These PCSs aren’t the youngest, they were originally built in late 1999. They were probably adored when new, but they showed major signs of abuse when they arrived at CSS. I wasn’t looking for a new pair of speakers (or a project), but when I came across these they looked rough. Not just unkempt, but downright ragged. Abandoned to a pawnshop 45 minutes away from their birthplace here in Lexington, I found them with their baffles busted out, tweeters pushed in and woofers literally broken apart. The shop owner had sold and shipped them to a buyer out of state but packed them badly. That they weren’t heaved into a dumpster upon return was surely because they were too heavy to toss as a pair.

I found beauty beneath a damaged exterior. Firstly, I finished what the package handlers had started by breaking out what was left of the original baffles. I installed two brand new baffles. Next I tediously reversed as much damage as I could around the cabinet by sharpening corners, steaming out dents, filling edges, regluing lifted veneer. I couldn’t get it all, there were too many, but I got most of it before sanding the cabinets smooth and applying a lustrous oil finish. I sprayed the new baffles with a nicely textured black paint and applied two new logos to the bases.

When the woofers broke out of the baffles, their wild rampage damaged the crossovers. I reconstructed and measured the crossovers against design documentation. Once satisfied with the electrical integrity of the system, I built fresh drivers and installed them. I also added a brace behind the woofer which was a mod developed mid-production to contain the woofers in case they decided to reprise their last escapade on their trip to their forever home. Today, I stretched new grilles for them and set them up in our humble listening room at the shop for their first concert in months? Years? Oh my God, they sound heavenly.

My soft spot for PCSs began in 2006 or 2007 when I set a pair up in the grand THIEL listening room, a room far too voluminous for mid-sized stand mount speakers. I heard sounds coming from behind me but from speakers in front of me. PCSs, more than any other model taught me about true holographic imaging. This pair is finished in Bird’s Eye Maple like the pair that lived on my desk for years. What should have been a light tug of reminiscence on my heart strings was a two-fisted yank. I’ve done my duty as a steward of THIEL speakers by taking them in and cleaning them up. Now I am offering them to a good home. They’re not perfect, but they’re very very good. If you love and care for them, they will reward you with a home full of musical joy.