Description

Well, seems I have somewhat of a problem: can't manage to bring myself to sell old gear when I "upgrade." So, years later, it comes to pass that (1) I have enough "extra" gear lying around to build a full second system, (2) the wife leaves on a 3-week business trip around the world, and (3) I decide to gut the home office and see if I cannot put the extra stuff to use.

So, the operating theory is "deskside" monitors for a computer. Does it make sense to use full-sized, floor-standing speakers with an ultra-near-field computer set-up? Honestly, not really. BUT, if you were hell-bent on trying anyway, I figure, what better than Thiels...right? What, with their concentric mid/treble arrays, all of the business end bits are pointed right where you want them with a coherent point source, and you can just pretend that those 8" woofers are just uncommonly-well-integrated, stereo subwoofers, sharing a cross over...? In theory...? Moreover, since I have recently come to terms with the fact that I will not be able to properly set up, acoustically treat, or otherwise maximize the room with the rest of the gear in it -- maybe ultra-near-field is has some promise in otherwise minimizing room interactions, blah, blah....

Anyway, a picture's worth a thousand words, so there you go. Believe it or not, it sounds a lot better than I ever expected. But, then, my expectations were quite low. In sum, the whole idea, from first inclination through execution, just made me laugh. A lot. So I wanted to share.
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Components Toggle details

    • MHDT Havana
    NOS, Tubed DAC
    • Plinius CD-LAD
    Preamp.
    • Bryston 4B-ST
    Amp.
    • Thiel Audio CS-2.3
    Speakers.
    • Blue Jeans Cable BJC LC-1
    10 ft, RCA (from the Havana to the Plinius)
    • Mogami Reference Gold XLR
    1m, XLR (from the Plinius to the Bryston)
    • Blue Jeans Cable BJC Ten Speaker Cable
    16 ft pair, unterminated, speaker cable.

Comments 5

Nice pics!
are you still using the Bryston/Thiel combo?
Happy Listening!

jafant

Owner
Heh, cheers. Was definitely infatuated with it for a spell, but now I've made peace with the fact that the other room and the Parsifals sound a whole lot better. Whole lotta fun, any way you slice it.

mezmo

Ha, I love it!! Nice.

b_limo

Owner
Yea, true enough. Honestly, the goal of this little experiment was initially to convince myself to sell the stuff -- expecting to prove to myself that the commitment of both space and money (particularly in a tight NYC apartment) was an unjustifiable waste. Seems to have backfired, though, as it's actually pretty OK and growing on me, even. The best laid plans, as they say....

mezmo

If that's what you want to do, who are we to say it's wrong?

tpreaves

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