Thiel Owners

Thanks @jafant. I've been enjoying paging through all the threads. It's especially fun to see notes from @tomthiel, right from the source. My system is pretty simple. A Bryston BP-20 preamp to match the 4B amp. A Marantz 6004 for CDs. Straightwire interconnects. A Panamax line conditioner for power, running through a dedicated circuit to the panel. I'm not too convinced that the power stuff does much, but I was able to get the circuit added when we rewired our house. With a basic system like this, my feeling is that it's about at a plateau of quality vs. cost tradeoffs. I bought everything used. And I would need to spend a pretty significant chunk of money to get a marked improvement in sound. The things I'd do some time is a better turntable than the $200 job my wife bought, and a second Bryston amp so I could run them bridged and better feed those Thiel beasts. 

bworks

I like your approach- a simple system works for me as well.

Some of those Panamax models does steal current from One's system.
Remove the conditioner for an A/B comparison. Then, you can tell if the product is a benefit. Not all line/power conditioners work as advertised.

Happy Listening!

Happy Friday! All

4th of July weekend- All

Hi guys - an update from the hotrod garage. Recently I was lent a pair of CS2.4s for experimentation. Initial auditioning was disappointing, but it turned out that one coax was dead and the other rubbing. Rob rebuilt them, and yesterday I reinstalled and listened with John Pries in his fairly good room with fairly modest equipment. The room is decently proportioned, but has full glass on both short walls. Speakers are centered on the long wall with listening position about 8’ back and 3’ from the back wall, with an open door to the attic stair. Not bad. The source is Tidal hi-def to a Prima Luna 100 integrated @ 40w/channel and bluejeansish cable.

John had started with Klipsch (copper skinned) monitors, then 1.6s, which is what we compared with the 2.4s. The 2.4s are stock @3729-30, mid run with unmarked caps, decently wound coils on glass boards. Tidy work and better looking than Beetlemania’s later Chinese units. All the caps with design and early implementation as PolyPropylenes (Solen) were here executed as PolyEster (MKT), and the coils were not as tight as original, both a step down.

Impressions included lack of bass control and considerable bloom (small tube amp) and a slight upper midrange scoop. Otherwise, the detail, harmonic structure and resolution skunked the 1.6s. The treble was delightful. From out in the garden two stories down his wife Barbara announced "that’s a lot better, more realistic". I was surprised at the improvement over the 1.6s, which I had thought held their own pretty well.
We know from Beetlemania’s and a couple others’ work that there is room for improvement. First pass will be some physical things like my (for now) proprietary wire, thermal management, laminar launch baffle treatment and non-ferrous fasteners. These changes can be made without my listening lab, which has not yet re-materialized. I'll wait for XO work until I have some measuring capability around me.

I am pleased and grateful to have these gems for an extended time, to develop and refine some upgrade mechanisms.

Enjoy the music.