verdict on thiel 2.4?

I heard them at CES. They were in a huge room filled with lots of people. Even so, I was very impressed with their sound. I thought they were the best value of all the speakers I heard at the show. Many speakers costing twice as much didn't sound half as good IMHO.

YMMV

I've posted on the 2.4 a couple of times now. I've owned Thiel CS7.2s, downsized to DAL SC-IIIs/pair Vandersteen 2Wqs/M5 crossover, and now own the CS2.4s, with no sub for music. The CS2.4 brings back into my listening room many of the qualities I enjoyed about the CS7.2s in a scaled down package; truth of timbre, absence of cabinet colorations, excellent coherence, large and precise soudstage, great midrange, and quality bass reproduction. Overall the 2.4 is a more robust, and fuller sounding speaker than it's predecessor. From what I can tell its easier to drive as well.

I just heard the 2.4's right out of the box last night at my local dealer - WOW! They were being driven by a Cary integrated with 30 watts in triode mode! The room is 24X20 and the speakers sounded very smooth with great soundstage and imaging.

I owned the 2.3's for five years and upgraded to CS6s a year ago. One thing is for sure, the CS2.4s are much easier to drive and will give you far more flexibility in amps. The CS6's didn't sound as good as the 2.3s until I coupled them with a Bryston 14B-SST (600 wpc) this January. The amp is broken in now and the CS6's throw a larger soundstage, more detail/resolution and give greater overall "scale" to the music than the smaller Thiels.

Even so, I miss the smooth relaxed presentaion of the 2.3s and my old Air Tight ATM2, 80 watt tube amp. I sat through an entire jazz CD last night switching between conversing with the owner and listening to the music. The new 2.4s sound GREAT at low volume - very full bodied. I don't know if it was the tube amplification or the speakers - maybe both, but I was glued to the chair.

Tough call here - you can pick up a pair of used CS6s for about the street price of a new pair of 2.4's. If you go with CS6s, you better have an amp with at least 250 wpc or more to drive them if you want to get the most out of them. If you don't have an amp with that much power or the budget for a new one, then the choice is simple. Take the 2.4s and run!

As for me, I'm holding out until next year for the new 3.7's. Curious to see if Thiel will kill off the CS6s at that time or let them coexist with the new 3.7s. Only time will tell...

Easy, this is still an outstanding loudspeaker!