where do i go from here?

You might try changing the speakers first and see you get the result you want. The CJ equipment shouldn't be forward at all (well, a little, but it should be warm enough to compensate nicely) and in just about every system I've heard with your Thiel's, I thought they were on the bright side, but not at all shy on bass. It could be that in your setup, the bass is getting diffused somehow, or that you have them poorly placed to bring out the bottom end. I agree with glen that some repositioning might be in order before you take the plunge into new equipment.

As for recommendations, I can't be of too much help with the specific equipment you mentioned, although I'm certain that you'll find more bottom end slam with the Bel Cantos than with the CJ amp. However, you'll also find that the timbre of the sound will change as well, so you might want to try them side by side (if possible) before you make any firm decisions.

-- Ken

Dan - I have only a bit of experience with MIT (I have a pair of T2's connecting my phono preamp and tuner to my preamp), so you might want to consider what Glen says regarding the homogeneity of cabling when using MIT. However, the only time I found that interconnects created a dramatic change in the sound was when I pulled the cheap Radio Shack cables and replaced them with the MIT T2's. The sound was simply awful with the cheap cables (extended deep bass, recessed mid bass, accentuated high mid's with a roll off in the upper highs - nice, huh) and smoothed out completely with MIT's. Since then, I've moved from the MIT's to a combination of Nordost Blue Heaven and HomeGrown silver cables and enjoy the sound a bit more. However, in this change I really just "tweaked" the sound (increased the high end a bit, tightened the bottom, and improved the resolution) but didn't dramatically alter it. All of the cables are reasonable quality and while sounding a little different, each still provides a quality sound.

All that said, its always worth trying out new cables and seeing what happens to the sound in your system. The T5's might be a bit of a weak link in your system given the quality of the components you're using. There are many good cables available used on Agon for under $100 (Nordost, HomeGrown, MIT, Better Cables, etc) that should provide better performance than the T5's. Also, there are a number of DIY cable recipes out there and companies that sell the components necessary to build them if you want to take on a weekend project (www.diycable.com and www.takefiveaudio.com are two I know about. DIY cables should run between $20 and $60 depending on the recipe and the quality of the connectors you use). I'm planning to build a digital cable next weekend and so far the total cost in parts is $18, so there's something to be said for a little free time and elbow grease.

For the record, I'm using CJ electronics with ProAc speakers, which isn't terribly far off from your system sonically. In my room however, I'm suffering from the opposite problem that you have - I have far too much bottom end and it muddies the sound a bit. The change from copper to silver cables helped to reduce the thickness of the bottom end a bit, but I'm still working to find a more complete solution. It probably doesn't help that I have the warmest electronics on the planet, but until the stock market perks up again, I'm not yet ready to make any serious changes.

Anyway, cables can and will make a difference in the sound, but unless you have incredibly poor cables to start with (as I did), expect the changes to be enjoyable, but not earth shattering.

-- Ken