My review- Thiel CS 2s.

Thiel CS 2s.

Been running the Thiels for quite a while now- model CS 2s. And I've got some things to say about them...

I got these on loan a few weeks back, from a friend. I hooked them up to a single Denon POA 1500 bench tested @ 170wpc (the Thiels are unfortunately not bi-ampable/bi-wireable), a Sansui TU-5900 tuner, a Sony C75ES CD changer, and a PS Audio DAC.

Tried some Holly Cole "Temptation" on 'em- Holly Cole is a jazz singer, and this album is a cover of Tom Waits songs sung jazz-style. The Thiels excel at vocals- warm, rich, luscious. One particular track, "I don't Want To Grow Up" starts with her sighs and breath into the microphone. The Thiels bring that intimacy to life, so much so, you can almost see her lips parting and that soft silky breath exhale....

A little bit of male vocals, with Nick Drake, was up next. The desperately sad, reedy -tall troubadour reverberated through the room with his tearful loneliness, his fingers picking at the strings in a heart-aching waltz. Strings vibrated in the air, and buzzed with realistic tonality. "Pink Moon" warmed over me- "River Man" sent cool chills down my back.

I followed this with a bit of the Mullholland Drive soundtrack- the first song, "Jitterbug", is a great jazz romp full of energy and pulse. Damned if I didn't want to get up and dance- all that energy channeled through the Thiels effortlessly. The track opens with a fella speaking japanese in the backround- on many other speakers, it sounds like a disembodied voice far off in the distance. The Thiels brought it into focus, so much so that you could hear the change of inflection in his voice, and sense the fella yelling from a bit off the back of the stage. Amazing!

"Llorando", Rebecca Del Mar's vocals-only cover of Roy Orbison's "Crying", was spooky. Recorded in a large hall, the Thiels recreated that vast expanse of a room, echo, reverb, decay, all of it. You felt like you were in the middle of a decent theater, listening to her rip. Beautiful. And all from these two speakers, about a foot wide, and under 4 feet tall.

Next up was a track from Nightmares on Wax's "Smokers Delight". A beautifully recorded album, the song "Pipe's Honour" always gets people lit up. The Thiels were amazing with this song- the snap of the drums, the decay of the symbols, the placement of instruments was superb.

I followed this with my recording of ZZ Top, to see how they handled rock. The music was good, but this is where the Thiels were a bit short- not a full-range speaker, the bass was good, but not heartily satisfying. My a/d/s/ L1230s were much more admirable, as were my Vandersteen 2Cs.

But that's not what the Thiels are made for- that gut-punching rock and roll.

They're made for vocals, and jazz, and classical- as long as the classical isn't overly demanding- say, like TelArc's version of 1812.

Matter of fact, playing jazz and classical off of Boston's local FM channels revealed something else about the Thiels- their amazing ability to never fatigue the listener. I'd play them for hours on end and never tire, or develop a headache. Rolled off a tad bit at either end, to be honest, and sounding very warm to my ears, yet remaining sharp-as-a-razor in detail, with bass that's respectable, if far from macho or powerful, the Thiels proved to be a delight to listen to, hour after hour.

So, let's re-cap-

The Good-

Time-aligned and first-order crossovers give the Thiels an effortless and easygoing sound. Being of exquisite calibre, the drivers remain sharply focused and full of detail, yet conveying a warmth and naturalness to the overall sound.

One cannot easily differentiate between drivers- the Thiels sound like a single driver with incredible range. This seamless presentation of music, from the trio of drivers, is impressive.

Although ported, there's no audible chuffing tot he Thiels.

A friend stopped by, and even he, with limited knowledge of hi-fi, said things like "3-dimentional" and "realistic" and "open" in describing the Thiels sound. and he was right.

Bass is tight and very pleasant, and for a small room, or an apartment wher neigbors might bang on the door if you go "too low", the Thiels are a very good match.

Of any of my speakers, I'd say the Thiels remind me most of my re-capped Dahlquists- when the Dahlquists aren't acting up with a few niggling issues they seem to possess when their mood strikes them.

The decent size of the Thiels makes them fit well into a room, without overpowering it. Spouse-approval is higher than Vandy 2Cs, Dahlquist DQ-10s, or a/d/s/ L1230s.

The Bad-

not Bi-ampable. I imagine that running these off a bi-amp setup would do wonders for them.

Not a full range speaker, when you play something with more lower range, the Thiels feel a bit bass-shy. a/d/s/ L1230s at around 30hz and Vandersteen 2Cs around 33-35hz are much more robust and re-introduce the gusto to some music that the Thiels, at around 42hz, just can't deliver.

Placement isn't impossible- but can be a bit picky. Typical it seems of many time-aligned designs, you need to find the sweet spot, and stay in it, for best effect. Move out of the sweet spot, and things start collapsing. Unfortunately, the sweet spot, like the other time-aligned speakers I've messed around with, is small. Not tiny, but by no means wide and expansive. Sit your arse down when you listen, or if you're going to mill around the house, put the Bose 301 IIs on instead.

There's a bit of roll-off to them- but only a tad. I hate calling this a "bad", as it really makes these speakers well-balanced, smooth, friendly. Maybe this should be filed under "neutral"...




The Neutral- The Thiels are, in my personal setup, a warm speaker. I personally would call this a positive, but this goes against the grain of what many say the Thiels are. folk have complained of them being a bit bright. As my room is lively, I can only chalk it up to two things- great luck in component matching, and an exceptional speaker.

Thiels can be very picky of your gear, I've been warned. Mismatch of these with an amp that doesn't play well with 'em, and your listening enjoyment is going to suffer. Use less-than-stellar sources, and it'll show. I dunno- my setup worked well from the get-go, but I don't discount my friends who say otherwise.

