I find it important to do a 2 channel audition of the main speakers prior to evaluating the entire speaker system as a whole. My experience has been that if the main speakers perform commendably as mains then they will most likely sound equally as good when combined with the rest of the package for multi-channel. After listening to the main speakers solo, I initiated the sub to create additional bass and continued my audition. Once I was satisfied with this combination, I finally moved on to the entire speaker system.

Starting with a Yes CD titled, "The Ladder" I noticed right off that the THIEL MSC1s had that involving character this CD portrays. Jon Anderson's voice was nicely forward and the pace was good, probably due to the rigid aluminum drivers. When I got to “Lightening Strikes” I turned up the volume, but no louder than I normally listen. It was this point that I started to hear some edginess and harshness typical of hard dome drivers. While most won't notice such a sound character, my ears seem to be extra sensitive to this tonal unbalance. Perhaps this edginess could be a result of the way the tweeter was recessed but it's hard to say for certain what may be the cause.

Next up in my audition was Enya's “Shepard's Moon” CD which I mainly use to determine transparency. The MCS1's had a very open wispy air sound that made me forget the speakers were producing the sound. During my entrenchment in this CD on the THIEL MCS1 speakers, they did an effective job of becoming transparent. On “Marble Halls,” I also listen for the detail in Enya's voice. I could hear the sibilance of her “S's” quite well and I could hear every breath she took though the distinctiveness tended to be merged with the overall sound.

I then switched to Flim and the BB's “Big Notes” CD which is proves to be better CD for evaluating detail. During the “New America” track, I did notice the sufficient detail I anticipated and the tonal balance was quite good on these speakers. The low end wasn't boomy and they were not overly bright but seemed a bit lacking compared to other speakers I auditioned on my Reference System.

On “Malcolm Makes Haaj” the sax solo had sufficient realism and placement enough that I could imagine the sax player standing on stage, belting out the song. The drums in the drum solo sounded just as real as the sax and compared to my DIY reference speakers in some aspects, it sounded even better. The trumpet solo also sounded real and natural with just a tad bit of edginess which can be indicative of this solo on many other speaker systems.

Patrick O'Hearn's “Trust” CD is what I use for the bass test. Although the MCS1 speakers are only rated down to 50Hz, they did a good job of reproducing adequate bass. But as expected, the low bass was lacking thereby justifying the need for the THIEL SS2 Subwoofer. Given the capabilities and performance of the MCS1 speakers, we recommend setting the subwoofer cut off frequency to 80-Hz which happens to be inline with THX's recommended configuration.   Once it was initiated, SS2 subwoofer did exactly what it was supposed to do. It seamlessly added the deep bass extension that was missing from the MCS1's alone. Even though the sub was at the back of my room, I could not tell where the extra bass was coming from. The low end wasn't boomy or too punchy. It was just good deep musical bass making it a definite compliment to the MCS1's.

During additional vocal tests I played Suzanne Vega's “Tom's Diner.” Her voice was very centered and the sound stage was high but I didn't get the sense that she was standing there. On Into the “West from Return of the King” by Annie Lennox's, her vocals were also centered and forward but not succinct. The treble seemed a little too edgy and harsh compared to other speakers I've heard. I completed my two channel audition with Steely Dan's “Two Against Nature.” Aside from the sax sounding a bit too aggressive, Fagan's voice was plenty forward and well balanced. The overall sound was full with good authoritative bass complimented by the SS2 subwoofer.

Movie Listening

Upon completion of my two channel audition, I perused through several movie tracks in full multichannel as I implemented the entire THIEL Audio speaker package. The main things I look for in movie playing are: could I understand the dialog, was the music in the movie involving, are the low frequency effects involving, and is the sound panning believable (i.e. images and sound moving left to right and front to back). One really great movie for testing an AV system is “Finding Nemo”, not only is the video quality excellent but so is the sound. The mine explosion scene in this movie is some of the most taxing effects on a subwoofer I've heard. The SS2 THIEL Audio subwoofer did a commendable job in reproducing the gut wrenching bass found in this scene. Though I found it didn't quite have the punch of my reference subwoofer and I did think I detected some minor distortion when pushed to louder volume levels during this specific track, I did not hear any additional significant distortion during other movies. The SS2 with Integrator controller coupled with the MCS1s proved to work sufficiently for movies and music tracks. On some of the loud volume action scenes when there was dialog, effects, and music all playing together, I could again hear the hardness of the treble but other than that I really enjoyed the whole set of speakers for movie watching.

For dialog the MCS1 as a center speaker did a standing job. I could understand the dialog clearly on most scenes though there seemed to be some times where I didn't hear quite as much clarity as anticipated. This may have been a result of the liveliness of my room.  Due to the difference in height between the center speaker and my screen sometimes the dialog didn't appear to come from the characters. This type of audio deficiency was one of the very reasons why I would have preferred an adjustable height speaker stand as it would have allowed me to aim the MCS1 to a more optimal playing position.

For fun, I conducted some two channel listening with the SCS3s where I later found them to not seem well suited for such a task.  I noticed that as I turned the volume up, the SCS3s seemed to be compressing the sound which we later verified during our measurements. Thus in my opinion, the THIEL SCS3 surround speakers served best for surround effects as opposed to bookshelf two channel listening.

When implemented as surround speakers, the SCS3s participated adequately in their intened role.  All of the movement from front to back sounded very smooth and there was no change in tonality. Also, as expected since the front three speakers were identical, the movement across the front of the screen was very seamless. Almost everyone likes the THX introductions that come with movies mixed in THX. When the THX intro was played back on the THIEL Audio speaker package, it was as impressive as always.

Much of what we discussed during our audition is well supplemented in our farfield and nearfield measurement plots found on page 7.  Overall the MCS1-SCS3-SS2 home theater speaker system offered a standing performance especially considering that it is an entry level system from THIEL. THIEL offers excellent build quality, craftsmanship, and high quality speaker systems along with excellent fit and finish, high product appeal, and the added bonus of a well balanced soundstage. Hopefully we will get a chance to audition some of their higher end speakers in the future.