piece shunts, new technology at any price at that time. The CS2.2 was Thiel’s first passive radiator which went on into all future floorstanders. On the manufacturing front, the CS2.2 followed the CS5 for which we got our feet wet with all CNC machining and serious Finite Element Analysis of the drivers. It got our first open lattice interior cabinet bracing and first acoustically frameless grille. It’s a very sophisticated product, especially considering its modest $2K class. (In fact many dealers and reviewers told us it would make more market sense at twice its price.)
As often mentioned: "they’re not for rockers", and so forth, due to bass output limitations. I have an update for that. The tweeter handles the load, the midrange does quite well, its low end being crossed over an octave higher than the model 3. By the way, Rob has a good drop-in replacement for the midrange. The woofer is only 8", but it’s built to boogie. The main limit is a hard splat of the passive radiator on bass transients. At least that’s what early reviews (John Atkinson in Stereophile) said and we all acquiesced. I never settled with that idea. I had developed that passive radiator which has only a foam plate and two compliant surrounds that glue directly to the front and back of a lip in the baffle. In other words there is nothing for anything to splat against. Hmmm.As was our practice, Jim was headlong into developing the CS3.6 and didn’t look back at the 2’s bass problem.
No secret that I’ve been working on updating these classic Thiel speakers for the past few years. My explorations led (via a long spiral route) to outboarding the crossovers while eliminating all magnetic elements (such as mounting screws), leaving only the components themselves on a masonite board; and paying closer attention to stray fields, wire routing and dressing and so forth. Guess what? No splat. I can’t overload them short of cringing. I can’t say I know exactly what was causing the problem except something in the crossover feeding the woofer and possibly midrange. I know the problem was there in spades and now it is reliably gone. And by the way, that big, wooly quality of the bass. Gone too. The CS2.2 can’t move as much air as the CS3 models, but it’s no slouch.
So, if you have a chance to get a pair and if you’re interested in making them substantially better in the future, there has been lots of work done toward that end. It’s hard to imagine you being disappointed.
