Thiel 1.6 vs Proac 1.5

Both are good but ProAc has that certain undefinable (but definately hearable) "magic"...like the Thiel, love the ProAc.

I listened to them side by side, in a mccormack arcam system, went with the thiel. I was expecting the proac to be more forgiving than the thiel, but it wasn't. The thiel bass was better defined, and I think the thiel was more detailed. I'm breaking the Thiels in now.

Thanks!

I wonder how many of these respondents have actually heard the new 1.6? I'm guessing that most are just generalizing about the Thiel "house sound".

I listened to the 1.6s a couple of weeks ago and found them to be a far departure from most Thiels that I've listened to (1.5, 2.3, 3.5, 3.6, 6). They sounded quite warm and...could it be?...a bit dark. Excellent soundstage (a lot more height than the 1.5s) with a lot of depth, too. On the negative side, they were kind of boring...at least to this listener. I followed up the audition with a pair of Sonus Faber Concerto Homes. The SF line is just so darned musical. My foot began tapping and I found myself becoming much more emotionally engaged in the music.

Front end, by the way, was all ARC. CD-3, LS-25, VT200.

While we're talking about the 1.6's, I spent about a half-hour listening to a pair a couple of weeks ago and was very unimpressed. They sounded flat and constricted. Compared with a pair of Meadowlark Kestrels, the Thiels hadn't even come to the dance. "What gives?" I asked. Turns out that they were, indeed, fresh out of the box. I suggested to Mr. Singer (as in Sound by...) that they obviously needed to be broken in, to which he begrudgingly agreed, but he mostly seemed bemused that I could possibly like the $1.7k Meadowlarks more than the $2.4k Thiels (or the $2.7k Audio Physics, for that matter). Imagine then asking to hear the $1.5k Vandersteens . . . he claimed they were technically inferior and wouldn't even deign to plug them in. I think it was about at that point that I pleasantly wished him a good day. (Just for the record, before purchasing a pair of Thiel 2.3's, I extensively auditioned them against the Meadowlark Shearwaters and preferred Thiel -- so I fully expect that the 1.6's will dramatically improve from the virginal pair I heard, after a little use. Virgins can be fun in most arenas, but when it comes to speakers, a little "experience" goes a long way...;) From there, (and via splitting a pitcher of margaritas) went and listened to a pair of ProAc 1sc's which, though a really different sound , were exceptionally alluring....haven't heard their 1.5's yet, though.

Mezmo,
I listened to the meadowlark kestrels at the same place you did, and I found them better than the Audio Physics and the jm Labs. A great package - no glaring shortcomings. For a while when I lived in NYC they were on my short list, along with the proac 1sc's which are exceptionally alluring, but I got a really bad vibe from the Proac dealer...saw a salesman there sell a "demo" stax headphone outfit to a customer - and then another salesmen passes him a note reading "aren't those the defective ones". From the first salesmen's reaction to the note, I'd have to bet they were the defective ones, sold as a demo, all sales final.

One of the frustrating things about choosing speakers is that I'll prefer x to y in one session, then the next session prefer y to x. This has happened many times with me between Thiel, Proac B&W and revel. I really like the 1.6 - very natural and detailed and I've been pretty amazed with the music I've listened to so far.