Thiel Owners

I’m settling in, down, planting myself!

This is almost where I am. My modded 2.4s sound superb. I would probably have to drop at least $30k to better them in any meaningful way. My amp is killer, would have to $$$pend to get better performance there, too. The reason I wrote “almost” is because I am in line to get my Ayre DAC upgraded to latest version. After that I have zero plans to change my system in any way. 

batmanfan

It takes a while for the BP17 cubed to break in. Although Bryston runs each one for 100 hours, I ran mine for another 100-150, as it gradually improved over time.
I exchanged a BP-26 for the 17 cubed.  No contest. 

Disclaimer: I listen to classical music, with country and bluegrass a significant minority. No synthetic music or hard rock. 

beetlemania...

Hahaha.  Good reply.  I just sold my Maggie MMGi’s off here on the site in just 3 hours.  Took a single re- list to sell the Audio Research DSi200 Integrated sole, but that was $1300 greater.  C’est la vie. 


What my “settling down” means is that I am not going to chase the Audio dragon any longer.  I had some fine setups in the past, but my curiosity - and available funds at the time - had me buying/selling too much stuff to mention. 


My happenstance discovery of the Belles integrated is what compelled me to actively seek a pair of Thiels. 
I moved from Maggies to Thiels before so I know in advance this time around that I will have an extraordinarily good setup - and all for under $3K. 


I’m picking up the CS2.4’s tomorrow afternoon.  The guy who purchased my Maggies might be picking them up later in the day. Talk about timing...


In order for me to get the same sort of articulation and accuracy I am getting from the Belles I would have to spend much, much more.  A LOT. I been dere, I done that. I learned. 


I am realllllllllly looking forward to hearing this amp sing through the Thiels. 

Thanks @holco. Never heard of Audio-gd, but am open to taking a look and will look at their products.  The price is really reasonable.  Has anyone else here used their preamps or DACs?

Thank you for the suggestion, jafant. My brother is starting to get into the hobby, despite my warnings of endless tweaking and empty pockets, hehe, and I may end up giving him my 9000es.  (Will tell him to stock up on parts.) Been looking at going all digital, but I don't think I've done it right--the SQ seems weak.  Not sure if it's because of the Anthem DAC, or perhaps the source.  I've been using my Mac Mini and ripping CDs at ALAC (Apple's lossless codec).  Perhaps the SACDs just sound so much better?  I didn't think there is an audible difference, so I'm thinking it's something else.  Either that, or its just the synergy of the 9000es SACD player with my system.  Will continue tweaking.

For those who have gone all digital and find the results acceptable (or preferable to physical discs such as CDs or SACDs), what have you used from source to the amp?  The Thiels are famous (or notorious) for being very revealing, so it's most likely sounding out a weakness in my chain from source to amp (don't think it's the amp to speaker).  Appreciate everyone's thoughts.

unsound...

I’m pretty much with you on the meters thing, but for reasons including your opinion and others. I kinda enjoy music a little bit more when my living room is practically dark,  illuminated only by the evening outside the window.  My neighborhood doesn’t have streetlights, is heavily treed, so it can get pretty dark under the right conditions. 


I sit 10-11 feet away from my speakers and the last thing I want to look at is a miniature replication of a city scape sitting atop my equipment cabinet. The Belles integrated I am enjoying now has but two small LED’s on its faceplate, one for on/off, one for mute. Using either one makes it disappear.  Noice. 


It’s kinda like the way new automobiles are. I see something “new” added to the “experience” and I immediately think, “Oh, that’s gonna be the first thing to break.”  I had a sedan with a/c’d seats. Nice. Broke. Expensive to fix. One with a heated steering wheel - very nice touch. Broke. Damn. 


On a somewhat similar note - why do some manufacturers position the on/off button on the rear of the cabinet?  Drives me crazy...