as a 35 year, four generation owner of the 2 series, i would like to weigh in on the "Thiel is bright" issue. my first pair, the cs 2's were bright but not offensive. once i got the 2.2's that issue really became moot, and by the time i got 2.4's, no tipped up sound at all. i do agree with the fact that these speakers will not be real forgiving with a bright sounding amp. I have had my best results with the PS Audio BHK 250 amp and the 2.7'. a match made in audio heaven.
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Thiels I think have a true to life tonality in general, but their neutrality is really nice blank slate that you can push in the direction you'd like. I use tube amps to push them in the direction I like. Tube Amp Owner Rejoice! http://thielaudio.blogspot.ca/2006/10/tube-amp-owners-rejoice.html ;-) |
I would love to hear Thiels with tubes, that is something I have not had the pleasure of experiencing! I have never had "bright" in my room with 3.6 or CS6. I even had my 3.6’s at one point hooked up with KCAG and KCTG IC’s, cables that are plenty generous in the upper octaves and it was not a bright presentation, clean yes, bright no....clean and transparent with outstanding dynamics. I have always had tubes in the preamp stage and room treatments. A tube pre is a match made in heaven, but will always be curious about a tube amp. I wonder if one would push out Led Zepp II the way I like it! |
I just dropped in to a new high end audio store near me that sells some wonderful products. I sat down to listen to some music that was playing on a set of speakers and it re-enforced yet again to me how much I value the lack of boxiness, precision of imaging and the openness of the Thiel speakers. For background listening I don't mind a speaker "sounding like a speaker." And this speaker did have some nice tone. But if I'm going to actually devote time sitting down in front of a pair of speakers, I have little time for that type of coloration that tells me "you are hearing the SPEAKER" rather than the artist. That "getting out of the way" quality of Thiels is awfully addictive. |
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