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Thiel replacements

I'm thinking about purchasing replacements for my Thiel 3.5s. For some reason, I can't get the speakers to disappear. I get a center image, whether its vocals or guitar, but that's about where the soundstage ends. All other instruments appear to be coming directly from the speakers. It really stinks! Is this just a characteristic of Thiel speakers? I don't see how it could be, though, as many people think very highly of them.

I don't think the room is the problem, but here are the dimensions. They are along the short wall. The room is 13' X 19', the speakers are 8' apart, I sit 9' from them, and they are about 5' from the front wall. The left speaker basically has no side wall next to it, as it's next to a large opening which connects the living room to the dining room. The right speaker is about 3' from the side wall. They are currently slightly toed in, which seems to be the best. I have tried them at all different severities of toe.

Speaker polarities are correct, unless of course there is a problem inside one of the speakers themselves, but I doubt it. The EQ box had just been gone over by Thiel, so it should be ok.

My components are: Jolida jd100 cd player, Anthem Pre1L preamp, Classe CA-200 amplifier, and all cables are Jon Risch designs which utilizing Belden coaxial cable. The ICs are twisted pairs and the speaker wires are cross connected coaxial cables.

I don't know if I should consider new speakers, spend several more weeks moving these around the room, or ?????? Any suggestions would be great, whether they are tweaks or whatever. I look forward to hearing what the pros have to say! Hopefully it will help my system perform the way it should.

Thanks,
kevin
ketchup

Showing 1 response by gnobber

gnobber
43 posts
 
Hi, I thought Drubin's question was a good one (how long have you had them, did you sour on them). I am wondering if you had a chance to hear them before buying on the system that the seller had (i.e. did it sound better in that setup?).

I think a lot of the posters have given you great ideas about how to pull the most out of the Thiels, but it sounds like your complaints are more fundamental. I am wondering if something is grossly wrong (miswiring? blown driver? failed crossover component?). Your equipment sounds to be at least reasonable for Thiels. Have you ever heard them sound good in a different setup? You also could try listening to one channel at a time- this won't give you imaging, but it might help isolate if one side has a gross problem. Just a thought- good luck.
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