The most carefully constructed speakers on god's green earth.

Asthetics

Requirements for good sound not for the faint (Esp the power ...)

My Thiel CS-7s are wonderful speakers. These speakers are wonderful in every sense an audiophile can appreciate. They is only one little problem. They are 110% accurate. I have never hear a speaker play dead on everysound recorded like them. Except for my 901's. The 901's aren't as accurate. I say this because on the Fanatsia 2000 audio disc, I can't hear the conductor breathering very distinctly at the start of the Blue Rhapsody track, where w/ the CS-7's I can clear as day make it out. That is why I listen to the 901's more often than my Thiels. The 901's add a spaciousness that the Thiels, and no other speaker can emulate. With the 901's there is no sound sweet spot. There is no center chair in my house where the system sounds best for the 901's With the Thiels there is. With the 901's every seat in the house is a good seat. To quote J. D. Salinger, "There is hope in honest err, none in the icy perfection of a mere stylist." THe err is not being 100% accurate like my Thiels. The Stylism in the Thiels is the fad of having 100% sound reproducing accurate sound set up. I'll take my 901's and show them off any day. Maybe, I'll just not mention how much I paid for my Thiels. If you ask me, the pricing for the 901's ($1500) is a steal compared to the ($9000) I paid for the Thiels. That and the value should be the other way around between the two.

I am reallyl annoyed at the fact I paid the price I did. Maybe I got a really good deal. But never had I had a set of speakers where so much power was necssary. The bass is wonderful. Amazing. With Bose 901's, I get better, more natural bass. Also, with a whole lot less power needed.

All in all, great speakers.

Similar Products Used:

CS 3.6, Bose 901's, Polk Audio RT3000p (borrowed from co-worker)

It sounds like real music!

Size, weight, amplifier power, and it requires a relatively large room.

This review is for the Thiel CS7.2 and NOT the CS7.

This speaker is one of the most impressive products I have ever heard. It virtually makes no compromises in reproducing recorded sound.

First of all, with the CS 7.2 the tonal balance is correct, or as correct, as I have heard outside of live music. So many high-end speakers cannot get the tonal balance right!
A lot of competing loudspeakers have great dynamics, stunnng bass response etc.. but also tend to exagerate certain frequencies over others. They tend to be exciting to listen to, but you also get the feeling they are not telling the "musical" truth, because the tonal balance in not right.
The CS7.2 produce a sound that is so tightly intergrated and
exacting, that deviations from neutrality in other speakers, becomes very apparent. These speakers are uncanny in their ability to decipher tones of instruments so accurately, that
there is no mistaking a base drum for a timpani drum. This is NOT a speaker that paints the tonal colors with one broad brush stroke, but rather presents an interweaving of different tones, much like real music.

To bass response of the speaker is stupendous, given a powerful(forget anything less than a good, solid 200 - 300 watts) amplifier. It is quick, deep, extended, and powerful. The bass, however, does not "thump" along with the rest of the music, it only surfaces when required and then returns to its proper place within the music - again, the tonal balance is spot on.

The midrange and the highes are excellent, but very revealing. This is not a speaker for those who want their audio equipment to impart some embellishment of the truth. What you put in is what you get out, and if you don't like it too bad. Bad recordings, bad electronics, cables etc have no place to hide themselves. Piano and vocals, two of the hardest things for a speaker to reproduce are extraordinary with this speaker. Vocals are open and highly detailed. I have yet to hear a speaker that can outdo a Thiel in reproduction of vocals.

Dynamics are extremely good, but controlled. By controlled, I mean the CS7.2s reproduce dynamics that DO NOT euphonize the original event. For example, in orchestral recordings, some speakers tend to produce bass drums as if they were 20 feet wide, and strings as if they stretched from wall-to-wall. This sometimes is exciting to listen to, but it sounds like "hi-fi" instead of real music. The Thiels produce the large scale dynamics with ease, but do not blow things out of proportion. They draw you into the recording, by exacting out of the music only dynamics that fit within the scale of the recording. In a word, they are very concise and to the point. They do, however, have seemlingly unlimited dynamic potential and will scale the tallest dynamic mountains, when required(given the amp is up to the task).

Soundstaging and imaging are firt class, both in depth and width. Vertical imaging is excellent for listening to recording of a standing, lone soloist. The images just hang in mid-air between the speakers. The images also seem to be of the correct proportion, which is important. Instruments and voalists do not seem as if they are 10 feet tall or 10 feet wide. The CS7.2s will also reveal very quickly microhone placement and the dimensionality of the recording. These really are 5 ft microscopes in this respect. I believe the use of first order crossovers and strict adherence to the concept of time and phase coherance pays dividends here.

This speaker does have some downsides. One is that you have to have a LOT power to drive these speakers. You need both quality AND quantity of power. Big Levinsons or Krells would be my recomendation. These speakers need control in the bass, and only a high power, transistor amp will do the job, in my opinion. Second, the revealing nature of the speaker will not be kind to some recordings or electronics. These speakers will not put a "warm fuzzy" on
anything, unless the recording itself is "warm an fuzzy." Third, the size of the speaker may make it inappropriate for some listeners. Unless you have a fairly large room, I don't think they will sound their best. My room is around 22ft by 15 ft, with 9ft ceilings, and, for these speakers, I believe this is the bare minimum for room size. Fourth, the cost of a brand new pair is $13500.00 which is on the high side, unless, like me, you lost your economic sense about this stuff a long time ago. Still, these speakers are incredible even at this price, and, like other Thiel models, they offer a lot more than their price tag bears. In my opinion, they are worth every cent of their price.

To sum up, to like this speaker you must crave accuracy and neutrality. If you want sonic fireworks, look elsewhere, as this speaker will not give you that, but if you want a speaker that, to me, speaks the musical truth more than any other speaker I have ever heard, get the Thiel CS7.2.

Similar Products Used:

Thiel CS 3.6, Wilson Watt Puppy 6.0, Avalon Edilon