Home
AudioAsylum Trader
General Asylum: REVIEW: Thiel Audio CS 7 Speakers by haziz

General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories.

For Sale Ads

FAQ / News / Events

 

REVIEW: Thiel Audio CS 7 Speakers

66.31.138.144


[ Follow Ups ] Thread:  [ Display   All   Email ] [ General Asylum ]
[ Alert Moderator ]

Model: CS 7
Category: Speakers
Suggested Retail Price: $ 8000
Description: Older CS7 model
Manufacturer URL: Thiel Audio
Manufacturer URL: Thiel Audio

Review by haziz ( A ) on September 07, 2003 at 07:33:37
IP Address: 66.31.138.144
Add Your Review
for the CS 7


I bought these second hand, and have had this setup for approximately 5 months. This is a review of the original Thiel CS7, not the current generation CS7.2, which I have also heard (as well as the CS6) in a dealers showroom (not the one I eventually bought from). I bought these together with a second hand CJ Evoltution 2000 (Early nineties design, Hybrid tube inputs, MOSFET output, 200W into 8 Ohms, 350W into 4 Ohms, 600W into 2 Ohms), and a largely new store Demo CJ premier 17 LS. Because of the way it was purchased I could not do a proper demo of this particular setup before committing. I tried to reproduce a similar setup in the above mentioned dealer's showroom, using the CS7.2 driven by various Krell, Conrad Johnson and Classe amps with the CJ 17LS as the pre-amp, CD player was a Cary CD player I am relatively unfamiliar with and generally liked what I heard. The person/dealer who set this up chose the CJ stuff partly I guess because he had it and partly because he felt the speakers could sound bright and needed to be tamed with slightly warm sounding gear, he also recommended Transparent cable and often gave me advice about items he did not carry even though he does carry other items at a similar pricepoint. I have had long term experience only with the Krell integrated (driving PSB Stratus Goldi), but was enamoured with the tubed CJ EV1 phono stage which I had purchased unheard (used), and considered a great success, and this influenced my receptivity to the CJ gear.

Fine full range speaker. with a deep and well controlled bass. They do require close attention to associated equipment, I am still not totally happy with the current setup on orchestral music at low and high volumes although at "medium volumes" (SPL average around 70-80), it sounds fine indeed. On Jazz recordings and chamber music including solo piano, and violin the system sounds magical and overall very realistic, solo Cello (eg one of my 20+ recordings of Bach's Solo Cello suites sound anywhere from magical {Yo Yo Ma playing in my living room} to tubby and seems to reveal the quality of the recording for some reason even more than piano or violin recordings. Saxophone on Jazz recordings sounds absolutely magical. Chet baker is currently doing a gig in my living room as I type this. Soundstaging is great, with a large 3-dimensional soundstage. Detail is great. sound overall is very nonfatigueing. I go to classical concerts often and to Jazz more occasionally and have a good impression of this system vs live. Vocals sound very realistic.

The more I listen, the more I like the sound of this system, though I still maintain some hesitation about the whole system on symphonic music, though that is diminished, maybe because I am getting used to the system. For some reason I seem to have made up my mind that the amp was the weak link in the chain, Though how I reached that conclusion is still a mystery to me, maybe because of it's age, relatively "modest" output numbers, though to be fair this is a 114 lbs behemoth with a 50 lbs power supply and a 1993 Steophile review (class A) that emphasiszed it's ability to handle tough loads, and deliver current, after testing it on a pair of Martin Logan CLS. So off to the other dealer to hear various amps. It was an interesting experience in that it did not quite fit my pre-conceived ideas, using the alternate setup alluded to earlier including the current generation CS7.2 and Cary CD player, the Krell 300CX was not convincing, yielding a leaner smaller soundstage. The Krell 400CX gave a more convincing presentation, marginally leaner than my current setup, the 450CX monoblocks could not be tested due to a ground hum we could not cure, and unfortunately the 700CX was not available for demo. Surprisingly, the CJ Premier 140 drove the Thiels very authoritaively, though ultimately I felt it imparted too much of a tube bloom. The CJ MF2500 did quite well overall (certainly better than the Krell KAV 3250) but was probalby marginally less refined than the CJ Evolution 2000 I already had. A Classe (??200) was briefly listened to but sounded no better than the Krell KAV gear which was also not in the same league as the above gear. All this was however was with a different speaker (CS7.2 vs CS7), CD player, and cabling, the 17LS is the same, so it is hard to be sure and I wonder how they would sound in my system. I am still however dreading a home audition with 100-200 lbs amps, a tiny car and living alone. I am sorrry I don't have any audio buddies nearby.

I will try to give separate reviews to the preamp and amp but it is hard not to think of this as an entire system.


Product Weakness: Needs a very beefy amp, can sound "rude" on certain materials (eg brass), can be somewhat bright esp if matched with bright sounding amps/source
Product Strengths: Full range speaker, great bass definition, great soundstaging, fine but not stellar dynamics, fine detail


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: Conrad Johnson Evolution 2000 (5751 Tube input, MOSFET output hybrid amp, 200 WPC into 8 ohms
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Conrad Johnson Premier 17 LS
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Sony XA777ES SACD/CD-mostly
Speakers: Thiel CS7
Cables/Interconnects: Transparent Cable Ultima Speaker wire, MIT 330 Plus Series II interconnect, Straight Wire Virtuoso interconnect
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Classical (mainly 19th century orchestral, on modern instruments). Jazz (Brubeck, 50s-early 60s Miles Davis, MJQ, Paul Desmond, some Ellington, Gil Evans, Bossa Nova)
Room Size (LxWxH): 21 x 12 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments: L shaped room, above dimension is for upright part of the L, arranged along the long wall of the room
Time Period/Length of Audition: 5 months
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Parts Connexion  



Topic - REVIEW: Thiel Audio CS 7 Speakers - haziz 07:33:37 09/7/03 ( 7)