Luckyorleans
Super Member
The $120 per speaker price sounds like the "we don't really want to do this so price it high enough to dissuade most people" price.
Ignorance affords much opportunity for pleasant surprises - Thiel Model 03 loudspeake
- Thread starter Vitopanch
- Start date
Goo Gone is the orange based one, it works well on sticker adhesives - not so good on this speaker adhesive. I went with acetone - even so, the glue was still amazingly persistent. So I hit it with acetone, more razor knife, more acetone, then sanded with 220 grit sandpaper and did a final wipe down with alcohol. Still some residue, but it's very smooth and I can live with it.
Thanks for the gluing advice - I'm a bit concerned about centering the voice coil, but it does seem to be a self centering system and I really don't want to deal with cutting the dust caps off and shimming.
Update: Just installed the surrounds. For me, the toughest part was applying glue evenly around the cone - using the frame as a turntable was helpful. I probably applied too much because as I set the foam on the cone, it was getting onto my fingers and tacky which made it hard to work the foam onto the cone cleanly. I used a small screwdriver which helped, but less glue is the way go. As MannyE pointed out, there is lots of curling and weirdness while the glue sets up (see pic below), but it evens out nicely over time. Centering the voice coil turned out to be very easy once the glue setup a bit by applying light pressure on the dustcap and sides of the cone. I'm happy with the results so far. Will let them dry overnight and install them back in cabs tomorrow.
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MannyE
Exterminate!
Sitting here in the WPLG Channel 10 studios safe as a bug in a rug. Thanks for asking! Watching the house through the RING doorbell, which has just paid for itself in peace of mind. Looks like we dodged a big North Korean style bomb. Irma was a 400 mile wide carpet bombing run with a 100 mile wide atom bomb in the middle. A direct hit on Miami Beach would have looked like a giant bulldozer had scraped all the buildings off the island.
Maybe it's karma for donating the repaired Thiel 04a back to the thrift so they could sell them as working models? You should have seen their faces when I brought in 5 pairs of speakers I bought there over the last year or so, but now restored both mechanically and cosmetically. The lady said that if she knew I was going to do that she would have let me have them for free. LOL. I told her that the fun is the restoration and that it defeated the whole purpose of charity.
I went back later that day and they had sold them for $75! LOL
onwardjames : I got lucky with the Thiels - someone was moving and just didn't want to deal, they were on deck to be tossed in the dumpster. Glad I got them before-the cabinets are in fantastic shape, just a few minor scratches but to be expected from 30+ yr old speakers! It was my first refoam, and thanks to you guys and youtube, all went better than expected. The speakers sound fantastic.
MannyE : Good luck today - looks like she continues to creep west, but the predicted storm surges are still pretty insane. And wow, reconditioned 04's for $75? Someone has a great thrift store find story to tell!
MannyE : Good luck today - looks like she continues to creep west, but the predicted storm surges are still pretty insane. And wow, reconditioned 04's for $75? Someone has a great thrift store find story to tell!
MannyE
Exterminate!
Yeah, I ran out of room and it was the Yahama 690ii or the 04a and the Yamaha don't need as much "placement" as the 04 do. I will say that if I could have kept them, the properly placed 04a speakers are nicer to my ears. But they HAD to be in a certain location and they were strangled there.
The surge has SO FAR spared my house, and I think most of the east coast homes. Let's hope that trend continues.
The surge has SO FAR spared my house, and I think most of the east coast homes. Let's hope that trend continues.
Good to hear MannyE!!!! Hang in there. And what a nice thing you did with the thrift!
MannyE
Exterminate!
Thanks! I figure since I get so many "scroes" from that place (there must have been a migration of audiophiles from NYC or something) it won't be long before something else exceptional shows up there.
I keep very little, but the stuff I give back hones my restoration skills for when the occasional amazing find shows up. And they appreciate the return of working equipment. Its for cancer research, so why not?
It looks like we may get to go home tonight... maybe.
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I've been A/B'g the Thiel's vs my Kef Ref 2's through an Anthem AVM 20/MCA50. Everything I've heard about the Thiel's is spot on - very accurate, particularly in the mid/high end, and any flaws in recording/mastering are really exposed. I think you're right about placement - in a dedicated 2 ch listening room I would probably appreciate them more than my Kef's, but for now I'm finding the Kef's to to be more forgiving and easier listening. Good you're keeping your restoration skills up - I definitely learned alot on the refoam. I'm sure the next ones I do will go better.
Looks like IRMA downgraded to Cat 2 - hope you guys stay safe.
I found a pair of CS2's at a Goodwill for $160. Both dome tweeters were crushed in. I pointed this out and said it would probably cost $160 to replace them. Goodwill dropped the price to $40. I really didn't know if those tweets could be saved — luckily the old sewing-needle trick worked, the domes popped right out with only a tiny dimple to show they were ever damaged, and they sound perfect, not even a hint of coil-rub or other distortion. Great speakers, and so elegantly shaped. I loaned them temporarily to my son, whose Linn speakers were damaged during a party. He's a designer, he collects Eames-era stuff, his house is a mini-gallery — and I'll never get those Thiels back...
sheltie dave
Addicted Member
I have a pair of CS1.2s and a pair of CS3.6s. Believe it or not, my wife loves both, thinks the 1.2s are cute as a button, and calls both a 10 in WAF!
-19db
New Member
Bump for this 12 year old thread
I'm the original owner of a pair of CS2's and also have a pair of the 04A's. Had Thiel refoam the 04's LF drivers back in 2013 and replaced the D28F tweeter in one of the CS2's. With just those repairs, both sets are still sounding great. After the 04's were fixed up, they easily blew away a pair of 15 ohm Rogers LS3-5A's in my bedroom system. Better clarity and imaging with surprisingly solid bass from such a small bass/mid driver. These old Thiels come up used sometimes and they are worth fixing up.
Jim Thiel was fabulous engineer with a great ear.
I'm the original owner of a pair of CS2's and also have a pair of the 04A's. Had Thiel refoam the 04's LF drivers back in 2013 and replaced the D28F tweeter in one of the CS2's. With just those repairs, both sets are still sounding great. After the 04's were fixed up, they easily blew away a pair of 15 ohm Rogers LS3-5A's in my bedroom system. Better clarity and imaging with surprisingly solid bass from such a small bass/mid driver. These old Thiels come up used sometimes and they are worth fixing up.
Jim Thiel was fabulous engineer with a great ear.
