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In Reply to: Re: Charles Hanson - Can you please comment on Theil posted by Charles Hansen on February 28, 2007 at 13:03:52:
However Charles I always felt that the overall best balanced, best sounding Thiel was the new ones predecessor the Thiel CS3.6. I think there was good reason it was the longest running model of all Thiels (like 13 years unchanged). I heard the CS6 and CS7 and 7.2 and felt the CS3.6 was clearly better than the CS6 and while the CS7.2 was more impressive sounding I feel it is not as well balanced. I haven't heard the new CS3.7 but I am curious given its radical design departure.
Follow Ups:
The best Thiel was the 2 2, saith Mr. Gentle Ears up here in Massachusetts. The 3.6 was scarey sounding to me but it sure as hell did separate the Thiel fans from everybody else. And there were clearly a not of Thiel fans, beginning with Cordesman, if I remember rightly. He wrote one hellova review of the 3.6. I think the 3.6 was probably the purist Thiel. And, of course, the 2 2 was the least pure!
...still uses the Thiel 7.2 as one of his references as do I.20 years ago I owned thiel 1.2s and didn't like their balance for my TV speakers - they didn't have enough bass. So I traded them for Vandersteen 2Ci's. In that era I also owned Thiel 3.5s.
One of my best friends has Thiel 2.4s driven by a Mac MC275 and loves them.
Like any loudspeaker, they have to be mated with the right amp to sound their best.
I am not sure I agree with you about the 2.2. If I remember correctly it used exactly the same midrange and tweeter as the 3.6. The only difference was in the cabinet size and bass driver from what I could see. Even the internal construction was nearly identical. I never heard the 2.2 though so I can't say that it sounded similar or not.
IMO, the biggest problem with the 3.6 is not the speaker, it was the kind of amps generally strapped up to it. It was not forgiving of the typical SS amp but the best sound I heard from it was with a pair of BAT VK120 monoblocks and the Theta Dreadnaught (a no global feedback design and a darn good SS amp). People assumed you need a big bruiser because it has a somwhat low impedance. However; it has a very uniform impedance (for a box speaker) and low phase shift so many more amps work well than people suppose. When the electronics are right the 3.6 is amazingly coherent and well balanced. I think the mid used in the 2.2 and 3.6 is the best driver Thiel ever made.
Well it sounded a lot more benign than its big brother, for sure.
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