Ever Have One Of Those Evenings?


Tonight, I went downstairs, turned on the system, and it sounded like crap. Within an hour I had:

>Discovered that one of my Thiel 2.2's has either a dead woofer (most likely), or a crossover or internal wiring problem. Testing to diagnose will commence tomorrow, tonight I'm too P.O.'ed.

>Additionally discovered that the tweeter on the other side is distorting badly, and will need the dome/voice-coil assembly replaced (again).

>Confirmed that my most costly set of interconnects has a bad jack connection (these are Harmonic Technology Magic Link Ones, which naturally feature a plug design that cannot easily be opened up for inspection or repairs without destroying the heat-shrink sleeve).

>Faced the distinct possibility that my futzing around behind the preamp trying to ascertain the culprit in the latter problem - without first turning down the volume - may well have been the cause of least one of the first two problems.

>Realized that now, not only can't I listen to my system the regular way, but since the OEM (non-standard) headphone amp output jack I got from Musical Fidelity's distributor to replace the faulty original in my X-Cans quickly developed the same exact problem as the old one (no right channel with either set of 'phones), I cannot even listen with my headphones for the time being, except through my CD-R recorder's wimpy monitoring jack.

Looks like I'm on a steady diet of cable movies and NPR for a while. (Way to go, Trent Lott: at least you'll be out-of-sight, out-of-mind by this time next week, you plastic-haired cretin - your plight is the one redeeming feature of my evening!)
zaikesman
Well, that would depend on whether, if I see JT and get to ask a question, he answers with "If I tell you that, I'll have to kill you".
:-)
Thanks for asking, Maxgain. Both I and the folks at Thiel were away over the holidays. Next week, I will arrange to bring the speaker to Lexington, Kentucky for crossover repairs and a factory tour at our earliest mutual convenience. Harmonic Technology will replace all the connectors on my set of Magic One Links with their 'new & improved' variety for $25 each plus shipping, or about $110. I believe I will probably take the opportunity to have my VTL mono's upgraded while the system is down, so who knows when I'll be with stereo again. To tell you the truth, I'm kind of enjoying not having the system imposing itself on my life on a regular basis. I find myself musing a bit these days about just chucking the whole rig once it's working again and returning to the simpler life...yeah, right.
Z...go catch some LIVE music this winter. You'll be respirited I'm sure. Works for me! Ern