Thiel Owners

Tom,

Thanks for the detailed response. Despite my "live presence" complaint, to my ears the CS5i's are wonderful speakers and I would hate to mess with them too much.

Having said that the bi-wiring idea seems like something that could work without too much triage. Is this the type of thing that can be done by a relative novice (I have replaced woofer surrounds and installed new capacitors in old Large Advents)? I suspect that it is more complicated than simply cutting a wire in each speaker and then rerouting through another set of speaker cable connectors.

When I first got the Thiels, the big concern was finding an amp that could manage them. That took a couple of years to figure out and included lugging around 150 pound amps on loan from my area dealer. The first problem was finding enough current to satisfy the bass drivers. I thought I had it solved with a Coda amp (300 wpc) but I discovered that it lost steam and sounded harsh and constrained at high volumes. The DNA-500 solved that and powers the CS5i's effortlessly at any volume. And it weighs only about 75 pounds.

The next issue was finding a DAC that did not sound bright or harsh with the tweeters. After a lot of in house auditions I found a Hegel HD25 that seemed to do the trick. However, I still was not completely happy.  I had been reading good things about the old Theta DACs. I found a ProBasic III for five or six hundred dollars that was definitely superior to the Hegel in my system because it was much smoother and organic.

The aha moment came next when I replaced an AudioSpace CD player with the PS Audio PWT. The added resolution was an ear opener. The additional detail helped the music sound more alive but not more analytical.

I think this taught me that the tweeters were only as a good as the signal they received. 

Fast forward to the new Soekris DAC and the same thing happened. I am hearing more detail and the CS5i's are inching closer to sounding like a "live presence" without being analytical. I want to stick with R2R ladder DACs as both the Theta and Soekris are R2R and have been positive moves for me. To my ears, the tweeters do not mate well with Delta Sigma chips. 

I think finding a front end with the most amount of detail would be a good thing for the tweeters, hence my continuing DAC quest. I am also wondering if updating the transport would help. Figuring out which one will be another whole story.

So lots more work to do before tackling the analog side of things! In the meantime, the classic vinyl rock collection will have to be happy with a Technics 1200SL table with KAB mods. 

Thank for listening,

Dsper
 

dsper

Thank You for the follow up. That is quite a collection of gear.
Conrad Johnson/McCormack will become a lively, sonic, match for the CS5i loudspeaker. Good to read that your employing Synergistic Research (SR) cabling. Are you using a full loom?
A Don Sachs pre-amp is highly regarded. I did not know that he was still in business?

Happy Listening!

dsper

I am not familiar with AudioSpace CD player? Tell me more.

Happy Listening!

dsper - among my blue-sky imaginings for the CS5, you picked the one that is actually feasible. Bi-wiring is not only feasible, but easily reversible if desired. And it's quite simple; the wires from each circuit go all the way to the single binding posts. So, adding a pair of posts  simply requires unsoldering and resoldering 3 pairs of wires at the input terminals.

@jafant 

Good to read that your employing Synergistic Research (SR) cabling. Are you using a full loom?
A Don Sachs pre-amp is highly regarded. I did not know that he was still in business?

You will have to educate me about full loom. I know hardly anything about interconnects! The Alphas are probably about twenty years old and I tried them based on a suggestion made by a C6 owner. I purchased one pair for the DAC/preamp and felt they made a slight improvement. I added a second pair between the preamp/amp and that definitely made an improvement. I think going all Alpha was the key versus different brands. My old interconnects were Cullen Cable.

As of three weeks ago, Don was in still in business because I have an email from him confirming my order. Great guy! He is knowledgeable, straight forward, and passionate. He patiently answered all of my questions and was willing to tell me what I might not want to hear. Our email string has covered a number of weeks and Don shared his take on speakers, solid state versus tubes, and DACs. I am looking forward to the arrival of the preamp because if it lifts a veil, I expect that will move me closer to a live presence.

I am retired and listening to a remastered Fleetwod Mac cd "Tusk" while I write this. Can't do this all day though as I have dead shrub to remove from the garden. Anyway, sounds pretty darn good!  Very resolving cd that clearly sorts the vocals in the soundstage, which is extending outside the speakers. Wow! Good ambience. The solidness of the CS5i's comes though in spades!

Thanks for listening!

Dsper