I have read about David Berning gear over the years- thieliste.
Happy Listening!
Happy Listening!
Right On! thieliste I have only read about CH Precision in the audio mags. Additionally, I have not heard the Sabrina either. I did demo the Sophia and Sasha several times over the years. I auditioned the SF The Toy speaker as well. Have fun and report back w/ your thoughts / impressions. Most important, check out and inquire about cabling! |
Addendum: after traveling the last 6 years and being in a position to visit more out-of-state (I have none in my home state) dealers/retailers, there exists a phenomenal difference between the middle tier and top tier for Transparent Cabling. Specifically, moving up from the "super" into "reference/reference XL" territory is very, very sweet. And moving further up from "reference" into OPUS...beyond description. |
Never! stop spending -William, I had to research my notes from my last system circa 2005. I had all Transparent "super" IC and SP. This would be based upon the MM2 catalog from the same period. I was very fortunate to have a Transparent dealer/retailer in New Orleans (Audio Resource) at that time. The owner and myself struck up an instant friendship based on our love of Music and the High End. He featured a generous in-home trial period on all gear and cabling. I started out w/ the "Link 100/200" then the "music link". After hearing the "super" in my system, my listening space, it was all over. I saw no need to move further up the chain. My old system was Rotel separates, B&W 805N Sony ES player. Stock PC on the gear. Richard Gray Power Company power/line conditioner, as I lived near, a Utility relay station for the city. The system sounded outstanding after midnight to 6am. |
Jafant... As I've said before I start out low and move up the food chain as finances allow. I'm still with the base Music Link Transparents which are fine as is. Frankly I don't believe that moving up will yield me any discernible improvements, at least in terms of $$ vs reward. Not saying I won't but there's a limit to my madness. Jeepers, have I finally stopped spending? Unmm, no! |
Good to see you- oblgny I have been missing you guys? Good to read about returning to your former glory! No- I have not decided nor had an opportunity to demo any gear as of late. It will be Spring before I can take any (pleasure) road trip. Yes, Pass Labs is very much a modern sonic match for Thiel speakers. I believe PL to be the best solid -state in 2017. I certainly want to visit a dealer/retailer w/ both .5 and .8 amps in showroom(s) for direct comparisons. Transparent cabling is a sonic match for Pass Labs. You may be the first, that I have read about, using the brand on B.A.T. gear? What level(s) is/are your cables and cords? I can tell you from experience that is gets "better" as you go up the product chain. Hopefully, you have a local dealer/retailer to assist. |
Psssst... I haven't chimed in for a while but I have continued to follow this thread as a matter of habit. It's a good one. Jafant... If you haven't yet decided on your amplification I will once again offer how fine a match my Pass Labs X150.5 is with my CS3.5's, I've settled into this setup for a while and every time I listen to music I am reminded how long it took it me to get "here". There is a lot of HERE, here, too. (Your 2.4's are different than my 3.5's, but I would keep Pass in the consideration column.) Man, this just works. Thiels make everything sound better than expected, but when you find the sweetspot as I have with Pass and BAT, it's difficult to want to better anything. I'll be following your lead with cable experimenting once I know what my tax return will be. (Currently still with 100% Transparent.) Okay, maybe a different preamp just for the hell of it. But NO replacement for the Pass, and NO replacement for the 3.5's. Heck, I'm contacting Pass right now to see if its possible to upgrade the amp to .8. |
Just add another pair of Thiel 2.2 to my system. I am planning to do the SACD 5.0 multi-channel. Will need another singer 2.2 to complete the system. Current system Oppo 95 SACD player Kimber PBJ Sony TA-E9000ES muti-channel pre-amp Kimber PBJ IC Bryston 9B-ST 5 channel Amp Kimber 8TC Speaker cable Thiel 2.2 Front L/R Rear L/R PSB C5 Center |
tomic601,,,,,re: tilt - true, except if the floor is not level. I have Vandersteens and Richard advised me to use a laser to correct any inaccuracies. I found that Vandy's (Thiels I'm sure as well) snap into better focus if speakers are exactly in the same plain. Let me know if you need the procedure. |
jafant i asked Kevin Hayes from VAC if i could visit his facility in Sarasota, i just hope i get the time to do so, otherwise i'll see him at the Munich show this year. pops yes i am very curious about Nagra driving Thiels, i'm sure 2 Classic Amps in mono config could do the job perfectly even with the bigger Thiels. I will go check on WBF as some members own Nagra gear. |
I have read about stories like yours- saffron_boots Sadly, some of you guys got bought lemons for sure. I still use an Elite 59-AVi for DVD duty and it is outstanding! I only wished it played blu-rays. I hold the film/movie companies responsible, as most discs, having too many codec(s) therefore making the player companies (like Sony ES and Pioneer Elite) constantly developing software/firmware updates. |
Yes I sold the BDP-09 last year. Pioneer stopped updating the firmware to support newer Blu-ray authoring schemes. I felt it was sonically and visually superior to the Oppo but the load times and sketchy BD-Live support made the parting, amicable. Cables: Mostly Kimber Hero interconnects and 8TC speaker wire. Couple of pairs of Monster M1000 MK I interconnects. |
You can read about my introduction to Thiel in my blog The Coherent Source . BTW, I have posted a few pictures in the Virtual Systems section, in case you were interested. |
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First heard Thiel in the very early 90's. Maybe 1992 or even 91. I didn't purchase my used CS2 2 until 10 years later. (Going through a divorce and raising two children does funny things to you wallet.) Never forgot them though, so when opportunity struck...I later bought a back-up pair since I worried about replacement parts. I doubt if I will ever replace what I have now - Thiel legacy series is where my journey ends speaker-wise. Guess I will play with the electronics! |
Thanks! for sharing- robinbarbour- what year did you discover Thiel speakers? For me, it was 2012. Yes, I had B&W 805 speakers back in the 2000's. Fine speaker for a standmount monitor. Back in the 80's, late 80's to be sure, all I could afford was mid-fi Sony. Even that Yamaha stack was out of reach. No complaints though- the Sony gear got me from 1988 to 2003. |
In 1986 I'm afraid I could only afford a receiver and no separates. I do remember at that time I had a set of Phase Research speakers (Phil Clements) that I was smitten with....I had not heard Thiel yet since no dealers nearby. There were Audio Stores everywhere - ! My best buddy Ron was also an audio fan and we made many, many trips out of state just to listen to brands not in our area. Come to think of it, he was with me the first time I heard Thiel. He was not as smitten with them as I was and ended up with B&W. Dahlquist was on my short list until I heard Thiel. Good memories..... |
I'd like to add my vintage Thiel CS 2's to this conversation. :) Bought these babies in 1986. They still bring the luscious, warm, clean sound...Very easy to listen to for hours at a time. Run them with mid-fi components: Hafler 9180, Philips CD 80 and Rotel pre-amp. Smitten for 31 years........ My Dan D'Agostino Point 3 satellite/sub system has to give way to these towers. |
Dave- living in the vicinity of one of our major U.S. cities, you and others will certainly experience this phenomenon. Airports are to cite and blame as well due to radar / signal blocking capabilities and daily operating RF/EMI functions. Another consideration is living in a certain radius of Military bases/depots/annexes. Otherwise, radiation, is a prime culprit- computers, hard phone lines, cable lines, cell phones, smart phones, satellite phones...etc. Happy Listening! |