savoy014

Last weekend, I had one of my hi-fi mates over for some listening. He was interested to see how my Thiel CS 1.6 was faring in my system, as well as how it matched with the various amplifiers I had on hand. For those of you know who are not familiar with the Thiel CS 1.6, it is the smallest floorstanding model in Thiel's range. As a matter of line up, it is actually the replacement of the CS 1.5. Ultra compact models like the 0.5 do not have a direct successor model. A typical Thiel design, it is designed to be phase coherent as well as time aligned (provided you sit at least 8 feet from the speaker). It is a two way speaker, sporting all metal drive units. Unlike older Thiel models, the CS 1.6 uses in-house produced drivers. Instead of using a conventional rouind port, the CS 1.6 utilises a long thin slotted port in front. Here are our observations of the day :- 1. Matched with Diva M7 preamp and Cayin A-88T Sound is quite full with a very nice tube bloom. Bass is weighty but sligh...

(Picture from official web site of Acoustic Zen) Bought pre-owned from Audiogon, my new set of snakes arrived last month. After going through a overland trip from Florida to Oregon before being shipped by air to Singapore, these snakes are more well traveled than I am. The AZ Hologram is a big thick cable finished in a handsome purple cover with light reflective mesh (so that it can remind me of its presence in my fairly dark listening room ?). My pair is finished in PCOCC gold plated copper spades on both ends with the speaker end split for bi-wiring. The AZ is fairly flexible and despite its bulk, is quite tame and refrains from trying to pull equipment or speakers down from their perches. Wish I could say the same for the horrendously heavy PAD cables I have lying around somewhere. Given its very heavy gauge, I was expecting the AZ to have a thick and heavy sound with bone crushing bass …… not. After a brief run-in, listening tests show that this cable is actually quite balanced but...