Every time I throw the old Thiel 02s in to my system it tells me that’s the sound I’ve been chasing. Decade after decade.
Something about the palpability and tonality of the sound that grabs me every time. For some reason they seem to tell me more about what something is made of - a sort of solidity so chimes sound "solid," reed instruments have a solid resonating body, the metal of a trumpet vs a string instrument etc. I just don’t know why.
I wonder if part of what I like in the 02 has anything to do with it’s higher sensitivity - 90 dB/watt-meter. Tomthiel, do you happen to know anything about the impedance on the 02? Is it an easy to drive speaker impedance-wise? (Sure seems so just by ear, whenever I hook up any tube amp to those speakers).
I’d love a bigger, more refined version of that speaker.
I’m still fiddling with the idea of testing out the Devore O/96 speakers in my room, which have some of the 02 qualities, but bigger and more refined.
The aren’t as refined as the Thiels overall though, in a "modern loudspeaker" type of way. They don’t fully disappear as sound sources, do the wall to wall soundstaging etc.