Thiel Customer Service - New ownership is terrible!!! - WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS COMPANY ?

     Hello and thank you all for the support and information. Although I have not contacted Bill directly yet, ( if you read this Bill, feel free to let me know otherwise here ), The Millersound web site says in bold lettering at bottom of page:
     "Kindly Note: WE DO NOT REPAIR OR SERVICE TWEETERS"
    That statement seems pretty cut and dry. So does these mean  I'm SOL??? Again, I need my tweeter from my Thiel CS 7.2 repaired / rebuilt. This is that unique tweeter / midrange set up that I believe shares the same voice coil. The midrange works. Heck I'd buy another new / used one if available and reasonable. What happened to all the parts left over from the original ownership? Thank you again to all members - much appreciated! Regards.

    THIEL CUSTOMER SERVICE..... FRIENDS AND FAMILY OF THE AUDIOGON COMMUNITY REJOICE!!! THIEL SERVICE / CUSTOMER SERVICE IS ALIVE AND BETTER THEN EVER!!!! And I have all of you to thank for it.... much appreciated!!!

    Rob Gillium at Thiel Service, 615-866-2290, CONTACTED ME last week and couldnt have been nicer. Mr. Gillium was eager to help and went over the  procedure to replace the tweeter. In just two days via Priority Mail, he sent the appropriate "cone module" and instructions that I ( or really anyone ) was able to install in a matter of minutes! You can send in the driver but trust me its not difficult at all to do and you save on the shipping charges. No need to take out the driver. Basically a paper clip and a steady hand was all that was necessary. For just over a hundred bucks, my 7.2's are alive and well once again!!! Thiel owners rest assured that there is someone that cares and will help us in the event of a problem!
    I cannot give higher praise to Mr. Rob Gillium. Period.

    On a lighter note to all you Thiel owners out there, I'm always looking to improve my listening experience with my Thiel"s. Any recommendations you might have please feel free to post. Although a bit "embarrassed" for lack of a better word, I have not gone American ( yet ) and stick with my higher end Japanese gear. Having been in the business for over 30 years in the NY tri-state area ( now living in Wisconsin ) and working for Onkyo / Roth Paris Marketing back in the early 90's, I was able to acquire the rare 150 lbs. Onkyo M510 Grand Integra Power Amp - 300wpc RMS and stable down to 1 ohm. My preamp is also a somewhat rare Sony TA-E1, and for source I have an Integra Research RVD 1.1 SACD / DVD player along with a Sony XA-7es and Marantz SA-14 Vr.2 I swap out with the RDV 1.1 every now and again. The 1.1 is better. A pair of NHT SW2's sub's ( L&R bass - why not have the additional separation... ) My choice of cables, as per the director of sales from Thiel at the time ( he would know a thing or two...lol... ), is pure silver Kimber's KS-3038 AND KS-1030 IC's ALL AROUND. My power cords are all ( 4 ) Lessloss Signature's. I probably have/use every (mostly passive) tweeks known to mankind - a passive Furutech TP-60 AC distributor, a dozen quiet lines, CD stabilizer's, anti vibration devices, Shakti, cable elevators, even CD stoplight - to name a few. Yea - I'm one of those suckers... 

     Speaker placement can get tricky with these Thiels and I find myself experimenting often with placement, toe in, straight ahead stance, distance apart, etc. There at least 8 ft. apart, I'm about 10 feet away and my listening area permits me to have them only about 2 feet away from back and side walls so I feel slight toe-in is necessary.  I have a log home with all pine walls with near 20 ft. high pine wood sealing. They generally sound great but at times I feel something is missing. I have many other gear that I collect - over 100 components ( including some top power amps / preamps from other japanese firms like a Yamaha B2-x, Elite M-91, Sony TA-N90, etc., but still feel the M-510 / TA-E1 is best though I have not tried them all yet. I have over 4000 CD"S / 100 or so SACD's - I know all about CD's and mastering as I had worked in the first CD only store in White Plains NY - Central Compact Disc for 7 years back in the late 80's early 90's! And about a dozen places after that - heck I probably ran into you at some point back in the day... lol! Of course CES every year for over 10 years...
     Please feel free to comment on any ideas you might have!

    Again - I can't thank all of you enough and so glad to know Rob Gillium at Thiel is available and so willing to help us with our Thiel needs!!!

All the best....

