What heavenly little jems! If you are shopping for speakers, don't forget to give the little two-way speakers a listen. I did and really fell for them. The Thiel CS 2.3 were within my budget, but I like these little ones better. They only go down to 42 cps, but they sound as if they go deeper than that. And what wonderful clean bass it is, too! I wouldn't dream of adding a subwoofer to my system (Classe CAP-100 and Meridian 508.24 ... still looking for the turntable). They have a great midrange as well. I reached the limits of the tweeter playing Carmina Burana very loud, so I know they are not perfect, but you can get pretty close without spending an arm and a leg. These will be in my system for many years to come. Mr Thiel, you have done it again!

I have had the Thiel 1.5s for about a year now. The rest of my system comprises of a Meridian 508.24 CD player, Krell KAV300i Integrated Amp and cables/interconnects from MIT.
I listen mostly to Jazz (Miles Davis, Coltrane, Monk etc) and I think the speakers sound really good for their price. I considered Totem Mani2s but at 2 grand less than the Totems I thought the Thiels were too good a deal to pass up.

A good front end and a powerfull amp are prerequisites though to bring out the best in these speakers.

Unbelievable highs and impressive base for the size. Beautiful craftsmanship.

None at this price or physical size level, other than a slight lack of base down VERY low.

Although they sounded great in the store I was somewhat worried after reading his forum that my modest gear might
not sound that good with these babies. As my fiance loved
the physical attributes (aka beautiful veneer and small size) I decided to give them a shot. WOW, less than 10 hours but I am impressed already. My room is about 15 x10 and I have them accross the short wall. Highs are beautiful and the bass is very satisfying, and I almost couldn't believe the difference compared to my Vandersteens-these being MUCH smaller.

AMP-Hafler DH500 (250w/c)
Preamp-Hafler DH-110
Hafler Iris Tuner
CD-Onkyo Integra 5500
Cables- Audioquest F-14 (soon to be upgraded)

In short, I love these speakers and thank everyone here for
there help and reviews. Additionally, I highly reccomend Innovative Audio (my salesman was Bill, great guy). I went in without an appointment on a busy Sunday and they accomadated me and gave me a great price upfront.

Similar Products Used:

Vandersteen, Sonus Faber, DT, Advent, Martin Logan, PSB

Wonderful imaging and soundstage width

Sometimes a bit forward with the presentation. A bit pricey too.

These are absolutely fabulous speakers. The funny thing was that I walked into my local audio store (Audioconsultants) with my heart set on buying a pair of B&W CDM7 SE speakers. The salesman suggested that I demo them against some Thiel 0.5's because they had a very different sound. This being said, I sat down with a few of my favorite CD's (mainly classical & jazz) and took a long (3 hour) listen to the speakers.
The B&W's were too bright for my taste, but had a satisfying low end. The Thiel's (0.5) had an overall less forward presentation, and not as much bass, but sounded much more "natural." Since it didn't take too much effort, I decided to give the Thiel 1.5's a try. To make a long story short, I found the Thiel 1.5's outperformed everything else I listened to, including B&W's Nautilus 805 speakers. As a side note, my audition was with a moderate (100 wpc) amplification source. I’ve “heard” that B&W’s sound great when they’ve got loads of reserve power to drive them.

The Thiel’s continue to amaze me. Every detail of my system seems to come out (good and bad). Upgrading cables suddenly makes a difference! My only qualm is that I now can't stand listening to some of the "poorly" recorded CD's that I own. Oh well.
I'd also like to add that the spacing between speakers and distance to the side walls make a HUGE difference in the imaging capability & soundstage of these speakers. My setup has the speakers along the "long" wall with speakers 6’ from the sides and 2' from the back wall ( 9' between them).

Used with:
Rotel 970 BX cd player
Tanberg 3002 pre-amp
Audiolab 8000P power amp
Transparent and Tributaries interconnects

midrange, soundstage, built quality

best for small rooms

These speakers in the right room (small to medium size), with quality gear will amaze you. They work great with Classe and Kimber or Nordost cables. They are sweet and sound much deeper then you would expect, they disappear when you sit back and close your eyes. They are very easy to setup and seem to work almost anywhere. Thiel has made a piece of art in the 1.5

Similar Products Used:

B & W, Paradigm Reference, Jamo, Mission

I owned 1.5's for quite a while. When properly powered they throw a huge soundstage and sound great. More detailed, coherent and linear than the old 2.2. The bass definition of the little 1.5 when properly powered is simply unbelievable. You have to hear it to believe it.

Size limits their utility to modest sized rooms.

In a modest sized room with high quality gear and good power, these are hard to beat.

Similar Products Used:

Other Thiel models, plus most popular audio speakers. I get around.

