Solving the THIEL CS 5i's - vs- CS 7.2 Debate


Well I have been a huge THIEL fan for years. I have owned the CS 7.2's for 4 plus years and the CS 5i's for 3 years. In that time I have been begging for the correct room / source / amplification setup to host an ultimate drag out and shoot out. The stars aligned post new year and I had the extra help to move these monsters around and begin the process to initiate a formal showdown of these extraordinary components and literal masterpieces of speaker construction and design.

To address the weary on what I leveraged to orchestrate this debate, the amplification stage was handled by twin KRELL FPB 650m's, piped through the KRELL KCT, AudioQuest interconnects and woeful Denon CD section. All other things being equal the downside on the CD and speaker cabling should balance the field between the two.

I ran a battery of CD,s and moved the speakers forward and backward, toe in and straight up and I now have what is my ultimate conclusion. At this point I am looking for supporting evidence from the community or welcome an additional party to sit and listen to the setup.

At some point in this thread I can discuss the nuances between the two speakers, however, I will come out and say that the CS 7.2's are pure illustrated magic and profoundly demonstrated a by far greater representation of what I would expect from the original source.

At the end of the day they were the better sounding speakers to my ears in that room, given this setup.

Were the CS 5i's able to bring tears to my eyes? = yes.

Did the CS 7.2's do a better job of handling the soundstage? = yes

I would love to hear feedback if folks have any regarding a direct speaker to speaker comparison.

I will also state that by themselves the CS 5i's sound brilliant.

Thank you,
David
davidstingray
Kacz, IMHO not too well, other than dynamic range the 6's were a very expensive upgrade over the 3 series. Again, IMHO one of Thiel's worst values.
Kacz - I wouldn't know what to expect from the 6's unfortunately because have never sat down with a pair. My guess is they would be behind both, but I have zero evidence to support that assumption.

Unsound - the 5's did a phenomenal job on the low end and mids. They were also extraordinary in demonstrating separation between instruments on either channel. However the pure and clean center focused soundstage on the 7.2's was something that the 5's was unable to duplicate for my ears. I found this particularly evident on higher end recordings. There were some tracks that I could even say that the 5's might come out ahead, but in the end the 7.2's would hold and balance the vocals dead center and floating. I guess that is what does it for me!
On one occasion Jim Thiel did the set up for 5's. The ML gear the dealer provided this time didn't offer the same quaity micro and macro dynamics as the Krells previously heard in the same room on a different occasion (on solo instruments the transient response was equal, but the ML couldn't compare on symphonic tracks in this regard). But, the focus, soundstage, imaging, and body that was demonstrated that day in my experience has yet to be improved upon at any cost, any where, or at any other time. Only much, much more expensive gear matched them in that regard, but those much more expensive systems couldn't approach the 5s for top to bottom coherence. YMMV.
I disagree with Unsound's assessment of CS6 as compared to the 3 series. It is far superior to the 3.6, in every way and worth the price IMHO. They are a steal on the used market for around 3K. Can't compare to either speaker for your shootout David as I have not heard them.

I have both the 3.6 and 6 and there is quite a difference.

Great post, thanks for sharing. Love Thiel speakers.
For $3K you can find 5s.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/THIEL-CS-5I-ONE-OF-THE-BEST-FLAG-SHIP-MODEL-/171215215943?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item27dd38dd47

http://www.stereophile.com/content/thiel-cs36-loudspeaker-specifications

http://www.stereophile.com/content/thiel-cs6-loudspeaker-specifications