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New Old Thiel CS6 Speakers--Too Harsh

Hi All,

New pair of Thiel CS6 Speakers. First true pair of 'audiophile' speakers (...still might go back to my Kappa 7's and 8's).

Imaging and that 'holographic' sound is pretty good on the Thiels but not as good as the JBL 4312a's.  But again I am plagued by harshness in my system. It seems detail and excellent spatial performance just equates to brittle, harsh and painful in my room. I like to listen at rather loud volumes.

Frequencies that appear to be the problem are between 2khz all the way up to 16khz. If I EQ the system is listenable. 

The other issue the Thiels seem to have is out of phase low bass due to the passive radiator. Can anyone confirm this?

Here is my setup right now:
Modwright Oppo 105d (physical media and streaming)
Sonic Frontiers Line 2 preamp
Conrad-Johnson Premier 350 
14x17 room, on concrete slab carpeted with additional thick throw rug, heavy velour drapes over windows, bare walls and cd/record shelves, nothing on the ceiling.

What is causing the tizzy sharpness in my system/room?

So far the Infinity Kappa Series with its ribbon tweeters has sounded best in my room. The 8's are very impactful and tonally very complete. The 7's are close, not quite as impactful but have better imaging due to lower tweeter height. 

....and I don't want truth. I want beauty.

:-)

Thanks!


128x128brettmcee

Showing 3 responses by mike_in_nc

mike_in_nc
1,124 posts
 
Obviously, I’ve not been in your room, but let me suggest a few things.

(1) with bare walls and ceiling, you have a lot of reflections. If there is slap echo anywhere, you need to kill it, preferably with a combination of diffusion and absorption. Same with 1st reflections from sidewalls. Both cause irritation.

(2) I owned a pair of Thiels -- maybe CS 2 or CS 3 -- about 30 yr ago. I found them so tipped up that I built a high-cut filter to go between my pre and power amp. That was a different speaker, of course, but I don’t know of any Thiels that have been described as "mellow."

You probably need to treat the room, at least a little. You may need different speakers, as well, or a good EQ, or both. (What kind of music do you listen to? If it's violin sonatas, you DEFINITELY need to do both 1 and 2. ;-) )

Good luck! Have fun!
mike_in_nc
1,124 posts
 
To test the room-acoustics hypothesis, you could hang quilts or blankets on the walls temporarily to see if tizziness is reduced. I would put them on the sidewalls 1/2 way between speakers and listener.

To test the "source is the problem" hypothesis, you could borrow a good CD player from a friend and see if that improves things.

Likewise with the "amp is the problem" hypothesis, though I doubt that a CJ Premier amp will be causing tizziness. The CJ stuff tends towards the mellow side, in my experience. And your SF Line 2 got a review from Tom Norton saying it doesn’t emphasize or hype things, which to me means it’s not likely the culprit, either.

To test the cables hypothesis, you could buy some returnable cables by mail order. (That would be my last thing to try, but it’s your choice.)

mike_in_nc
1,124 posts
 
I suggest you not change gear before you try some acoustic treatment. You might find your existing gear is fine.
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