Thiel Owners

Good to see you - thosb
Not sure about the Prima Luna? Rogue Audio is a sonic match, especially, the m-180 (monoblocks). A CS 3.7 owner over on Audio Asylum uses this combo in excellent effect. Keep us posted on your purchase decision.
Happy Listening!

Good to see you - ronkent
Keep her.  Happy Listening!

Hi,

I am looking for some advice about the weak link in my system...

My room is 18 by 34 with room treatments on the front wall. Due to room logistics, my Thiel CS5's sit out from the front wall about 4 feet with 3 feet on one sidewall and 7 feet on the other side wall. I sit about 9 feet from the speakers, which are about 9 feet apart. Thus roughly half the room length is behind me.  

My preamp is a Prima Luna Dialogue Premium and I listen to redbook CD's with a Hegel HD25 DAC using an AudioSpace CD8 with Phillips transport.

I have auditioned in home Krell, Parasound, Hegel, Levinson, and Pass amps among others. I liked a Pass x350.0 the best but it was huge and was a space problem.

My current amp is a Coda CS that sounds remarkably similar to the Pass to my ears. I have been told that Pass dealers do not like Coda because of the close similarity of sound and much tighter profit margins on the Codas..FWIW. The Thiels dip down to under two ohms and are inefficient but the Coda has no trouble with the bass.

The Coda stays in Class A for the first ten watts. It seems to me that the sound becomes too bright in the treble at high volumes. Maybe because the Coda leaves class A or perhaps it is the metal tweeters in the Thiels?

Anyway, I like a smooth, nuanced sound with detail and a deep sound stage. My head banging days are over as I seem to have gravitated to acoustic music, jazz, and female vocals.

So...assuming that I keep the Thiels, what is the weakest link in my system and what would be a good improvement and why?

I appreciate any feedback.

Thank you!

Dsper

Welcome! dsper
Consult Mark w/ Reno HiFi since you like the Pass Labs sound.  Coda, Pass and Threshold are connected, affiliated w/ Nelson Pass. Older Adcom as well. Perhaps one of the other owners here are versed in Prima Luna and can offer a suggestion.
Personally, I enjoy a tubed pre-amp mated to a solid state Power amp.I am intrigued w/ your AudioSpace CD8 transport as well.
Keep us posted on your audition/purchase decision.Happy Listening!

Dsper - I suspect something other than your speakers or amps. Your room setup may invite improvement (they always do), but rarely cause high frequency problems, except from side-wall bounce. Is there a hard surface where you would see the speaker if a mirror were there? (Take down that ceiling mirror!) The CS5 tweeter is really sweet and well behaved. There is a possibility of XO capacitor leaking that could overload the lower end of the tweeter, or upper midrange. On that front, I suggest you contact Rob Gillum at rob@coherentsourceservice.com for advice.

What comes to my mind is cabling - RF leakage into cables-as-antennae. Check your RF situation-try killing all non hi-fi devices. Try borrowing Goertz or other cable that is very different from your present stuff. Try changing lengths (interconnects vs speaker cable) and so forth. Try shielded AC-power cables while you're at it.

Sources are also suspect in these matters. You might consider trying an analog source with some impeccable recordings.

My intention is to broaden your troubleshooting mind. Your post suggests you may be focusing on the system elements that are highly likely to be exonerated at the end of the process. Keep us posted.