Thiel Owners

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.

Good to see you - tomthielSound advice as always.  Happy Listening!

tomthiel, I appreciate the advice, well not all of it.....the ceiling mirror thing.......:-)!

If I really think about it, it may be that the recordings are the problem. I am listening to some Chet Baker right now and I can play it as loud as I want with no problem. 

More to think about.

I am wondering if a different pair of interconnects between the source and preamp would help? Of course, I would have no idea on where to start.

Thanks, 

Dsper

A real problem with Thiel speakers is how ruthlessly they reveal upstream problems. That's not to say they themselves might be the problem, but . . . A tell-tale is that if you can extract excellent or trouble-free performance from an excellent source, then your problem might lie elsewhere. Why I mentioned cable is that Thiel's current-draw exacerbates cable problems. Dealers and/or direct sale manufacturers such as Morrow tend to offer generous cable comparison schemes. I suggest long pre to power amp interconnects with short source and speaker runs, especially if you now have something different than that. When you don't have a clue, mix it up and see what floats.

Dsper...what was your experience with Hegal amplification?  To ameliorate your excess high energy at high volumes have you experimented with sitting a little bit farther out from your speakers? In doing so you may want to eliminate any toe in which should help some with the brightness at high volumes. I’ve been using an Aesthetix Atlas for the past six years on my 2.4’s -- the Atlas has a beautifully sweet top end. I also have tubes on the front end - an Aesthetix Janus preamp. Have you considered class D? The last generation Bel Cantos (the Ref500Ms and the Ref1000Ms) sound great on our speakers with absolutely no harsh top end at high volumes. I do NOT recommend the new Bel Canto Ref 600s which sounded very recessed in the upper midrange to me. I’ve heard the Bryston 4b3 which is good but also a bit harsh in the highs at high volumes. I’ll be trying (should receive it tomorrow...color me excited!) a Pass X150.8 and will report my results here. If its harsh at high volumes I may try tubes as well, more specifically ARC and VAC and may try Ayre as well. I’ll report all my findings. My room is pretty well damped so the room is NOT adding to the problem of too much high end energy and frankly I notice it only at high volumes (on the Bryston 4b3 for instance). Keep us all posted on what you try and find out. As far as cables go I’m using Synergistic Research Element Series Cooper and Tungsten throughout and find them a stunning match.