Regards,
Chris

 

Hello Jafant and to all!!!
    I'm sorry for the late reply - my mother broke her leg last month and I have had no time for myself ever since. I'm still a month behind but wanted to quick touch base with Jafant and everyone!
    So my 7.2's are sounding great, thank you for asking, though I still continue on experimenting with placement every now and again. There are times I wish I had them in a smaller, wall to wall carpeted room, as I did with my Thiel 2.3's I had before these and LOVED THEM!!! I was always a " Studio Monitor " type sound guy ( what comes in goes out - nothing added ) and theres something to be said ( or heard... lol ... ) about that environment - especially when comparing it to this new big - room sound I have now. I understand the theory of Big speakers like Big rooms but larger rooms create problems that smaller and deader rooms dont. Someone here mentioned acoustic treatments which I had back in NY - lots of them too. I had them on 1st., 2nd, 3rd., reflection points ( left wall, right wall, ceiling, floor, and on every corner, etc. - even did the mirror thing to make sure I was exact on my treatment placement ) Although sound has always been my first priority, when you live in a big log home that is nearly 100% completely pine EVERYWHERE, I have to give up a little something up for cosmetics....I'm sorry - I said it..... Mind you, I have 7 other stereos, 2 set up at present in smaller wall to wall carpeted rooms where I can still enjoy my monitor or headphone - like sound ( NHT 2.9's and others ). I love my Thiels but as we all know be careful what you feed it - there is little forgiveness with these speakers.
    I love ALL types of music. And I mean all! ( 4000+ CD's ) I do listen to vinyl on occasion but primarily CD and SACD. I know all about quality masters too as I worked in a CD store for 7 years as well as been in many recording studios in my day with artists you probably all know.  From selling speakers for as low as $50 a pair back at J & R Music World back in the day to $80,000 Focals at Audio Breakthrough in Manhasset L.I., well, I know a thing or two. Oh - could I go on....
    I will be temporally swapping my M510 out with a bunch of other amps including a Sony TA-N90ES ( MOS FET - whatever ), Elite M-91, twin Marantz SM-17 configured in MONO ( not sure how do this yet - they have a weird configuration ) and a old time favorite - Yamaha B2x 170wpc rms - labeled Class A ( well, not really...lol ) though I could fry an egg on this... literally  - maybe it really is Class A....... I know its wishful thinking and really Japanese wizardry at play here! I will also swap out my pure silver Kimber's with some high quality copper - Straightwire Crescendo II ( an absolute pain to work with ) and even my original MC SIgma's really aren't that bad though hated in the audiophile community. They do have great bass. Maybe this will take some of the brightness away. Big bright all - wood room, big bright amp, bright cables = Really bright system... ) though be it probably somewhat less revealing w/o the silver.
    Ill give you an update in a bit. But again want to give thanks to the Audiogon community
for all your continued help and support!
    Regards,
Chris

     Hey jafant and goners! Sorry for the late reply but I’ve had a busy month. You mentioned giving an update on my 7.2’s etc. Well a few changes. I will first say I haven’t had too much time to listen lately but a little never the less. 
    First, it was painful but ( temporrarally ) replaced my 300wpc 150 lbs. M-510 with my Mos Fet 100wpc, 42lbs. Sony TA-n90es. You know this thing sounds really good! Wait.... Are my ears deceiving me? Could I be linking this amp more then my M-510? No - can’t be.... lol. We know Thiels, especially the 7.2’s require ( work better with )a lot of power. Well, the TA-N90’s 100 wpc is more then enough for my Thiels. I generally would NEVER recommend any Sony amplifier for sound quality - just never liked that Sony “ House Sound “ if you will but the 90 just sounds different and good to my ears - not like other Sony’s in the past. I’m wondering if age has something to do with it? My Onkyo, circa 1985, has never been touched, upgraded, recapped, etc. I realize, while still working, amplifiers  
can suffer sonically with just age. The caps wear out and simply don’t sound as good as new. Don’t get me wrong - I would take TOTL OLD SCHOOL ONKYO any day over Sony - and the M-510 is super rare and in a class by itself but this circa 2000 Sony is that much newer with far less hours and though smaller and lesser, made with equally good ( maybe better ) parts. I believe Sony engineers modeled this after a high end American amp design. And Mosfets do sound really good! Never being a Sony amp lover, I gotta tell you, my TA-F808 es is also wonderful and similar. 
     I will give it some more listening and make a decision. Might my m510 lost some of its spunk over the years? Or are my ears just pleased to hear a new amplifier in the system? Feel free to comment. My Thiels work great with either. 
I am also looking for a pair of Marantz  mono MA-9s2’s for a good deal. I have one of there  much smaller SM-17SA which is phenomal ( have you seen the build quality of this amp )? And also actually looking for another one of these to bridge and get 200 watts mono. Though only 60wpc, these reference Marantz amps sound simply amazing and would love to try with the Thiels. That will be next!
      In closing , I have upgraded my Kimber KS-1030 silvers with the better Kimber KS-1036 ( more silver ) and think I’m liking it a little more but need more listening time. 
Also wondering if I should buy a spare tweeter from Mr. Gillum while he still has them ( preseumebly ) now that Thiel, as it seems, is gone forever. Any thoughts?
     Hope all is well and I’ll be posting back in a bit!
      Regards,
Chris