Thiel SCS4 Product Support Bulletin

from the
test bench
Thiel SCS4 Speaker System
by Steve GuttenberG
Jim Thiel must be a magician.
At least that's what I thought when
I first heard his newest speaker,
the SCS4. I was listening to an a
cappella band, and the guys were
all there—not just the voices, but
I felt like the Persuasions were in
the room with me. The sound was
Home Theater / April 2008
high performance
$ $ $ — $ $ $ $

Sonic sorcery.

so utterly natural; it was as if the
speakers weren't doing anything.

A Disappearing Act

Instead of the usual assortment of
tweeter, midrange, and/or woof-
ers stacked up on the front baffle,
the SCS4 appears to have just one
driver. Look a little closer, and
you'll see a 1-inch aluminum-dome
tweeter sitting in the apex of an
aluminum-coned 6.5-inch woofer.
> www.hometheatermag.com
Electronically reprinted from April 2008
Thus, it's technically a
two-way, coaxial design.
The unusual arrangement
ensures that every lis-
tener seated on your couch
hears the sound from each
speaker's tweeter and
woofer at exactly the same
time. This coaxial design
performs equally well in a
vertical or horizontal ori-
entation, and you can place
it on a shelf or speaker
stand. My review system
included five SCS4s, and
the sonic advantages of
running identical speakers
in the front, center, and
surround channels were
evident in the system's
seamless soundstaging and
razor-sharp imaging. That
said, if you prefer in-wall
or on-ceiling surround
speakers, Thiel's Power-
Point 1.2 and HigherPlane
will be up to the job; they
employ driver technologies
very similar to the SCS4's.
The Thiel sound runs
throughout the line.
Talk about magic. The
SCS4 is a good deal less expen-
sive than the model it replaces,
the SCS3, and the new one is
built to an even higher standard.
The tweeter is nearly identical
to the one used in Thiel's flag-
ship speaker, the CS3.7, and the
SCS4's cabinet now uses a cast-
aluminum baffle to provide much
greater structural rigidity, a more
secure platform for driver mount-
ing, and a reduction of cabinet