Thiel Owners

I would not change the inductors but would change the resistors to the Path brand or with the Vishay nude resistors and build a bridge so you can reach a 5 to 10 watt power rating..Cost for the Vishay product would be over $100 per position. Other improvement would be to remove the crossover from the box so as to avoid the head banging it receives when internal. If mounted external then you have it at hand and can experiment at will. I have my boards mounted on 1.5 in. Audiopoints 1 in each corner away from the 2 inductors.Tom D

Tom - I admire your deep-end solutions. I bet they sound good!

For my part, finding cost-effective upgrades that fit the general (albeit stretched) value proposition of Thiel Audio has landed me on Mills 12 watt audio resistors, quite good for $5.

I agree about removing the XO from the enclosure. Not only is there head-banging, there's gradually rising ambient temperature and proximity to driver magnetic fields. The CS2.4 got the XOs pretty far from the drivers, but better is better. I have two forms of exterior mounting. Full-blown is a separate cabinet about 2' behind the speaker that facilitates air-flow and allows more space between circuits. The first-tier upgrade puts the XO on the back of the cabinet. With vibrational isolation tech, we get pretty far along that road. We also get airflow and spread opportunities. I'm pleased with the improvements over stock - especially when the music gets dense, loud or long - the presentation stays much cleaner and more relaxed.

The Mills are a great value at $5.00 but the Path are much better at $25.00.Maybe the Path's are not 5 times better but for me the difference is significant depending on how many are needed. The Paths are closer to the Vishay bridge builds. Tom

I get it. Too bad Thiel XOs are so complex. But that's what it takes to control a driver over 7 octaves without having detrimental effects on frequency, phase and time response.

One of these days I'll find the opportunity to put a Path in the critical tweeter feed.

TT

jchussey

Good to see you here again. Nice score on those CS3 loudspeakers. Thank You for citing the Serial Numbers (S/N).  You could very well be the only Panel member that owns this Model.

What other gear is in your system?

Happy Listening!