Thiel Owners

arniespin

It's sales like the one you got that will drive down the price of my 3.7s if I have to sell them!! ;-)

Lucky guy.

Sounds like you are well set up for the 3.7s.  I'll be really curious what you think.  I'm driving mine with 140W of conrad johnson tube power and they are controlled beautifully from top to bottom.  The 3.7s are a bit overdamped in the bass relative to a lot of other big speakers, which actually makes them easier to place in real rooms.  You can really modulate the sound via placement (like most speakers).  I tend to prefer a nearer placement (I'm about 6 to 7 feet from mine) and the 3.7s remain coherent close up (the coincident mid/tweeters and their wide bandwidth certainly help that). 

The 3.7s sound smooth either toed in or toed out - the more you toe in (again like many speakers) the brighter and more focused the sound.
I actually prefer the Thiels widely spaced, facing essentially straight ahead, with just about no toe in.  The sound becomes much bigger, more spacious, with more dimensionality and depth to the imaging, but also a warmer, richer tone. 

I'm curious what positioning will work best for you.

Jon,
thanks for not holding a grudge. After all we're all fellow Thielistas! Also, thanks for the link. Some very interesting reading on JTs design philosophy. 

Thanks for the warm welcome and positive encouragement on the speaker shipping!

I'm figuring out how to set up my virtual system... but, it's basically a rag-tag group of vintage components that have somehow learned to play nice with each other and actually sound really great with my 3.5. My analog front end features a direct-drive JVC al-y7 turntable with an AT oc9ii cart. Digital source is a Pioneer Elite (upside-down) CD transport into a Schiit DAC. My preamp is an all tube VTL 5.5, and the amps are a pair of 1963 Sherwood a-5500 iv in bridged mono, feeding about 160w per channel into 4ohms. Interconnects are Monster Sigma retro golds and Speaker cables are Straightwire Serenades. As far as power I have everything hooked up to a 20amp Equitech son of Q, with several power cords from jps labs and Acoustic Zen. Like I said, strange group of components that actually sound quite musical together.. especially through THIELS ;)

I’m curious how many 3.7’s Thiels were built before closing down their production line. 

I've always been nervous about having speakers shipped so I tend to constrict my inquiries to "local" sellers.  I just had a gent drive up from Tennessee to pick up a pair of Alon ll's that I had for a month - now THAT's audiophile!  (But that's another thread altogether, ain't it?)

Audiogon, Thiel, damn you!  Since becoming a member you have driven me to an enjoyable madness.  I hasten to add that all of the stuff I have bought over the last few years were attempts to find the "right" matches for my Thiels. It was never, "gee, these speakers kinda suck" as it was "gee, these speakers need better stuff" even though they immediately made my room sound better no matter what amp I had at the time. 

McIntosh, Musical Fidelity, Primare, Threshold, Simaudio, BAT, GAS, Pass Labs, Conrad Johnson, Audio Research (pre only)  - each have had their go at my 3.5's. This quest has had its ups and downs, I wish I still had my Pass X150.5 to see how it would do with my 3.6's now. I moved to an integrated recently because I grew weary of all the wires and NASA type startup procedures involved with separates, but who knows what the future and/or opportunities may present?  

Of the aforementioned amps etc the Pass amp/BAT pre combo was, IMHO, perhaps the best. (CS3.5)  I also liked the ARC preamps I employed - brighter than the BAT yes, but I like bright more than most. At this point in time a Pass INT 150 remains out of my reach financially. Used they're going for upwards of $6k. My BATVK300xse integrated is doing swell right now. 

The difference between the 2.2 and 2.3's I had was minimal. The difference between the 2.3's and 3.5's was not - it was a much more obvious difference, and all good. The difference between the 3.5's and 3.6's is immediately obvious - very different, but all good. What an amazing product Thiel is. 

Damn. Now I'm thinking 3.7's...


You b*st*rds!

prof,

I negotiated an unbelievable deal on a new pair of Ultima Salon2s from HiFi Buys in Nashville. Believe me, I read all the reviews and I listened to them in their Nashville store with some high powered McIntosh gear in a large listening room. When I put them in my smaller listening room with my tube gear, they lacked the huge soundstage I was accustomed to, they lacked the Thiel warm bass that seems to penetrate my viscera, and they were simply fatiguing to listen for more than an hour. I really did a bunch of repositioning and changing around my acoustic treatments, but I just never found that magic. Since I have a tough time connecting my right brain feelings to my left brain verbalization, the best way to express my thoughts are like you say.....realism and believability.

Obviously, there are too many variables to make a blanket assumption including the fact that I probably never gave them time for a full break-in and maybe didn't have adequate power, but the bottom line is that I didn't have the patience or money to rebuild my entire system around the Revels. My original deal was so good that I was able to easily sell them without a loss. The process did make me more content with my Thiels. All I want to do now is to try out other Jim Thiel speakers to see if my 3.6s are my favorite.

jonandfamily.

Wow, you got rid of the Revel Ultima Salon2s?  Those are among the most universally lauded flagship speakers!  And you probably know they were designed via the blind-testing facilities at Harmon.  There's a big thread on them, along with great input by Floyd Toole, at the AVSforum.

