I'm also concerned regarding Ayre with the recent passing of Charles Hansen.
Ayre has a leg up relative to what happened at Thiel. Jim Thiel pretty much failed to train another engineer that could carry the legacy and vision in his absence. When Kathy Gornik sold Thiel, the new owners brought on an engineer that *completely* threw out all of Thiel's design principles (first-order crossovers, pistonic drivers, sloped cabinets, etc)! Why even keep the Thiel name other than brand recognition? In the case of Ayre, Ariel Brown has worked with Hansen for something on the order of 20 years. No doubt things will be different at Ayre but I suspect we'll continue to see more designs with Hansen's philosophy (no negative feedback, fully balanced, etc.). We should know very soon - supposed to be a new integrated with onboard DAC released directly. |
beetlemania,
Given the way Thiel has been run since the new ownership, I’d presume the worst case scenario in terms of finances.
Jafant mentioned Rob Gillium was working on become a proprietor for Theil legacy parts/work...but I don’t know that was completed, or what the closure of Thiel means for that venture.
Though, I’m guessing that it was clear Thiel wasn’t going to be in the business of servicing legacy speakers and with writing on the wall, I’m hoping Rob was actually preparing with this day in mind, so he could still service legacy Thiels, not linked to the fortunes of the current Thiel company.
I hope.
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RIP Thiel. You really passed with the venerable Jim Thiel in 2009. I’ll always have the fondest memories of Thiel. I still believe to this day my best system ever was with Thiel CS2 2, Classe 200 monoblocks, ARC ls25 preamp, ARC CD3 and MIT cabling. We move forward.
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Thiel owners, it goes without saying but please take good care of your speakers. Mine are precious reproducers of music and I would be very sad if they no longer worked. There is Vandersteen, of course, but they don’t sound like Thiel, and shouldn’t. I hope that someone from Jim’s inner circle can find a way and have the motivation to restart and carry forward Jim’s design philosophy and expertise. I won’t hold my breath. |
Aren’t they sometimes "seized" and that kinda thing, so they disappear?
If there are loans, the bank will want their money back. If there are not loans, the owners will want to cut their losses. Any spare drivers will surely be available from someone - they won't be locked up or thrown away if they are worth money. @jafant reported that Rob Gillium has arranged to buy the service aspect of Thiel. There is cause to be alarmed but it sounds like Thiel owners will still get repairs and replacement parts. |
Just noticed this thread.
As I mentioned in the owners thread, I’m now very concerned about
getting the spare drivers I was just intending to order. I’d been in touch with the legacy parts department just a few weeks ago and the feeling was the drivers would be available for the foreseeable future.
But...now?
On one hand I’m thinking they would still want to sell off whatever they have including spare egacy drivers.
On the others, I’m pretty clueless about how companies usually go about liquidizing assets. Aren’t they sometimes "seized" and that kinda thing, so they disappear?
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I totally agree with jon 5912, this is a good thing :-) Also, I really like the point bar81 is making about audio companys and who what and why is steering them in the current and future direction they might be taking. Looking at a companies history and personal are often overlooked by audio buyers, and I find it a primary reason for my purchases over the years, it says/means a lot when you buy something from a company thats been around for twenty or thirty years, these designs are often solid and truly tested overtime...speaks volumes.Imo.
Matt M
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Conrad Johnson did it right. Sold the company to their head technician. Coming out w/plenty of new products. They are in good hands. |
I wonder what kind of succession planning is done at these audio companies. It seems like when the founder passes, there's absolutely no contingency plan for legitimately continuing the business. It's something I recently considered and made me think twice about buying Dan D'Agostino's mono blocs given Dan's age and the size of the company. I'm also concerned regarding Ayre with the recent passing of Charles Hansen. |
Another iconic brand..... mismanaged, and run into the ground..... |
Most definitely disheartening, though watching this unfold, not surprising. I for one, feel sad about how things wound up. When such a leader of this sort of entity moves on, the entity itself normally passes along, as well.
Jim Thiel sat at the top of the high-end loudspeaker world for a very long time. He was a man of vision, conviction, and innovation. His products reflected what he believed, and he refused to compromise
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Hopefully, other discussions around this have indicated so.
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Wonder if they will offer drivers and tweeters at the Kentucky facility?? |
Thanks for the update but the saddest day in the Thiel legacy was Jim's passing. The second saddest day was Beavis and Butthead buying the company.
i couldn't agree more withjon_5912 more, this is good news, let the good name Rest In Peace.
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Considering how inept the ownership was I don't really consider this sad. Now that Thiel is officially closed there is some chance for another entity to resurrect something that is at least in the spirit of real Thiel speakers. Current ownership is essentially just holding the name hostage. Let it die or bring back something that can legitimately be called Thiel. The $900 plastic battery powered abomination is done and we won't be hearing about it anymore. We can all be thankful for that. |
