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From: servio!servio.SLC.COM!steinj@uunet.UU.NET (Jacob Stein)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.high-end
Subject: Taming Thiels
Message-ID: <9397@uwm.edu>
Date: 7 Feb 91 13:54:07 GMT
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Approved: tjk@csd4.csd.uwm.edu
Originator: tjk@csd4.csd.uwm.edu


                           THE STORY

A recent burglary and the perverse economics of insurance replacement
have led me to own a set of components that I ideally might not have
chosen otherwise.

What was burgled:

Sony 605 ESD cd player,
PS Audio 4.5 pre amp,
B&K ST 202 amp
Celestion SL6S speakers
Straightwire Music Conductor interconnects and speaker cable

What I have at the moment:

CAL ICON cd player
Mod Sqad Deluxe Line Drive
Adcom 555 MK II amp
Thiel CLS2 speakers
junky interconnects
Straight Wire MR8 speaker cable that was lying around

The CAL ICON and Mod Squad Line Drive are givens.  The Adcom was considered
equivalent to the B&K and the "insurance replacement cost" offered
to my insurer was hard to beat. I could have cashed out, but at this
price I could easily see selling it a couple of months down the road.
The speakers were the hardest component to figure out. (I had gotten
to the point with my old system where I listened to the music and was
not seriously considering any upgrades, The burglary is in a sense an
opportunity, but I couldn't muster the energy to properly audition things.)
Of the speakers I listened to, the Thiels and EPOS ES-14s were both
attractive. Although I think that the EPOS would have just let me
get into the music and be done with it, the imaging and bass on the CLSs,
and the insurance pricing, which made the CLS2s less expensive than the
EPOS, got the better of me.

HELP
I am in general satisfied with the system, with the exception of the
to be expected occaisional relentlessness of the sound through the
CLSs. While I realize that any reasonable set of interconnects will
help the situation, I also realize that relentlessness is the sort
of the thing that only becomes more apparent as time spent with a
system increases. Therefore I am considering three options and would
like to solicit some advice.

1) Keep all the components and look for interconnects and speaker cable
   to help improve the situation. Any suggestions here? Has anyone heard
   Has anyone heard the Lindsay-Geyer 4-40 interconnect that Dick Olsher
   was ga-ga about in the February Stereophile?

2) Swap out the Adcom and get a different amp that would be a better
   match. Any suggestions on a more compatible amp? I would like to
   stay in the under $2,000 bracket. A recent posting here suggests
   that the Aragon 4004 might be a good choice. Anyone out there have
   any experience with the new B&K monoblocks? Advise on cabling would
   still be appreciated given this option.

3) Swap out the Thiels. I don't think I can ask for much advice here.
   I would just have to lug alot of stuff home to see how it sounded.