severe limiting factor

I think you stll need to work on speaker placement....
even systems that the components are mid fi can create stage and some depth, maybe not the ultimate in these areas but some. I think your equipment has the means to produce the things you want and do it very well. Also your room plays a bigger role than you might think and often a mid fi system can sound great in a good room, but a high end system can sound like crap in a bad room. As for the CD player, it is holding your system back but I think it's more the speaker Placement and your room than CD player. Happy Listening!

While components and cabling can drastically alter soundstage and imaging, a large percentage of what you'll hear will be attributed to how the speakers load into the room and where your listening position is in regards to those loading characteristics / nodes.

Having said that, from what i can remember of them, Thiel's are not "wide sweet spot" speakers. While they can image and produce a solid soundstage, you have limited seating options with them. On top of that, they tend to be somewhat bright up top if you are sitting in the sweet spot and have them toe'd in. As such, you've got your work cut out for you choosing between improved imaging / soundstage and even tonal balance. Sean
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The CD player is the problem. If you want an excellent front-end, you should consider separate Transport and upsampling DAC, both modded.

Thanks for the responses so far.

I should first say that what I mean by no SS or imaging is that I hear the music coming from the speakers.. not in front of them, behind them, or to their sides. it appears to come right from the wood boxes that are sitting on the floor.

The room is 10' x 17' and I sit about 12' from the 10' wall and about 9' from the speakers. right now the speakers are almost perfectly centered along the 10' wall. they are 6' appart (center to center). The left one is about 2.5' from the side wall, and the right one is about 1.5' from the side wall. Thiel recommends more distance between the speakers and the side walls, but if that's impossible, they want you to toe them in. They are toed in now so that when i'm sitting in my position i can only see the front side of them. they're looking at me straight on. i did this because along the 17' wall between the speakers and my listening position there is a desk on one side and a hutch on the other side. if they were aimed more straight ahead they would be aimed at these objects. also, there is 2.5' from the rear wall to the back side of the speakers.

before today, the speakers were slightly closer together. In their current position (as described above) i think i might have lost some of the "music coming from the boxes" effect, but the change was very slight.

I have a feeling that this room is probably too small, but i didn't build the system for this room. for now, though, i would like to get the most out of it.

thanks again!
kevin

Kevin, it sounds as if they might be out of phase...judging by your description emulating from the "wooden boxes. Double check your connections..I am not being funny at all, I did the very same thing last week..lol