Thiel Owners

jafant - Yes, I have been working with Dave since I began this venture in 2018. We have had 3 orders in total to compare critical elements using CSA, CMR (plain and encapsulated) and now Purity - all in the range of voltages. I've also compared other brands and borrowed from Dave some exotic flat stack and series caps. I'm quite confident regarding where the path has led. This present delivery took a year due in part to fallout from Covid, in part from start-up rigors of the Purity line and, in part due to two ownership changes at ClarityCap. Things now seem to be on solid footing.

A couple of developments: one is the Purity line which multiplies the advantages of the CSA copper end caps which are 1mm thick, and outperform every other end cap I've studied or heard. Purity increases those caps to 10mm thick which allows some 3D geometric utilization. Purity were projected to add 30% to the CSA cost at the same voltage, but in fact have approximately tripled the price of the CSA. The Van den Hull pure silver wire is now only available in Purity line whereas it had also been an option (very worthwhile) in CSA.

Dave had also guided me to testing Reliable's RTX (best) ultra-bypass caps which use a multiple parallel x series configuration for astonishingly good performance at a very affordable price. Wilson bought Reliable and has tripled the prices, which may still be worthwhile. Meanwhile Duelund has some magical stacked foil caps that are oh so good at considerably higher cost.

My challenge is choosing combinations of caps that retain Thiel's traditional value orientation, albeit on a higher plateau. Thiel is not Wilson or Magico. We won't be incorporating $1K caps.

Dave has been an enormous help, and generous with sharing his extensive knowledge. Again, thanks for the introduction.

tomthiel

Outstanding! Good to read that you are working with Dave. He is one of this thread early adopters. In a previous life he was a proponent for Thiel Audio. You are in excellent company! Give the fans and owners on The  Panel a cost analysis of Clarity Caps in 2023.  Have fun in your Hot Rod space.

Happy Listening!

Quick update - CS2.4 coax and woofer PCBs now have Mills MRA12 resistors and Mundorf elecrolytics. Not finding newer 28uf and 14uf capacitors and going back to 27uf+1uf and 13uf+1uf not likely to fit well at all. These PCBs may have gone as far as they can go. It is possible to get the SE update from Rob (legacy technology), Mills MRA12 resistors and Mundorf 100uf electrolytics. There is some space between the .15mh/18ga inductor and 28uf capacitor but not likely a good setup.

Not ideal (might redo and lay flat):

Tom, I agree with your assessment of the original Bryston, great and tight bottom end bass, but upper frequencies were hard sounding with the Thiels.  I went to an Aragon 100W @ 8 ohms power amp, was a little hard sounding but switched to  tube preamps, 1st a lower end Counterpoint which I didn't like that much and then a CJ preamp which improved the mids and highs of the Thiels.  I wanted to go HT multi-channel and bought a used Chiro combo of preamp and 3 and 2 channel amps which I though sounded great.  I got nervous when the company went out of business and sold them around 20 year ago, miss them, for a Denon 125W x 7 CH AVR with the fancy RC-2 remote.  Used for 6 years, but the GUI went out and I bought a newer Denon AVR also 125 w.  I still have the original AVR set at 5 CH, but no on-screen due to bad GUI board.  I thought about using this for the main front amps for the Thiels, but specs only indicated 6 ohms, didn't see 4 ohn capable.  Do you know anyone with success using a newer Emotiva Basx 2 CH power amp which is rated at 240 W at 4 ohms?  I have 2 Gallo round subs for the base, but still run Thiels at large which taxes the Denon?  Some say to set it to small?  Back to the CS 2 2's, I have noticed the high end seems distorted and hard on the ears, but I am not sure what the cause is yet, I have to do some trouble shooting by substituting other main speakers.  I have been considering selling the Thiels, but realizee the cost of replacing them would be many $1,000's.

I have seen reviews and ads for SVS Tower speakers for around $900 each, but haven't heard them yet.  I have read about tweeters and mid-ranges having to be rebuilt or replaced after some time.  I believe the speakers are around 32 years old and have been used at normal volumes almost every day.

I am interested in possible lower cost upgrades I can do myself with limited skills. I have read the drivers can be removed and shipped at a much lower cost.

I live in S Florida near Ft Lauderdale, have the original shipping boxes, but know just the 2 way shipping to Rob at Coherent would be quite expensive.

Any upgrades suggestions would be greatly appreciated and what I should convey to Rob. Sorry for the long e-mail, but I know you appreciate lots of details from the many informative posts you have put on this thread.

I never heard of Thiel speakers, but in 1986 I accompanied a friend down to Sound Components in Coral Gables to see Peter where my friend was shown the original CS-2 speakers which we auditoned and were blown away.  He put a deposit on them, but changed his mind and bought something else.  I was so impressed that I sold my speakers, I believe Kef's, and purchased the pair he had on hold. I switched about 6 years years later to the CS 2 2's which I have enjoyed for over 30 years. The last year the sound changed, but I will be doing my trouble shooting this week to see what I can narrow this down too.  My other equipment are both vintage Thorens TD-145 MK II with original Shure V-15 Type IV  cartridge with new Shibata stylus, not even 3 total hours of use.  Heard the stylus needs break-in.  Original Cal Audio Icon MK II with the Power Boss HDCD upgrade.

Thank you again in advance for your response.  I am really forward to your input on my many questions

Richard

Richard - despite the detail I put into my own responses, I am not very familiar with with very much equipment on the market. So I can't provide any meaningful comments on particular equipment and setups. I can say to avoid any amp that doesn't specifically state their 4-ohm load performance because if it could, they would say so - so it can't. A straining amp is the most common cause of tweeter failure - by far.

You trouble-shooting should identify whether or not your high-frequency problem is indeed a tweeter problem. If it is, you hit 'our' problem on the head. That Thiel UltraTweeter moving system is obsolete, and the soft-dome replacement available from Madisound has different sonic characteristics. It will work, and we will eventually have a certified replacement. There is also a drop-in midrange replacement from Madisound. My (eventual) replacements will be performance upgrades over the originals.

I suggest pulling the woofers and examining the crossover boards. Your electrolytic caps could be at end of life. Look for bulged cases and evidence of high heat.

We have proven considerable sonic / performance upgrades via crossover upgrades via parts, layout and thermal management. Circumstances have prevented timely progress, but patience will be rewarded. I suggest you keep the critters. 

Keep us posted about your progress.