Thiel Owners

Jafant...

Until I landed here about 3 years ago I had pretty much regarded interconnects/speaker cables as the last thing on my list. Sight unseen, sight unheard, heck - the components came with them, right?

I think the first "high end" amp I purchased here was a "vintage" McIntosh MC2100 105 watt per channel solid state affair which had very small screw terminals for the speaker connections. The seller related that he found a certain brand, which is now long forgotten, perfect for bringing out the amp's best performance.  I was then using a pair of Klipsch CF-3's which had been driven by Radio Shack cable from a 100 foot spool, tucked along the walls and laying - gasp! - on the shag carpeting. Them speakers was 101db efficient comprised of two 10 inch woofers and a  centered compression tweeter which I found to be shrill - especially with my new "audiophile" amp. 

This thread could also be titled "How Audiogon Ruined My Life and Why I'm Still At It."

On subject...  Based on the seller's advice I walked into my local shop and made the inquiry. They knew of the amp's Trumpian sized speaker terminals and fashioned a pair for me out of some Tara Labs cables.  Bingo!  Wow, this stuff is true!  Mind you, I was then somewhat surprised at paying over $100 for speaker cables having never done so before. 

Sheesh. 

I then, and up to quite recently, had a very mixed bag of cables for everything, a few Tara's, MITs, Silnotes, Morrows...never using one brand or another in the chain altogether. 

Goertz speaker cables are amongst my favorites. I still have 2 pairs, single and bi-wire just in case, 7 feet long. I have not had any speaker wires laying on the floor for a long time now!

Currently I am 100% Transparent Audio throughout, components and speaker alike. Reasonable in cost, excellent customer service, with a trade up policy I believe no other cable company offers.  I'm sold and happy. 

Sight unseen, sight unheard...it's sound, not sight that matter. Cables ain't sexy, there's no lights, buttons, meters, brushed aluminum fascias, toggles, aerospace graded space age polymer coatings to appreciate. I cannot offer any technical opinions regarding my preferences for cables in general, but I will offer that experimenting pays off.  I suggest starting off small and continuing from there. I have and it's worth it. 

Damn you, Audiogon!

By the way, my spate of recent posts to this thread was conducted whilst spinning vinyl and ripping discs into my server yesterday in an air conditioned space.  105 here yesterday afternoon. Yikes. 

Great forum, I'm still learnin' stuff!

I used Audioquest cabling for my earlier 2.2's & 2.3's. I switched to Transparent cables when my Thiel dealer (extinct now!) sold me some in the 1500 range. Later on I had a chance to compare much cheaper Sanders cables and interconnects. They sounded at least as good, and were much cheaper. Now I use Sanders for much of my needs except for when I switch to tubes and don't have balanced connections. Then it's Audioquest as I have sold my Transparent. Call Roger Sanders and order a pair if you don't like them, he'll take them back and refund your dough. I just call him and tell him how long and single ended or balanced and a week later I get a box of cables! Viola! 

On another topic, has anyone heard both CS5i's or 5's, and CS7.2's?  If so, your impressions of these two big Thiels?
I'm considering the 7.2's at present.

TY- michaeljbrown

I am a Transparent cabling fan as well.  There are so many brands that I will probably never demo...depressing...

Audioquest  does sound very good on Thiel speakers.
I have not heard any of the older speakers- CS5 or CS 7.2.

Thanks! again- oblgny-

I learn from you guys as well. This is what a hobby and being a hobbiest, is all about in practice.  Happy Listening!