I found this to be a wonderfully revealing speaker. This is truly a double edged sword. We all want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So, any flaw in the recording or front end electronics tends to show up immediately.
Careful component matching was recommended to me by the dealer. So I tried these speakers with a Rotel 970BX integrated amp and Marantz CD-63SE. Yuck! A really harsh sounding system. Substitute a Linn Majik in place of the Rotel - ahhh, much better. Substitute a Meridian 508.20 for the Marantz - wow, now we have some music! Problem is, now we're out of my budget, but I'll keep trying different combos.

Just auditioned these and was dissapointed given the wonderful reviews (5-6 different reviews) that accompany the Thiel literature. The biggest dissapointment happens as certain instruments "jump" out at the listener. I would listen at a reasonable low volume level, then a certain guitar chord or violin note would "hit" you at a loud level. It was very strange.
The audio store said the Thiel's may be showing problems in my system components. Don't know, but I ended up with Linn AV5140 speakers. They are more money, but my "systems" problems went away. I auditioned the Thiel speakers on two systems, one with a Denon AV1500 and another using an old Crown DC300, same results. Room placement had litte effect on the problem.

Another dissapointment was loud volume levels, they sounded terrible at levels I did not think were that loud. Note that the reviews mentioned before mentioned this problem, but my definition of loud and theirs sure differ.

On the plus side, female vocals were great!

I sure appreciate this review forum, the manufacturers hype in the audio business is out of control!

Excellent sound stage with excellent bass and mid-range. The best sound presentation for speakers under $5K.
The best speaker to round out a

Honestly, I cannot think of any for a set of speakers in this price range

I use these CS1.5's with an Anthem AMP1 + a 1979 MacIntosh pre-amp. Also, MIT cabling between components and from AMP to speakers. I am constantly impressed with the expansive sound reproduction this setup puts out.
I listen to classical cd's recorded in [AAD] and modern music (jazz, experimental) recorded in [DDD] and I could not expect a better reproduction from anything else under $5,000, and probably a lot of speakers under $7,500

Very detailed throughout the entire frequency range of operation. CLEAN AND TRUE to recording.Stunningly elegant looks.

Small height means low soundstage easily overcome if you sit low like I do.Bass extends upto 45 hz but is very clean and tuneful.

If you need a stereo set-up for under $3,000 or a 5 speaker HT set-up for under $6,000(4xThiel 1.5's and 1xThiel SCS3) that is truly high-end look no further than the THIEL 1.5's.
These are a true bargain as they rival the performance of speakers costing many orders of magnitude more.
My set-up: THIEL 1.5 X 4
Center channel THIEL SCS3
MONSTER 2.2S cables for L, R, C speakers
MONSTER 14 gauge surround cables
DENON AVR 5700 receiver
SONY KWHD35 16:9 Format direct view CRT TV
SONY S530 DVD player
SUNFIRE TRUE subwoofer
My room 22.7ft x 14.5 ft
I have the 1.5's sitting 3ft from the rear wall( along the room's longest dimension ) and 5 feet from the side wall.
The front L & R speakers are spaced 6ft apart.The rear speakers are up against the front wall (in relation to the front speakers)8ft apart firing in from the sides of the prime sitting position which is up against the front wall.
My center SCS3 sits on a shelf above the TV.
The Sunfire is located in the top left hand corner of the room.
I was initially a bit sceptical of the DENON as an amplifier of choice for the THIELS but in the end it was unfounded by the magic that they created in my living room.The THIELS are the best dynamic speakers for HI-FI Stereo at any price.Their only shortcoming is lack of deep bass extension below 45hz but thats where the Sunfire reigns supreme.
From a purely performance stand point the THIELS are awesome in my room.The mid range is to be heard to be beleived. There is no unnatural warmth or coloration introduced by the speakers unless the recording was intentionally so.The better recordings are played without any coloration. These speakers are truly analytical and are the best monitors I have ever heard.The high frequencies are accurately rendered and give a nice natural airy quality to all instruments in that range.Certain recordings tend to be bright but that may be a reflection of the actual rcording since none of the better recordings show any such virtue.My test CD was TITANIC ( voted best original recording of 1999 by the ACADEMY FOR ADVANCING HIGH END AUDIO AND VIDEO check out their web site at avacademy.com )and the THIELS gave a masterful recreation of the orchestra and Celine Dion's vocals.I was impressed by the transient response and the tuneful bass on all the tracks.The tweeters sounded naturally clear and icy without a hint of brightness or sibilance.
In comparison both the Paradigms and the B& W NAUTILUS 804 & 805 were colouring the music in my view. The B&W also did not seem to have the same impecabble tuneful bass like the THIELS.The one thing that made the THIELS stand out from the crowd was their outstanding ability to sound neutral and faithful to the recording and were for me the most NATURAL sounding of the lot.
Overall I am ENTIRELY PLEASED and SATISFIED with the THIELS.Good luck finding your SONIC NIRVANA!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm 90p, Paradigm mini-monitors,B&W Nautilus 804's and 805's