where do i go from here?

thanks jvogt. haven't heard a subwoofer yet that to my ears doesn't sound muddy but i haven't heard the rel strata's nor had i thought about adding a subwoofer as a possible upgrade solution. thanks for the food for thought.

dan karan

What kind of cables? I have a pair of Thiel 3.6 also. Have you tried moving the speakers closer to the back wall?

You might try changing the speakers first and see you get the result you want. The CJ equipment shouldn't be forward at all (well, a little, but it should be warm enough to compensate nicely) and in just about every system I've heard with your Thiel's, I thought they were on the bright side, but not at all shy on bass. It could be that in your setup, the bass is getting diffused somehow, or that you have them poorly placed to bring out the bottom end. I agree with glen that some repositioning might be in order before you take the plunge into new equipment.

As for recommendations, I can't be of too much help with the specific equipment you mentioned, although I'm certain that you'll find more bottom end slam with the Bel Cantos than with the CJ amp. However, you'll also find that the timbre of the sound will change as well, so you might want to try them side by side (if possible) before you make any firm decisions.

-- Ken

thanks glen and ken for your suggestions.

unfortunately, i have no flexiblility when it to speaker placement due to the room (my "listening room" is also my living room). The speakers are already close to the wall so not much more i can do on that front.

As for cables, i know i don't have great stuff so maybe your suggestions make sense before i start upgrading equipment. currently i am using a kimber cable speaker cable (forget which one but the cable itself is black and grey if that helps). From the amp to the pre-amp i'm using an MIT Terminator 5 and for the pre-amp to cd i think it's an interconnect (or is that interlink?) -- again forget which ones but if i remember they were under $100. Still think upgrading the cables is worth a shot? if so, i'd love some suggestions as this is one area i'm still fairly ignorant about.

thanks again for all of the help.

I hope you realize I'm going out on a limb here. As does anyone who makes cable suggestions at this web-site.

So much bashing going on it's pathetic, but here goes. I am a believer in MIT cabling through the whole system. IMO MITs line of quality cabling doesn’t even start until you get to their 330 interconnects and 750CVT speaker cables. This is where the MIT adventure begins. Where it ends, only you can decide.

If you are willing to take the plunge this is where you need to start. You have to commit to MIT pretty much through the whole system. The only place cheating is allowed is possibly your digital cable between transport and dac. If you can go balanced through out DO IT!

Now for some good news you can find 330 rca interconnects for around $100.00 per pair if you search them out. 750cvt speaker cables can be had as low as $200.00 used but $300.00 is not bad in a pinch. MIT Shotgun is a little better for a little more money. After that all bets are off and the world of MIT is much like entering the twilight zone.

(Submitted for your approval, here's what I run in my system)

Currently I have an MIT reference AES/EBU digital cable, two sets of 350 twin-balanced reference interconnects and one pair of 770 twin speaker cables. That's basically a matched MIT cabling system. It took me a while to find all those cables at good prices but the end result was worth it.

One last thing you probably already know about Thiel speakers. (but I'll mention it anyway) They need a lot of juice. Even for low level listening. I give mine 300 watts into 8 ohms and they thank me for it every chance they get.

No matter which brand you go with, it's time to get dead serious about your cabling. I would invest in some good matching cables before I started swapping out components. Good luck :~)