CES 2011

Thiel SCS4T

Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 11, 2011

The new Thiel floorstanding SCS4T (about $3700/pair), mentioned again further down in this report, is a modest speaker by Thiel standards. The single coaxial driver has the advantage of coincidence. That is, the tweeter is mounted coaxially with the woofer, so the two drive units do not produce comb filtering dips in the speaker's response at off axis angles. Coaxial drivers are also used in more upmarket models from Thiel, and also by KEF and Tannoy, but otherwise are relatively rare.

Yes, I heard more dramatically impressive sound at the show, but the Thiel room, one of the first I visited, sounded so honest and right that for me it represented the sort of value that most of the higher-end products could not manage. Of course, a pair of Thiel subwoofers were helping it along in the deep bass!

And unlike nearly all of the speakers heard at the Venetian, the SCS4T is ready for home theater. The older, stand-mount SCS4 (about $2400/pair, available in singles) should be a good match. It uses the same coaxial driver and can be used as a matching center channel, even mounted on its side (a trick that other non-coaxial 2-way speakers cannot do without sonic consequences.

COMMENTS
Colin Robertson's picture
Submitted by Colin Robertson on January 16, 2011 - 10:46pm

Ok, speaking as a Thiel fan, what exactly is the difference between the bookshelf and tower version of the SCS4? I would expect deeper bass, but according to Thiel's own website, they have the exact same specs and use the exact same drivers (not sure about the crossover). Fine, so some like the tower speaker look, but then why the massive jump in price?! Did marketing take over when Jim passed away? When I inquired at CEDIA last year, the Thiel rep didn't even have a clue. Has anyone been able to hear a demonstration where they're compared to the SCS4's? At least when Jim was alive models would have obvious and straight-forward reasons to exist, and were clearly differentiated from other models. What gives??

X