Thiel Owners

Hello all and Happy Thanksgiving!

Once in a while, I get a "crackling" sound or pop when playing a disc. This happens very infrequently, but over the past few weeks has occurred more often. I shut the power off, cleaned all contacts (XLR and speaker connections) with ECO static inhibitor, changed the CD input to my preamp from BAL1 to BAL2, and inverted the polarity on my preamp (a Bryston BP25). So far ... this has seemed to solve the problem, after trial and error. But has anyone else experienced this, and if so, what did you do to fix it ?

The internet tells me that this is not a disc problem, which appears to be true (a crackle would occur at a certain spot on a track, and then not). And there doesn't appear to be anything amiss with my Thiel CS2.4 speakers; the sound is clear and I've never had them loud enough to clip. My Bryston amp and preamp are around 24 years old, and my Meridian player is about the same age. (Static here in Galveston shouldn't be a problem lol). Thanks for your advices.

jeroboam,

Good to see you here again. I venture to say that the intermittent crackling are your aged electronics.  24 years is quite a run for Amp, Pre-Amp and cd player.

Bryston, Meridian are no doubt, built to last!

Happy Listening!

jafant, thank you.

Well, the Bryston BCD-3 will soon be here, replacing the Meridian player.

As for my Bryston amp and preamp, Bryston does offer a "refurbishment" service. I spoke to a Bryston rep, who stated that although their amps and preamps have a 20-year warranty, they don't usually "go south" until year 28 or 29, which is unimaginable. Still, the price for refurbishment sounded extremely reasonable, and I'll likely send them in.

I was thinking that, since the "crackling" problem disappeared after I inverted the polarity on my preamp, that the problem lies somewhere in the preamp. Aside from moving about 11 times in the last 23 years, my gear has almost never been turned off.

Jeroboam

Not a bad idea to have the Power amp checked out and tuned up.

Happy Listening!

Hi J and all you Thiel guys. Hope the holidays were good to you all and that everyone is in good health. Happy listening.