THIEL Debutes CS1.7 and Demos CS2.7 Loudspeakers at CES 2013

THIEL showed up to CES 2013 with two new products, the CS2.7 (well, it’s kind of new) and CS1.7 (this one is brand new) loudspeakers. Although they were only showing off two new products, they proudly displayed a whole host of products, including the PowerPoint 1.2 in-ceiling speakers, CS3.7 floorstanding speakers, and SS2.2 subwoofer.

CS2.7

The CS2.7 is a three-way coherent source loudspeaker and sits in the middle of their floorstanding speaker lineup. It builds on THIEL’s heritage of time and phase coherence technologies and coaxial driver designs. Many of the technologies featured in the CS2.7 have actually trickled down from the flagship CS3.7 floorstanding speaker. The tweeter is a 1” aluminum dome design and sits in the place of a phase plug or dust cap on the 4.5” aluminum star-diaphragm midrange driver. This is referred to as a coaxial design, and can have many advantages such as smoother off-axis response and a more seamless tweeter/midrange transition. An 8” active bass driver and racetrack-shaped passive radiator provide the bass for the CS2.7 and allow it to play down to 35Hz. We were able to sit down for a brief demo and enjoyed every second of it. The speakers were detailed and well integrated with the sub. Our only regret is that we didn't have more time to listen (a few more hours would have done nicely). The CS2.7 is shipping now with an MSRP of $9900 per pair.

 THIEL CS2.7 and dual SS2.2 subwoofer demo at CES 2013

CS1.7

The CS1.7 is a bit more of a mystery than the CS2.7. It was on display, but was not hooked up and details are sparse. By sparse I mean pretty much non-existent. We do know that it is a 2-way loudspeaker but it doesn't use a coaxial design like the CS2.7 and CS3.7. It also appears to have a front firing slotted port for added bass response. The CS1.7 ships February 1^st, and by that time we will certainly have more details for you. For now, just know that if you would love to own a pair of higher-end THIEL's, but don’t want to throw down ten grand or more, the CS1.7s might be your ticket.

For more information visit THIEL Audio

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.