Thiel Owners

Have to agree with tomthiel.

(f you can place the amplifier somewhere between or very near the speakers, do so. Run short 12 or 10 gauge equivalent cables to the speakers. Run either balanced or unbalanced lines from the preamp to the amplifier. (Balance preferred over long distances).

Works great for my 2.7s. I have a 25-foot run between preamp and amplifier. 

Note: I'm not specifying any particular cable manufacturer. The trick is to get large diameter copper cabling. 16 gauge cables are a No-No, as you'l be putting several hundred watts through to the Thiels.  

Just my experience  YMMV

Thanks for the good ideas. 

I do not think the length of my hookups is an issue. My speaker cables (thicker than lamp cord) are only about seven feet on a side. All of my interconnects are three or four feet long.

Tomtheil and Brayeagle's interconnect advice is worth exploring as I have not paid attention to interconnects at all. My component upgrades have been large positives so I have not gotten into the nuances of interconnects. Maybe I am getting to that point. I guess I will have to dig into the Cable Company website after all!?

Pwhinson, I am pretty happy with the Coda CS amp because it has the current to supply the CS5's; although, my local stereo store has a Hegel H30 that can be run in stereo mode! Also, I am itching to try a McCormack DNA 500.  Can anyone comment on McCormack with Thiels?

I had been thinking about checking out different preamps, as my PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium is in for repair for the second time. The first time was when it was new and had a bad capacitor. Upscale Audio took care of it and says they will cover any required repair and shipping back to me for this second time, so they are standing behind the unit. The problems are starting to kinda bug though.

Anyway, back to the treble concern. I pulled the trigger on a Conrad-Johnson Premier 17LS-2 preamp. My thinking is that CJ is supposed to be on the bit darker and warmer side of things, and I am hallucinating this might help. There are good reviews on the unit and the 17LS was the only CJ or ARC preamp to receive all five star reviews on "Audioreview", FWIW. I have not tried that many preamps so I may have made a mistake here; I should know the answer to that question by the end of next week.

I appreciate the advice. keep it coming!

Dsper

Dsper - I have long experience with CJ and McC DNA - both are excellent in my opinion. Be careful not to confuse tonal color (CJ=dark) with a perceived problem (bright treble at high volume.) A sweeter preamp might make the problem less evident, as might a different speaker, but the problem has not been addressed.

I suggest borrowing some cables before inserting your CJ, since you know your existing system well.