I think these loudspeakermodel from Thiel is a juwel. I have replaced these loudspeaker in my livingroom and moved the Opera Sec. to the studyroom; the Opera should have replaced the Thiel CS1.5.
The Thiels has a very good mid and lowerregister. Its fast, defined and clear. The upper region is slighly less then the Opera. But I find the Thiel overall performance better. The amplifier that I use is the all-in-one Audio Analoque Enigma. I would be curious if the sound will be 'better' if I would use a power-amp.
My advice: Buy this loudspeaker if you can.
I have painted these Thiels white so it could be placed in a modern livingroom??

Reading the reviews prompted me to throw my 2 cents in. You'd think that they were garbage. But they are not. It just takes awhile to get them figured out. Everything matters from components to cables, room placement, etc. So, yes they are fussy. Imaging is great and is what I like about them best. The addition of a sub(Rel T5) has gone a long way in filling out the thin sound in the bass department. A friend described the sound as anemic. It was, but at time I was running silver interconnects causing an already detailed speaker to become brittle. LIve and learn. Now that I have the sub I may try putting them back in to mess around. I have them in rectangular room appx 12 by 30. Positioned on the short wall almost 4 feet in and about a 1' 1/2 from the side walls spiked to the second floor of my house through thick carpet. Seat is not quite 8' away. A little near field for Thiels is what I read but sounds good to my ears. I have them being run by an Odyssey Cyclops extreme ++ (solid state 100watt+) Quicksilver Full Function Preamp(tubed), Project Perspex6 w/Grado Referece cart and Audio Art cables. Balance is key with these and careful attention to the particular voicing of each compenent and ancillary products is neccessary. I really like way solid state combined with the tubed pre and the smooth Grado sound combined with the detail imaging of the Thiels all work together and can be heavenly. The sum up, the speakers look is somewhat dated(in a cool vintage way) but are well built and not unattractive, they are clean and detailed sounding, some say bright, bass shy but with excellent imaging(air between performers, front to back depth, side to side pinpoint focus of instruments and placement within the recorded space) and they can be oh so rewarding when dialed in but patience is a must because these are not plug and play. These speakers will teach you alot about tweaks and system synergy because it's all revealed good and bad. The music plays well above the speakers and they do just about any music justice taking into account the physics of there size and the correpsonding capabilities. A sub is almost mandatory to really get the overall right gestalt and long term enjoyability of music of all kinds. They pressurise my room up and can definitely rock. For at or under 900 or so bucks on the used market I dont' think you can do better. They have been anchoring my system down until that day when I think a purchase of at least 2k used will be needed to get a significant improvement and not just a change. I've owned speakers by GoldenEar, PSB and Thiel CS2's and I've also listened to Revel, Epos, Sonist and to the Maggie 1.7's in a showroom on 3 seperate occasions for a pretty decent amount of time, and to me they(the maggies) sound somewhat similar but less dynamically visceral for rock music and the like, with the maggies getting the edge in acoustic instrumentation realism. Imaging is similar with my experience being a better one with the Thiels', I would love to spend some time with the Maggies at home if I only had the room. There is definitely something captivating about that speaker for me. If your going used I would not hesitate in picking up the Thiels though, money well spent I say and will easily stand up for the long haul to some of the most popular usual Hifi suspects in the the 2k new retail price range and then some.

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Customer Service

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Quality for the price. Soundstage, Imagery, etc.

None for the price.

Excellent world class sound. Mated to a NAD 272, 162 and 542 CD player. Sound can be satisfactory to unbelievable. I am convinced thae quality of the recording has as much to do with the quality of sound as almost anything. Dina Krall and Sarah Mclauchlin sound amazing, U2 sounds OK. Highly recommend.

Customer Service

Best in the business

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Detail, Soundstage, Quality

If anything, makes an average produced recording sound just that.

I have these connected to a NAD C162,C272, and a C542 Cd player. My experience can range from satisfactory to unbelievable. I believe that the quality of production in the music recording has an infinite impact on the musical experience. Diana Krall and Sarah McLauchlin sound to die for, U2 is pretty average. When these Thiels are connected to a even a decent music system, the detail and soundstage alone make them world class. It helps to listen to well done music.

