[pwhinson]

I've been listening to my Thiel 2.4s which I love for about 12 years.  I've now moved to a different house and I have a larger room and I've been seriously thinking about purchasing my "final" speaker and considering the 5as or the Quattros.  I was fairly shocked at the current pricing on the line at my local dealer.  I think I'm willing to go to $15K which puts me in the Quattro territory or used 5a territory.  Any thoughts about those options and which one could be best.  Used frankly seems so much better since the pricing has crept (leapt?) up so much in recent years.  Electronics are Aesthetix Janus and Pass Labs x150.8, PS Directstream, microRendu, all synergistic research cables throughout, and a nice VPI rig for vinyl.  Your thoughts please?  (P.S. I'm also reluctantly considering other brands, specifically Revel Salon2s, TAD Evolution One, and perhaps Magicos).  I listen to classical music including large scale classical perhaps 90% of the time and jazz 10% of the time.  I need a speaker that fills in the lows and I'm doubtful that the Magicos can do that or at least the ones I can afford. 

[geowak]

I can say two things, trying to be objective.
1. I have heard the Quatro Wood CT and they are stellar, top notch. I would audition them if I were to be shopping in that price bracket. I have the 2CE Sig II and really enjoy them.
2. I would listen to as many other short list speakers as I could if I were to find myself auditioning speakers in that price bracket.
Legacy, Dali, Wilson, Magnepan and many, many others make fine speakers and it would be up to any individual to really search and find the right fit. I mean we all truly luv listening to music, therefore we all can potentially benefit by searching and comparing speakers to live with.

[nrenter]

Note: I own a set of Quatro CTs and love them to pieces.

12 years is a long time to be wedded to a pair of speakers. There must be something you find special about them. What is it? What are they lacking?

Rather than a different speaker, you may want to consider augmenting your Thiel's with a Vandersteen sub (or 2). Just a thought.

[twitch54]

all good choices , as geowak said, given your budget listen first. Myself, I own the Revel Studio II's and couldn't be happier. The Salon II's which I think you can find realistically within your budget (used) would be on my short list.

How big is your room ?

[pwhinson]

Listened to the Quattros today and I lust for them in ebony which matches the wierd zebra wood finish I have my Thiels in.  They sounded quite good but honestly they sounded still a teeny bit rolled off and strings lacked a little of the bite they have in real life.  Had I been bowled over I could have been talked into possibly buying a demo pair they have (not in my preferred choice of wood).  I also listened to a friend's Salon2s but I fear I haven't really yet heard the salon2s yet...they sounded frankly horrible.  The owner has them as a secondary system with an inferior preamp (old Rotel unit) and speaker cables (monster cable).  To be fair I think they just needed more room to breathe between the Salon2s and the rear wall which was only about 18" in depth.  The room also had incredibly high ceilings...probably 14 feet...not sure if that had anything to do with it.  I'm going to carry my Aesthetix Calypso and a pair of speaker cables over to his house sometime soon to see if we can't get the Salon2s to sing better.  I came home and was happier with my Thiel's than I've been in a while knowing that so far nothing has bowled me over.  Also listened to the Monitor Audio Platinum Pl300-II's which sounded like they were voiced pretty dark to me and the bass while plentiful wasn't particularly tight.  Of course on the way home a FedEx van hit my year old Prius (his fault entirely) so I would say I'm a little shaken up...I just hope my car isn't totaled but I fear it is.  Ugh!

[geowak]

Don’t know where you live or how far you would be willing to travel to hear any dealer demo, but my buddy raves about the Legacy Aeris after a show he attended. They have room equalization as a component of the design. Might be worth a listen?

[timind]

Interesting topic for me as I recently moved from a small, spare bedroom listening space to a large basement listening space. The new room is 4 times as large as the old room so I am looking to replace my favorite monitors (Revel Performa M22) with larger speakers. I considered Vandersteen 3A sigs but settled on a used pair of 2CE sigs. Not going to nit pick them here, but they weren't for me so I sold them.

I'm now focusing on a pair of used Revel Performa F208s as that's about the top of my budget. Going with Revel because I've owned a couple models and think their house sound is what I like.

I'm commenting here because for years I was a first order xover and time coherent speaker guy. Years ago I compared a pair of Revel M20s to my Thiel CS1.6s and found the qualities I loved in the Thiels, and thought were only available with time coherent speakers were there in the M20s.

[dminches]

Interesting topic for me as I recently moved from a small, spare bedroom listening space to a large basement listening space. The new room is 4 times as large as the old room so I am looking to replace my favorite monitors (Revel Performa M22) with larger speakers. I considered Vandersteen 3A sigs but settled on a used pair of 2CE sigs. Not going to nit pick them here, but they weren't for me so I sold them.

I'm now focusing on a pair of used Revel Performa F208s as that's about the top of my budget. Going with Revel because I've owned a couple models and think their house sound is what I like.

I'm commenting here because for years I was a first order xover and time coherent speaker guy. Years ago I compared a pair of Revel M20s to my Thiel CS1.6s and found the qualities I loved in the Thiels, and thought were only available with time coherent speakers were there in the M20s.

What's your budget and what amp are you using?

[nrenter]

They sounded quite good but honestly they sounded still a teeny bit rolled off and strings lacked a little of the bite they have in real life.

Of course they did...Thiel's are simply voiced differently than Vandersteens. This is neither good nor bad, or an affirmative or derogative judgement. It comes down to the distance at when the designer believes the speaker should measure "flat".

If your room is increasing in size, or your new placement is such that you aren't getting the low-end reinforcement you desire, the Vandersteen sub would be a good addition. Plus, the first-order crossover (required between the pre-amp and the amp) will take the low-end responsibility from the Thiel's (and effectively, giving you a bi-amped system). No, it's not as sexy as a new set of speakers, but could allow you to keep what you love, and take them where you really want to go.

[twitch54]

your description of the Salon II's listening set up is appalling, nobody in their right mind would ever do that ........

[mr_bill]

Interesting topic for me as I recently moved from a small, spare bedroom listening space to a large basement listening space. The new room is 4 times as large as the old room so I am looking to replace my favorite monitors (Revel Performa M22) with larger speakers. I considered Vandersteen 3A sigs but settled on a used pair of 2CE sigs. Not going to nit pick them here, but they weren't for me so I sold them.

I'm now focusing on a pair of used Revel Performa F208s as that's about the top of my budget. Going with Revel because I've owned a couple models and think their house sound is what I like.

I'm commenting here because for years I was a first order xover and time coherent speaker guy. Years ago I compared a pair of Revel M20s to my Thiel CS1.6s and found the qualities I loved in the Thiels, and thought were only available with time coherent speakers were there in the M20s.

If I read this correctly, you found the qualities that you like in the Thiel 1.6, in a pair of Revel M20s?

I like both those speakers.