Thiel CS2.7 Floorstanding Loudspeaker Preview

If you are legendary speaker manufacturer Thiel, just announcing a new speaker is enough to get people talking. You don't have to release specification, price, dimensions or anything else. Just a picture and a caption, "Look what we've been up to," and BAM! Instant press. But we here at Audioholics want to provide a little more to our readers than a rehashed press release, we want to give you the details. That's why we immediately contacted Thiel to find out more about their new CS2.7 Floorstanding speaker. While we wait for them to get back to us (they said it would be a few weeks before they'd have the final specs), here's what we know so far.

The CS2.7 was inspired by the CS3.7 flagship model. It has a coaxial driver up top and a woofer near the center of the front baffle. A coaxial driver is one where the tweeter is mounted in the center of the midrange. Both of these drivers feature anodized aluminum cones. The woofer, from the pictures (which may be high quality renderings), seems to feature an aluminum cone as well. All the drivers utilize a short-coil / long-gap and copper stabilized motor system to ensure ultra-low distortion. This keeps the voice coil within the magnetic field at all times. The coaxial driver features a very large ring magnet drives the midrange, while 5 neodymium magnets drive the tweeter.

One thing we haven't seen before is the type of cabinet used with the Thiel CS2.7. Eschewing the traditional MDF or the more recent bamboo cabinets, Thiel decided to go with curved plywood. Normally associated with contemporary furniture, curved plywood was a favorite the Eames' and has practically become a cliche in the world of high end furniture. Still, one can't deny appeal nor how beautiful it looks when stained. Molded plywood is also incredibly inert and resistant to vibrations. The plywood is laminated in your choice of hardwood veneer and features the characteristic sloped back baffle and clean edges.

We know that the enclosure sports a front-mounted passive radiator. We also know that the woofer is 8" though we don't know the dimensions of the coaxial driver. The crossover promises "very fine quality components" such as "high quality capacitors and pure copper air-cored inductors". One thing Thiel has been known for is their focus on phase. Using the crossover, Thiel uses their 6dB per octave synthesized slopes to ensure the entire speaker is phase correct. They also correct for relatively small irregularities in driver response which they say are on such a small scale, most loudspeaker manufacturers are content to dismiss them entirely.

Conclusion

Thiel have a reputation for high quality speakers and the CS2.7 Floorstanding speaker looks to continue that tradition. Building on the CS3.7, we expect the price of the CS2.7 to be closer to the $12k mark set by the CS3.7 speakers rather than the $4k price per pair of the CS2.4. The Thiel CS2.7 Floorstanding speakers start shipping in September so ask your local dealer if they'll be getting a pair in if you'd like to hear them. While likely to be out of the price range of many consumers, those discerning audiophiles with deep pockets will likely view them as a deal.

For more information, please visit www.thielaudio.com.

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