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Thiel death do we part . . .

OK, stupid title, I know...but so is my question, probably. So in spite of years of owning lots of different gear - speakers (Maggies, B&W), preamps (Bottlehead,AR), amps (C&J, Bryston) and so on, I've never quite got "the magic" I often hear about. I sort of went the path of least resistance and settled on a small setup - Theil(1.6s) & Bryston(B60) with Rega front ends (analog & digital).

The other night, however, I set it up in a near field format for the first time. After playing with speaker placement a bit, everything suddenly snapped into place, and it all sounds amazing. Magic. I found myself digging into my record collection (maybe 4000 deep) for the 1st in years and now there's not enough hours in the day to listen to it all.

One thing I've noticed is that the system is just brutal with poorly recorded media. While well produced material (Patricia Barber, Cowboy Junkies, some Rickie Lee Jones, Stan Getz and so on) can be just stunning, detailed, spacious and even deep, lots of others just aren't pleasant to listen to. Things I used to enjoy can now sound lame and muffled. I understand this may be a Thiel "take no prisoners" issue. So, just as an experiment, I swapped out the Thiels for a pair of old B&W 802s that are passing thru on the way to eBay and was surprised that while good material sounds adequate, bad material doesn't sound too bad...at least not embarrassing.

So the question is, without swapping nice speakers for not as nice on a regular basis, is there something that I can do to get the set up to be more "forgiving", at times? I listen mostly to what you might call intimate music, small groups and individual singers, often in live recordings.

Listening area is 12x18 with a low ceiling (open joists) off a corridor.

So maybe alternate cables (Zu Julian now) or a subwoofer or an equalizer? Thanks for your patience.
dancub
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,389 posts
 
RS hot Rocks is a compilation. Each track recorded much
differently.

LIsten to see if you can get the jist of each track
individually first. Or just select tracks as test cases.
Play with speaker placement to get imaging and soundstage
right. Some tracks may be mono? Use those to work on a
solid central image and then see what happens with all the
rest. Tonality/clarity/detail/dynamics will vary a lot
track to track.

I'll try to revisit HR sometime soon and get reaquainted
with a few tracks in more detail.

"Emotional Rescue" is a good RS album for sound
quality. GIve "Let ME Go" and
"She's SO cold" a listen. Those should knock your
socks off AND get your toes a tappin! "Indian Girl" is also
a very nicely recorded track.
dancub OP
82 posts
 
Mapman - well heck, that's good idea. May have to wait until my significant other is out of town 'cause I think they need to be played loud.
unsound
7,332 posts
 
Rolling Stones prided themselves in making recordings of poor quality, more "raw".
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,901 posts
 
Seems like the early Stones LPs are quite nice if you can find originals. Not much for stereo mix though.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,389 posts
 
"Rolling Stones prided themselves in making recordings of poor quality, more "raw". "

"raw" characterizes a lot (not all) of the Stones heyday recordings, especially those most leaning towards the blues, and rightfully so! "raw" does not mean bad! TEchnically inferior to many for sure, but if it sounds good and "raw" when it should in an enjoyable way then you are hitting the mark there at least at a minimum.
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