Thiel Owners

prof - your written descriptions of what your speakers sound like is always fun and educational to read, thanks, and wish you could find a way to get a pair of devores into your rotation.  I remember reading your listening/audition comments about them in the past, if I recall they were favorable?  I do remember you are not a cable guy, you run CJ 140s, assume a CJ pre, but what do you prefer as a source?

Cable land report - I asked for advice on speaker cables, andy2 recommended Acoustic Zen Hologram IIs, which I procured, and they are a nice improvement from the AQ CV-8s I had been using (thanks andy2!).  I describe the improvement as adding more depth to the stage and more resolution in the mid-upper bass (male vocals, some percussion and strings).  Then I came across this from millercarbon on another thread, "The AudioQuest House Sound is articulate and detailed but weak in harmonic development and tone. It emphasizes attack relative to fundamental development," and that sounds about right, talk about good ears and words!  If that's accurate, seems to me AQ cables would not generally be a good match for Thiels, or those who search for tone and harmonics in their idealized listening experience.  Does that conclusion ring true with Thiel users? 

Please be clear I am not trying to start a cable argument, just curious what others have experienced?

and fyi millercarbon prefers Synergistic Research cables.

thosb,

Thanks!

(Correct on cables. If you want to hear everything on the source, standard pro grade cables will do it. I used Belden for my speaker wire and there isn’t a thing I hear in other set ups using vastly more expensive cables that indicates I’m missing anything at all. Every rational neuron in my brain curdles on the mention of Synergistic Research....but I won’t go there....)

My last audition of the Devore O/96 speakers left me thinking they’d likely have made me very happy. As I put it in my own thread, they were like my Spendors on steroids. The main challenges were the wider baffles (which could interfere with the projection screen image behind them), the fact they seem to require at least 8 feet listening distance to sound their best (I need a bit closer), and the question of how I’d feel about their somewhat warm/big bass voicing over time. I never got to try them in my home and that sure would have helped my decision.But the Joseph speakers have sounded even better than I thought they would.

As for sources: A couple years ago I got heavily back in to vinyl, and took the plunge in buying a really good turntable/cartridge/phono stage (Transrotor Fat Bob turntable, Benz Micro Ebony L cartridge/JE Audio phono stage). I was pretty astounded at the sound quality coming off my records and that, combined with the fun of the physical aspects of vinyl, led me to buy ever more vinyl. It’s not that I don’t still like my digital source (Ripped CDs/Tidal streamed via Rasberry Pie to Benchmark Dac), but I have so much vinyl piled up to listen to, it’s my go-to listening experience.

thosb,

Being an antediluvian audio nut, in 1950  I began to use DYI speaker and interconnects - - top Belden wire with the best connectors I could get. 

Kept this up until arthritis set in. Since, I've used Blue Jeans Cables for both Belden interconnects and Belden AWG 10 for speaker wiring. Like prof, I haven't been able to discern a significant difference between the straight Beldens and the esoteric ones.  I just listened to the 2.7s, and put the $$$$ differences into a new BCD-3 CD spinner,  new CDs, upgrading from a 4BSST2 to a 4B3 amplifier, and into a BP173 preamp. 

Just a thought

thosb
Thank You for the cable update. Good to read that Acoustic Zen (AZ) was an upgrade over Audioquest (AQ) for your system.  Acoustic Zen, Audioquest, Belden, Blue Jean Cable, Cardas, Dueland, M.I.T., Synergistic Research (SR), Transparent Audio (TA), are all sonic matches for Thiel speakers. Across the various Audio forums, I am sure there are other brands represented as well. At any time, feel free to discuss cabling options, because we all hear differently.
Happy Listening!