Thiel 3.7

Hello Folks:

First regards to Zaikesman who was very helpful to me some year’s back when I was exploring other topics including Thiel.

It was on this thread that I was informed of the prototype CS 3.7 being shown at C.E.S. The new drivers are quite ingenious. I cannot wait to hear them. I have a feeling that the long wait has been because the original 03 was what put the company on the map and Jim really needed, like all of his products, a major performance justification to discontinue a previous success story. Especially given the 3.6’s reputation and because this is also the 30th anniversary year since the first coherent source design hit the market.

Although I have taken some exception to his moving into home theater to the degree that he has over the past three years, It's true those products also have a dignity and quality that extend across the entire line. But the MCS1, as an example, does not and will never sound like his floor standing designs. Profit margin and staying in business are behind those products.

As someone with engineering curiosity, I also like the fact that Jim publishes the "why" of his ideas along with the "what". He backs up the "hype" with concrete argument and empirical data. He openly shares some of his secrets and I have learnt a great deal about speaker design by reading his white papers.

Jim's approach is the exact opposite of David Wilson who guards his design secrets like Fort Knox. From a marketing, sonic and business standpoint, I cannot blame him. But I really wish that David would be more like Jim in sharing more of his specific theories with the rest of us.

The CS 7.2 remains the finest loudspeaker I have ever heard (although I am very curious to hear the CS 5i) followed by little else:

Wilson Maxx2 (stunning achievement), B&W 800, JM Labs UtopiaBE, Dynaudio Confidence, MBL 111B and 101D, LSA2 by Larry Staples and Hyperion HPS 938.

Thanks for reading.

On a website (sorry, can't remember which one) about the 2006 CES show it mentioned Thiel may release a center channel with the same technology as the 3.7.

This makes sense I suppose and will be interesting to see what Jim Theil does do next....replacing/updating either the 6 or 7.2 would be the next one "in line" after the 1.6, 2.4 and 3.7.....

Danhirsh: That's a pretty expensive list of speakers you feel the 7.2 is better than :-) I wish my memory was as good as yours -- I can't remember what we talked about "some years back", but I'm glad to learn my credibility has survived it! Seriously, it's clear you've heard a lot more speakers than I have, so I can't imagine what I could've informed you about concerning Thiels, but your high estimation of them in such company as you've mentioned says more than I ever could.

If anyone cares to visit the ELAC speakers website and click on the 600 series under "Products", then click on the photo of the cutaway coaxial mid/HF driver (called the "X-Jet"), you'll see a view of a ring-diaphragm midrange design I'm guessing could be not dissimilar in overall concept to what's in the 3.7. There are obvious differences of course: the ELAC uses a honeycomb-sandwich diaphragm, is only 3" in diameter, and the tweeter it encircles is not a dome, but a Heil Air Motion Transformer variation. However, this picture does illustrate the type of centrally-attached voice-coil I'm hypothesizing might be used in the Thiel driver. (Oh and BTW, floorstanders featuring this compound driver from the German marque, intriguing as it is, are unfortunately priced a bit higher than the 3.7 will be, from about $12-20K USD. Never heard or seen one myself.)