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A review of the THIEL SCS4 Loudspeaker Innovative design and high-end sound

Steve Kindig — Aug 01, 2008
Article contents
Page  1.   Speaker description and setup details
Page  2.   Listening impressions

Listening impressions — the start of something good

This particular pair of SCS4s had been used for training sessions for a few months, so they were already well broken in. To get a general feel for their sound, I began by listening to a few discs that had been spending a lot of time in my player recently. I expected to have to experiment with the volume and crossover settings on my ACI Titan powered subwoofer, to match up better with the THIELs, but the system sounded very smooth and balanced from top to bottom, with no hint of boominess in the bass. So I just sat back and soaked in the sounds.

What immediately struck me was a profound sense of clarity and effortless transparency. The SCS4s brought the music closer, allowing me to hear further into the mix on every recording. High frequencies were extended, but with no trace of edginess. The midrange was extraordinarily pure and detailed, with a palpable sense of presence. The SCS4s clearly outperformed my Sapphires in their reproduction of midbass and upper bass, sounding both more extended and more articulate. It was easier to pick out the melody in acoustic and electric bass lines. The SCS4s are bass-reflex speakers, with ports in their cabinets to extend bass output. Bass-reflex speakers used to have a reputation for woolly, "one-note" bass, but advanced designs like the SCS4 have left those limitations far behind.

Some high-end speakers are too "polite" for my taste — or maybe a better word is "uninvolving." They can reproduce the notes, but seem to polish away some of the music's rough edges: the hum of a guitar amp, the clicking of plastic picks against steel strings, or a singer's intake of breath. But the SCS4s always sounded robustly musical, providing an open window, a raw feed, a direct conduit to the performance. Their remarkable clarity made it easy to track multiple threads in the music. From the fluid Afropop of Tama's Nostalgie to the breakneck bluegrass of Carrie Hassler and Hard Rain, the sound had a cohesive 3-dimensionality that bordered on the physical. The Carrie Hassler CD in particular packed blazing instrumental runs that fairly leaped from the speakers.

On well-engineered recordings, the SCS4s created an open, spacious, densely textured soundstage that extended from wall to wall and floor to ceiling. Soundstage height was better than I'm used to, while soundstage depth was simply the best I've heard in my room, seeming to extend several feet beyond the wall behind the speakers. When I played Eric Clapton's acoustic version of "Layla" from his Unplugged CD, this track's relaxed, atmospheric vibe washed over me, and as soon as it finished, I had to hear it again. And again.

Listening impressions — further sharpening the focus

My colleague and fellow audiophile Dave Bar joined me one evening for some listening. I trust Dave's ears at least as much as my own, and while he was immediately impressed by the SCS4s, he also loves to tinker with speaker placement and other fine-tuning, so we tried a few things. After a few rounds of shifting the speakers then listening some more, we ended up with the SCS4s spaced a little closer together with a bit less toe-in, but left their distance to the sofa unchanged. This new placement sacrificed a bit of soundstage depth in exchange for a larger sweet spot and improved overall balance.

I also tried turning off my subwoofer, and the sonic picture grew clearer still. The sub had actually been "slowing down" the SCS4s in the midbass region. By that I mean that the overall sound grew noticeably more lively and nimble when I switched off the sub. With a lot of trial and error I probably could have tweaked the subwoofer's settings to create a more seamless transition from my sub to the SCS4s, but the THIELs' bass was surprisingly taut and tuneful for their compact size. Near the end of the review period, I dug out my trusty bass test disc and found that in my room, bass response was still strong down to a surprising 42Hz, but rolled off swiftly and was nearly inaudible at 35Hz. For listening to music, many people will be more than satisfied with the SCS4s' bass performance.

Dave and I continued playing familiar tracks and several times one of us said, "That's the best I've ever heard that sound." And as it got later, the music got louder. Little Feat's remastered Waiting for Columbus is one of the best live recordings ever, both musically and sonically. The southern-fried swamp boogie of "Fat Man in The Bathtub" put big smiles on our faces. The differences between the SCS4s and my Sapphires weren't night and day, but they were consistent and unmistakable.

So accurate, they expose system (and setup) weaknesses

I continued to enjoy the SCS4s, but I began to notice that something was slightly amiss: the entire soundstage seemed to pull a tiny bit to the right. It was subtle, but I noticed it on several recordings. When I checked my preamp's balance setting, I was surprised to find it tilted rightward. I don't know how long it had been like that or how it got that way. Probably me, but I also have folks over to listen pretty often and the remote gets passed around. It's easy to hit the wrong button. The point is that the SCS4's supreme detail and spatial accuracy made this setup flaw obvious. Once the balance control was correctly centered, the soundstage locked in even more.

Recommendations

Obviously, I was bowled over by the THIEL SCS4s. They've allowed me to enjoy the the best sound I've ever heard in my room. And frankly, as a diehard audiophile and 24-year Crutchfield veteran, I'm thrilled that we're carrying speakers of this caliber. At $2000/pair, the SCS4s aren't inexpensive, yet their exceptionally realistic presentation of recordings makes them a true high-end value. Their sound bears a strong family resemblance to that of THIEL's flagship CS3.7, but in a much more compact and versatile package. If the idea of experiencing your favorite recordings in a deeper way appeals to you, THIEL's SCS4s deserve your serious consideration.


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