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Ever Have One Of Those Evenings?

Tonight, I went downstairs, turned on the system, and it sounded like crap. Within an hour I had:

>Discovered that one of my Thiel 2.2's has either a dead woofer (most likely), or a crossover or internal wiring problem. Testing to diagnose will commence tomorrow, tonight I'm too P.O.'ed.

>Additionally discovered that the tweeter on the other side is distorting badly, and will need the dome/voice-coil assembly replaced (again).

>Confirmed that my most costly set of interconnects has a bad jack connection (these are Harmonic Technology Magic Link Ones, which naturally feature a plug design that cannot easily be opened up for inspection or repairs without destroying the heat-shrink sleeve).

>Faced the distinct possibility that my futzing around behind the preamp trying to ascertain the culprit in the latter problem - without first turning down the volume - may well have been the cause of least one of the first two problems.

>Realized that now, not only can't I listen to my system the regular way, but since the OEM (non-standard) headphone amp output jack I got from Musical Fidelity's distributor to replace the faulty original in my X-Cans quickly developed the same exact problem as the old one (no right channel with either set of 'phones), I cannot even listen with my headphones for the time being, except through my CD-R recorder's wimpy monitoring jack.

Looks like I'm on a steady diet of cable movies and NPR for a while. (Way to go, Trent Lott: at least you'll be out-of-sight, out-of-mind by this time next week, you plastic-haired cretin - your plight is the one redeeming feature of my evening!)
zaikesman
stehno
1,453 posts
 
From what I understand, NPR can damage your hearing. It is known to have lots of glare, grain, hash, along with oodles of veiling. The perspective will put you to the far left.

The immediacy and macro-dynamics of the presentation can lead to immediate protest (doesn't matter what the cause) or to even threaten to leave one's own country (only during an election year).

The micro-dynamics are soap bubbles.

The transparency is obvious to anyone who does not listen on a regular basis.

It's overall sonic signature is overly warm (and fuzzy) and may be considered by some to be bloomy and even bloated at times with a tremendous lack of detail.

In it's place, might I suggest a good dose of Lipitor and warm cocoa curling up with a nice book by the fire?

How about Bill Bennett's 'Book of Virtues'?

-IMO

p.s. sorry to hear about your system woes.
holzhauer
201 posts
 
It could be worse. I once read a post from a fella with a nice pair of sound labs (or at least they used to be). He was short on speaker wire so he was in the process of splicing two extension cords together to use as speaker wire. The mother in law noticed one of the unplugged cords and plugged it into the wall socket. It was wired directly to the speaker inputs. Ouch!!!!!
paulg805
29 posts
 
This is one reason I have 3 systems in my house, this way at least one works.
kinsekd
252 posts
 
Boy do I feel your pain! Reminds me of the time I was installing a Black Diamond Racing shelf and cones 'neath my LP12. I was all set to go. I turn on the preamp. Then I turn on the power amp and am greeted with a pop as loud as a shotgun and a plume of smoke coming from my recently upgraded power amp. Actually, it was about this time last year.

As it turned out, it wasn't as I expensive as I thought and only took a week instead of the month I thought it would.

As for the plastic haired cretin, I'm afraid bad politicians are notoriously difficult to get rid of. We won't name names so as to keep the discussion civil.
garfish
1,840 posts
 
I've certainly had component, wire, and other misc problems but nothing that would approach your present litany of woes. It finally dawned on me that the main reason I maintain a "second" system is so that I can cannibalize it for components or wires when a part of my big rig goes down.

I agree, "plastic haired cretin" is a creative observation-- and great!

Hang in there Zman, you'll get it together again, and it'll be better! Craig.
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