Thiel Owners

In case anyone is interested TMR is listing an Amberwood pair of CS 3.6 speakers for $1399 + $399 shipping - serial# 1241; 1242 ... condition listed as 7 out of 10.

Tom, Thanks again for providing this forum for Thiel-philes! The schematic I found some time ago that says its for the 03A does have LF347 op amp(s) in it, so it must not be yours. Could you please provide the correct historical schematic for the 03a and/or any of the series you mentioned as equivalent?

petaluman - I can't be of much practical help other than referring you to Rob Gillum at Coherent Source Service. If the 03a schematic exists, he would have it. There is an aftermarket op-amp EQ called the 'golden flute' in a brass tube. Here's a little context.

The 01 series had a 30Hz EQ for which I don't remember the topology, but I doubt we used op amps. The 03 was 'improved' and also different in that it was a combination ported box with optional EQ. The 03a was sealed and its 'improved further' EQ came with the package. I do know that the CS3 is discrete with all film caps, etc. but may have caps in the signal path. (I have a unit, but no schematic.) The CS3.5 EQ is all discrete, all polystyrene caps (except for the unregulated power supply), metal film resistors and direct coupled - no caps in the signal path. That unit is presently being upgraded. Now upgrades for all obsolete transistors are available and soon there be will a significant upgrade. Still working on it.

So, in general, the EQ keeps getting better, but the only schematics I have are the original 3.5 and 3.5 Renaissance in process.

As I've mentioned, the woofer / enclosure parameters are conceptually similar for the 03a, CS3 and 3.5, but not for the 03 due to its ported bass. Let us know what RG says.

For the record, JAFANT provides this forum for which I am grateful for this way to share insider information among us.

Re: Wilson Audio, IMO, their cabinets are some of the best out there although I’m not a fan of the drivers. I’ve heard MAXX, W/P 7 and 8, and Sasha. One thing they maybe do better than any any other I’ve heard is create a sense of hall space on live recordings. It’s cool to listen to but it might be a coloration from the Wilson midbass hump?

They are good speakers, IMO, but you can do as well or better for less money elsewhere. I would choose my modded 2.4s (or 7.2 or 3.7) over the Wilsons I’ve heard.

@tomthiel

Thank you for your appreciation. My interest in high-end professional digital sources began twenty years ago. In my opinion, Merging is a point of no return. I can wright a lot about it, but I don’t want to go off topic.

Back to my updated CS2.4, I would like to spent some word about its. Saturday, for a few hours I listened they and I can say that I was very impressed.
- Resolution
- Holography,
- Sound more clear and cleaning,
- Naturalness,
- Linearity,
- Pleasure of listening,  leaved me speechless.

Every parameter of my beloved loudspeakers, that I know as the lining of my pockets, it was improved.

Really!
I didn’t think I would get such a result.
All this improvement I checked it out with only 15 hours of work.

What will happen in 100 hours of sound?

It was a hard work, but it was worth it.
My system has taken impoprtant jump forward in quality .
With these results, I bless every penny spent.

My upgrade consist in:

Outboard Crossover.

In the picture the cabinets inspired on the CS 2.4 design

All caps replacement.

For the coax I mixed Clarity Caps CSA 250V with Jantzen Alumen Z-Cap and Miflex KPCU 03 250V 0.1uF. While for the woofer, Clarity Caps + Miflex KPCU 03 250V 0.33uF

All resistor replacement with Mills MRA12. I paid particular attention to 16 and 30 Ohm resistors by inventing two passive coolers for them. As you can see, I inserted a thermal pad between the aluminum and the resistor in order to dampen the vibrations and isolate the contact with the aluminum.

I kept all the genuine coils.

I tried replacing them with Jantzen wax coils and the Cross Coil, but I got a bad result. The sound had worsened, distorting the CS2.4 sound characteristics.

As regards the components running-in and the relative improve sound, I will update you. 🙂