Thiel Owners

Hi Tom

I’ve been able to use a fairly wide variety of cables in my system off and on (Nordost, Audioquest, others...often loaned or given by audiophile friends/acquaintances). But that’s not because I’m craving high end cables, just because if I need one I sometimes don’t have to buy them. (I’ve often given them back if I went on to buy my own).

You won’t find me too helpful as I am not convinced about the case for expensive/audiophile cables.  (Especially AC cables.   Doing some blind testing of AC cables cured me of any desire for those long ago).

Currently I’m using a mishmash of old Kimber PBJ interconnects that I bought long ago, I think there is an audioquest set in there, and some nordost for one connection (will probably replace that). I may replace all those with interconnects from bluejeans cable at some point. Probably no need, but some of the cables are pretty old and the bluejeans cable specs may suit my CJ preamp a bit better.


My speaker cables are currently Belden 5T00UP 10awg, from bluejeans cable:

https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm

I had to do a 40 foot run or so for the speaker cables and went biggest awg just to ensure no audible transmission loss.

I’ve heard speakers I own on this set up, and at my friend’s place who has borrowed or purchased speakers from me. He sometimes has up to 50 or 60 thousand dollars of cabling (Nordost, Crystal cable, others) for his system and the speakers sounded at least as good at my place.
FWIW. Probably not useful to you, but there you go. Cheers!

Prof - your opinion is quite useful to me. I'm casting a wider net than my personal, usually quite old, experience. I presently have bought a long run of unterminated ProCo cable 12 x 4 which resembles your links. Bluejeans' welder sounds wonderful. Terminations are serious business. I have not tried AC cables; although my queue has some shielded hospital cables to compare with "normals". I can imagine EMF interference issues. I have an EMF meter and was amazed by the levels of EMF around my gear. I installed 2 new outlets and simplified routing which significantly reduced those levels. I think I heard a more relaxed musical presentation, but I had no assistant and no way to A/B, so the result is merely a move in what seems to be a good direction.

Thank you. Tom

jafant - Thanks for starting a long and interesting thread. I'm driving my CS6's with a Krell KSA 300S amp and Krell KRC - 2 preamp. The amp is a perfect match for my Thiels because of their low sensitivity and difficult impedance curve. My other components include a PS Audio PerfectWave DAC and transport, a Marantz SA 8005 player for SACDs, A Krell CD 250/2 for HDCDs and I play vinyl with my vintage Denon DP 47F, Hana SL cartridge, and Krell phono preamp. I just bought a vintage Denon 3800 Blu Ray player so I can play DVD-Audio disks (I'm kind of a format junkie).

Good credible information in this thread about cables. I run a mishmash of cables including Audioquest, Emotiva, and Blue Jeans interconnects and Tara Space and Time speaker wires. I've just never been able to hear much difference in cables. One of these days I'm going to spring for a fancy power cord (probably Shunyata) to see if I can tell the difference but it's not a priority. One thing that has actually made a very audible difference is the addition of a BSG Technologies qol processor. This thing improves the imaging, particularly the soundstage depth, without causing other audible problems. It's one of the best investments I've made and it works great with the Thiels, which already image fantastically.

tomthiel - Thanks for the vacuum cleaner tip; I'll try it. Rob suggested using painter's tape but I couldn't get it to pull out the dent at all.

thielrules - This pair of CS6's came from Cumming and they weren't advertised. I bought them from a guy I met at the 2017 AXPONA and we have since become good friends. He upgraded to a pair of Legacy's and when he mentioned that he would sell me his Thiels for a good price I enthusiastically took him up on it. I had to drive to Rochester, MN for another reason which meant that I was only two days away from Cumming. If you ever need to know this, it turns out you can fit two Thiel CS6 speakers in the back seat of a Dodge Charger. No, it wasn't easy.

Hi Tom, 

I've grown up listening to classical music, beginning with RCA Victor Red Seals played on a wind-up Victrola. Having been in the Air Force and later traveling for my company, I've been fortunate to attend many  concerts and operas in the US and in  Europe over a 64 year period. I'm a classical music and opera nut.

What do I listen for?
I listen to the totality of the performance,  not trying to pick apart the individual elements. I want to hear what the composer is trying to tell me. 
However, if clearly discernible elements pop up, here's what I can evaluate: I Do Not Listen to hear if the second violin passes gas!

Conductor's pace and interpretation.  
Orchestra instrument  balance:
Performer's timing 
Performer's quality
Orchestra-Soloist-Chorus balance. 
Chorus articulation.                      
Venue quality 
Recording quality 
Dynamic range

For me, my system and classical CD collection permit listening to the music, in toto, and not just listening to pick out the faults.

Bryston BCD-3 spinner  >  BP17cubed preamp   >  4B cubed amp  >  Thiel 2.7 speakers with SS2.2 sub and PX05 crossover.   For me, the preamp and speakers make it real.

Blue Jeans Cables for interconnects and speakers. Standard  Bryston
power cords. 

Stax Lambda Pro and Sennheiser HD 600 Headphones for when the neighbors complain!

Listening room: 16 x 24 x 12,  with one 24" side partially open
to the dining room. Carpeted with upholstered furniture.

George

George - I'm out the door till Friday, so just a quick response. Thank you. I suspect a lot of audiophiles envy you . . . listening to music for god's sake! I see our job as equipment providers as serving just that desire, to hear the whole envelope. The devil is in the details and turns out to be a big challenge.

I'll eventually muddle through. Thanks again.
Tom