Hi-end for hi-fi budget

Tels the truth in a rather direct way, without copromises to what you feel about it.

I bought my thiel cs 1.5 loudspeakers just a view months ago. Before these I was owner of cs 1.2s for a view jears. I have used a lot of different loudspeaker brands so far. So I have some experiënce with thiel.This said I can honestly tell you that Thiels sound bad, when in the wrong hands and minds. They are precise and let you know whats happening right away.When you are unable to try them with a variety of equitment, a mismatch is around the corner. They are just as delicate as much more expensive hi-end, that just cant be hookt up without careful selection, trail and error, experiënce, using products with the same quality standards (recordings). Talking only rubbisch aubout these speakers is simply to simple. My experiënces with thiel speakers are beautiful and verry bad. Trail and error. In the end I vind miself having hi-end sound within the dynamic limitations of a small loudspeaker. I use audioresearch vt 60, a passive pre-(amp) and a 100 euro seconthand thirteen jeers old Phillips CD player, with minor modifications.

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Exacting sound; beautiful craftsmanship; small footprint

None

My CS1.5 speakers have delivered incomparable performance in the rather tight confines of my living room. I wouldn't say these speakers are bright so much as accurate and revealing, if positioned correctly in the room. It also helps to sit near the "sweetspot" between the speakers, and to connect them to top notch equipment. I've got a McIntosh MA6500 integrated amp and an MCD205 cd changer, warming up the sound considerably, all connected with Cardas cables. I listen primarily to rock music, and bass, though not booming, hasn't been a problem. I honestly cannot believe the lousy reviews the CS1.5 has received on this website. These cranks must have either mispositioned the speakers, or connected their Theils to Chinese electronics purchased from Best Buy.

Detail, maybe to much. Probably some of the best ear bleeders ever designed!Maybe when I'am 90 yrs old and have only 20 percent of my hearing these will sound good.

No weight,no character,no warmth

I listen to these at a dealer for awhile.The assiocated equipment was adcoms 5802,750 preamp and a Adcom cd player don't remeber the model.My first impressions were detail,detail,detail.But after awhile I kept getting the urge to get up and leave the room.These speakers make me feel like I have eaten a box of saltine crackers and there is no water for miles around!I have never heard a speaker so dry without emotion like Thiels.I can't figure out what is so special about these speakers.Thiels remind me of bose, people assume these speakers are so good because they are plastered in every HiFi magazine on earth.Maybe I need to start building the best ear bleeders I can and charge large amounts of money for them.All while spending millions on advertisements.I think it will work.Hey it worked for Bose and Thiel.I thought I would never say this but even Paradigms speakers sound smooth compared to these.

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Too many to mention

Beautifully detailed highs. Wonderful customer service -- Didn't mention this above; but as I bought the speakers used I didn not recieve a manual. I was in Lexington, Ky. and stopped in at the Thiel factory and was given a manual and spikes for free! Thiels customer service is absolutely fantastic. Yes I even told them I bought used.

Could use a little more bass.

I went searching for new speakers after my son blew up my Paradigm 9SE MKIIIs (dam that Rap music). I found the Thiels used at a great price. After comparing them to B&W Nautilus 805s and Dynaudio 1.3s I bought the Thiels. The Dynaudios sounded the best but for $700 the Thiels were too good t pass up. First impressions at home were good. And my wife loved their unobtrusive looks. They are also very well built. The problem took a while to develop, and that was a lack of bass. Yes the highs were open, airy and wonderfully detailed, and female vocals were beautiful. Unfortunately I missed the weight the Paradigms delivered. These speakers were exceptional for what I paid, but at MSRP they seem more than a tad pricey. I ended up selling the Thiels and purchasing a pair of Paradigm Studio 60s

Very pretty, fancy brand name. They do sound good, but to my ears they are only worth about $1000. I think you are paying a lot for the brand name and the finish. Open, airy, great "snap".

They do sound good, but to my ears they are only worth about $1000. I think you are paying a lot for the brand name and the finish.

I am sorry.. For this price range these speakers are garbage. They are open and airy, yes, but totally lacking in dimention and dynamics.. Save your money.

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