Price. These can be pricey, but you can also at times find a great score. I've run across a few at $200- which is a great deal for what they are. I've seen 'em near mint for $400, also what I'd consider a steal. I've also seen people asking $800, but at that point, you're only $100 to $200 away from the 2.2s, which utilize a passive radiator and are a full ranger, going down to 35hz, if not lower- 33/32 hz, possibly.

One of them here also gets a buzz in the midrange at times- a victim of someone's fingers poking in the dome, I believe. no easy or cheap repair for this, I fear, as the drivers are of high quality and tolerances. But on a good note, even if a bit pricey, Thiel still offers customer service to their older models. Kudos to Thiel for this!

Lastly- the binding posts are dead-underneath these. Great for keeping the wiring looking neat and tidy, but a pain in the arse to connect the first time around. A real minor squabble.

The verdict? The Thiels cut the mustard, not the cheese. A great speaker indeedy.


Well, that's my little write-up of the Thiel CS 2s.

To recap, it's one of the most pleasant speakers I've yet to hear, and while it isn't the sharpest on top, and doesn't go as low as I'd like, it's overall a top pick in my book. It will not fatigue you. If you want midrange to die for, it supplies the right "poison".

Picky of electronics, it's rumored, but mine played well with my decent, but not outstanding setup. Be aware that you may or may not experience the same results as me.

Got poor recordings? The Thiels won't give 'em much leeway. If the recording is poor, the Thiels will play back that recording, warts and all.

Regarding range...

Dwell in an apartment building, or have a small room and a sleeping baby a few doors down? Perfecto.

Want to knock mama's knick-knacks off the wall? Look elsewhere- try the Thiel 2.2 , the a/d/s/ L1230s, the Vandersteen 2Cs, or another full-ranger.

Want to listen to music all day, and avoid fatigue? Well, if your electronics match the Thiels well, you may be hard pressed to find a speaker that handles it better than a Thiel. I can listen to these for 8, 9, 10, 12 hours, off the tuner, and not be a bit fatigued.

If you want a superior-quality, totally live-able speaker that won't wear on your ears, and is capable of doing many recordings justice, the CS 2 is a good choice in my book.

Thiel's have a great name in Europe and are very expensive speakers.
A few years ago i met a guy who have Thiel 1.6 and they were very, very good. I remember he says that all Thiel speakers needs a lot of power.
Tanx for sharing your great review.

great review

can the Denon's be bridged to mono? if they can, you could bi-amp horizontally.

Thanks Thed! Once again, your review captures the essence of a speaker so I know what they sound like. What camp do you fall into to? It sure sounds like you are and East Coast Sound type.

Great write up, Paul, thank you.

I think you´re really getting the hang of a professional reviewer, only without the editorial pressures, which makes you quite better.

I´ve added a link in "Sound Thinking Reviews " under the heading "Speakers ".

Jorge

Scott, I'm not sure.

I should check....

Good idea.

Thanks for the compliments, Jorge.

And good idea about the link, too.

I could re-post it there if you'd prefer, but the link should suffice, no?

Sam,

Thanks for the compliments.

I primarily favor "east coast" over "west coast", except for Home Theater- then the west coasters win. I like the dynamics for the west coasters for movies. Music? I prefer the easties.

But the Thiels and the Vandies and the Dahlquists, I'd say they really don't fall into these categories. Much more "eastie" in my opinion, but there's more magic to them.

They are truly something special.

Absolutely.

Jorge

I need to add an addendum to my review, as I'm feeling a bit unfair to the Thiels.

I've been playing them lots, and I really need to say, the bass, for most applications, is completely satisfying.

I'ts only on a very few tracks where I find the full-rangers are better- those few tracks that really demand some serious thump.

But playing the Thiels, with lots of blues, jazz, and classical, the bass is beautiful- tight, accurate, natural and honest sounding.

Don't let the fact these aren't full-rangers deter you- the sound is sublime, and they go plenty low enough for many applications.

Nice review, Paul.

As the only indigenous Thiel apologist on this forum, there may be a new member in training. in the form of thedelihaus!

A Couple of points are indicated at this juncture:

thedelihaus was quite correct in his selection of the Denon amp . Denon is noted for high current design using large transformers to drive the needed current and rebound from instantaneous current draw.

Denon electronics are typically quite clean sounding and fall to the lean mids side of the sound, yet Bass is taut, fast sort of like a light heavyweight fighter, enough power to take out a true heavyweight, but not enough power to do it ONE punch!

His analysis of the 2 is about as good as I've read. Indeed this model was designed for small room, intimate listening without forgoing bass response. 5 of these would be great surround sound speakers!!! Add a HSU Research sub and away you go!

Hooray for pointing out the "iffy" component matching issue.

GiGo applies here. Thiels reproduce what they are told to reproduce. Unlike the 2CE which is undoubtedly on the warm end of the spectrum with obvious lower bass warmth and low bass hangover which is outweighed by the openness of the the mids and highs due to the enclosure design.

AS for the 2.2 Thiels, they would not be as satisfying given thedelihaus's sonic findings of the 2. The 2 series were an intermediate step that didn't quite satisfy the role. your would have to move up to the 3.5 or even 3.6 but then, its mega$$$ to most folks.

Good work on the review....

I can't wait until you complete the 3D acoustics subwoofer project!

This post has been edited by Ginovino on October 31, 2007 05:49 pm

Thanks, Gino.

Yes, from sthe "sound" of it, 3.5s or 3.6s could be the be-all end-all of cone drive speakers.

Planning the yard sale now...