PSB or Thiel? nOrh??

Hey Krazy, you've got excellent music tastes!

I agree with the above comments, and I think that Milo stated the comparison fairly succinctly. I would add that the Thiels will have significantly more midrange and detail than the PSBs. There is another thread comparing PSB and Thiel which you might want to check out, and I posted some additional thoughts on both brands there. I am a Thiel owner, but I have helped several friends pick out speakers, and two of them chose PSB (with several others going the Paradigm route, which you may also want to consider, if you like PSBs). Ultimately, if accuracy and detail are paramount to you, the Thiels are the way to go. However, being a rock fan (and a bass player!), I will say that if you get the CS2.3's, you will most definitely want to get a good sub (REL, or the new DD series from Velodyne come to mind). I recently auditioned a pair of CS2.4's, and while the detail and focus was incredible, I really felt that they were lacking in low end. Same goes for smaller Thiels (although surprisingly, the SCS3 has deeper bass extension than than either the CS1.6 or the CS2.4). My father-in-law has a pair of CS.5's which I helped him pick out, and let me tell you that a pair of .5's with a good sub can sound darn good!

Personally, I went for CS3.6's, because I preferred their more full sound to the more focused sound of the 2.4's. I have one SCS3 for a center, though I am considering picking up two more (or one more, and a MCS1) to round out my HT system.

Hope this helps, Tom.

I am looking at a pair of used Thiel 1.5's vs. Paradigm Studio 60's and also at the PSB 4T (I know...different league speaker). I am putting together a small home theater and listening room (12 x 16 ft). I will be using an M&K sub and driving with a Sherwood Newcastle 5 channel amp (120W/channel with 170 into 4 ohms). I have heard Thiels before in a different venue, and liked them. I have Maggies in my main listening room. However, I must put the front spkrs on the short wall (12 ft) and I am concerned about the Thiels in this regard. I have heard that they are very fussy in terms of placement and in this small room, I will not be able to place them more than 1.5 feet from the wall and 2-3 fee at most from the sides. I have heard that the PSB and Paradigms are less difficult to place in the room. Any comments / help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Steve Gross
Tampa, FL

I will pick the Norh either 6.9 or 7.0,this are very
musical,they have a live presentation, for my own
taste, the PSB and the Thiel you mention, are not
even close.If you can afford the marble 9 it will
compete to the speakers 2 times the price.I dont know
why they have not discover them yet, here at Agon.
The service of Norh is first class.Good luck

Actualy, i think the Thiels are pretty forgiving about placement, with in reason. The thing with Thiels is that they will maxamize the appreciation and consideration given to best placement, but, they will still work fairly well (again within reason) in less than ideal situations. IMHO, certainly more forgiving in this regard than Vandersteens. The other side is that Thiels are a LOT less forgiving of ancillary equipment, especially amplifiers!