the audiophile voice
however; the bass whomps as it
should, the triangle rings (and rings)
with bell-like clarity, and Rickie Lee
and Joe Jackson deliver their scorn-
ful commentary there in your room.
For my listening preferences —
small group acoustic jazz, folk,
world, and a bit of rock — the CS
1.6s were almost always deeply sat-
isfying. However, as with my old
ESL-63s (to which the 1.6s bear sur-
prisingly frequent sonic resem-
blance), there’s an occasional
recording that failed to light my fire.
For example, Mick Fleetwood’s
drums didn’t have the impact neces-
sary to propel the melody and get
my toes tapping on “Go Your Own
Way” (Rumours, Nautilus NR6) and,
not surprisingly, the “Japanese
Drums” were but a pale shadow of
what’s imbedded in the grooves on
Kitaro’s Asia LP (Geffen, GHS
24087 E). But let’s be fair, I’m talk-
ing about individual tracks on a
handful of recordings, and I trust
you’ll not place undue emphasis on
these findings. After all, despite sim-
ilar shortcomings, I was giddily con-
tent for years with my ESL-63s even
though Rumours and Asia rarely
found their way to my turntable.
On the other hand, I found two
characteristics that may warrant
your closer consideration. First,
soundstage height is somewhat
restricted with the CS 1.6s, so artists
image as if they’re seated or per-
forming in a stadium-seating venue.
(See, I told you they’re reminiscent
of the 63s!) This is neither bad nor
wrong, and your response is likely
to be based simply on personal pref-
erence or, like me, the image height
to which you’ve grown accustomed.
Second, although the 1.6s are capa-
ble of casting a remarkably wide
soundstage, I was never able to
coax or conjure up images remotely
concordant with a full orchestra
playing full bore as, for example, on
the demo-like LP, Orchestrations
Astromantic (RCA RDCE-6). Smaller
ensembles and smaller scale music
are fine — in fact, often wonderful
— but if you lust for big and bold,
the CS 1.6 may leave you a mite
unfulfilled.
Let me be pointedly clear: Within
the bounds of these (unsurprising)
constraints, after a few months and
many hours with these speakers, it’s
difficult for me to conceive of a bet-
ter balanced, more musically satis-
fying presentation than that deliv-
ered by the Thiel CS 1.6. If I were
allowed just one word to describe
the 1.6, it would have to be “solid,”
and I’d apply it to the speaker’s
imaging, construction, warranty (10
years), and, of course, manufactur-
er’s reputation. My sense is that one
would need to assemble a remark-
ably fine and perhaps very expen-
sive system for the CS 1.6 to repre-
sent the weakest link in the sonic
chain, so “solid” applies perhaps
most of all to your investment.
Reprinted by permission of
The Audiophile Voice © 2001
Guts & Elbow Grease Publishing Ltd.
215 Glenridge Ave,Montclair, NJ 07042.
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