Can you tell me what disappointed you about the Revels?

I haven't heard that model, but I've auditioned a couple slightly lower on the rung and while I was generally impressed as they sounded really neutral and well designed, I still preferred my Thiel 3.7s (and 2.7s).  Something about that Thiel tone, soundstaging, realism...

We have a couple of new Thiel owners, so if you haven't seen this site, its a good start for understanding legacy Thiels.  https://coherentsource.wordpress.com/

AH, Found the Thiel thread. Just got a pair of CS2 and am putting it through the paces. Powered by a Modwright KSA 150 SE with a 9.0 Anniversary Pre. Marantz SA-11 SACD player.  Only had them for 2 days and hav not had time for a good session or time to read this thread, but my initial impressions are that these are sweet sounding speakers. More to follow. Jeff

arniespin,

You deserve these because I did what I have done before....hesitated because of the distance between me and the 3.7s. I did not want to chance the shipping. I could not convince my wife that we needed a vacation to Tulsa. I thought I had worked out a deal for him to personally deliver them to Birmingham for 4K, but I think my extra money wasn't worth the 22 hour round trip.

I was lucky to find a mint pair of CS3.6s for $1.2K about 100 miles from me 5 years ago, and I have bought and sold several speakers since then never bettering the magic I get with my Thiels. This included the Revel Ultima Salon2s which lasted only about a month before I sold them. Boy, were they a disappointment, and I had to crate and freight those across the country over 2000 miles.

Yes, welcome arniespin and I look forward to hearing your impressions of the 3.7s. Also, I think most of us would like to hear about the rest of your system. Maybe you can add your "virtual system" to Audiogon.

Cheers, Jon

I've had pretty much all my speakers shipped, usually from the USA to Canada.  So far no problems, but I have to say if anything is going to cure me of my speaker obsession it's shipping and receiving - I think I'm done shipping big speakers!  What a hassle.

arniespin...

As you may have read have been an ardent proponent of the 3.5's here, recently acquiring a pair of elusive (for me) 3.6's that somehow came and went now and again until I bought a pair from Chicago.  Yikes!  Shipping!

All the previous models I owned I bought semi-locally, the furthest being my first pair of 3.5's which were located in Massachusetts. The others were within about 50-75 miles from my house. I was fearful of having them shipped and when 3.6's came around most were across the country - so I balked time and time again. 

Then the pair of 3.6's popped up for $1300 in Chicago.  I hesitated. Then I figgered it might be my last chance. They strapped 'em to pallets for $300 and...well, I finally got 'em. 

As a means of relating how cool this thread is, I had a fellow member on the site contact me to say that the speakers were in excellent shape. He lives about an hour from the store that I purchased from and went to check them out himself. He had no interest in telling me that other than being a Thielista himself. Cool stuff. 

Welcome - hope they show up perfect!

Hello Jafant and company,

Reading through this entire thread, I feel as if I know you all well by now!

My introduction to Thiels came via a beautiful pair of CS 3.5s that I quickly fell in love with. Since then I've had my eye on someday owning the elusive 3.7s. Well that chance finally came a few days ago when I bit the bullet on that black pair (Sorry, Jonandfamily... Hope you get the next pair!)

Was originally going to do a road trip from NYC to pick them up in Tulsa, but ended up having them shipped.. Yikes!.. Fingers crossed that they make the trip safely. Will report back when they arrive.

Good to see you- prof
Glad that you continue to enjoy your CS 3.7 speakers. JT did make quite a musical statement w/ this model. Keep posting listening thoughts and impressions.

Happy Listening!

jonandfamily.

Man that's ruff!  I can't believe they sold for that (admittedly, the lowest Tier finish but still...)  I absolutely hate missing out on gear like that, which is why I often take a hit in paying more than others will if I really want it.

It's always possible to have the Thiels re-finished (that is what I'm still contemplating.  Rob G at one point said he'd do it for me, but I found a local guy who will do it as well).

Not to rub it in, but last night I was listening to one of my favorite Bernard Hermann scores, Jason And The Argonauts.  I love the way he wrote for those guttural sounding woodwinds, low growling oboes etc.
If a speaker doesn't do those instruments right, it's immediately removed from contention.  Through the 3.7s last night those instruments were glorious: huge, full-sized, rich, just vibrating the air like someone playing in front of me, all with the appropriate organic warm tone.  And no matter what register they played, nowhere did they sound remotely like they were coming from a box.   It's the same with voices, whether its a female singer traveling the upper registers there is zero discontinuity and never a sense of a tweeter or treble being separate or on top of the rest of the spectrum.  Or a male singer singing into the chesty range - which on many speakers gets into that zone that excites speaker resonances or cross-over issues etc, where suddenly you start to pick up the lower notes as being augmented in some fashion.  Not the Thiels.  No matter where the voice travels, it remains perfectly rendered, organically full, continuous, and without any box or resonant presence at all.  

Auditioning other speakers, even newer ones, only make me come back to marvel at what Jim achieved with the 3.7s!

All -
I received confirmation that Mr. Rob Gillum is alive and well at Thiel Customer Service Kentucky. Open for business as well. He is ready to offer parts, restoration and service for our speakers. Additionally, he is soon to accomplish 30 years with Thiel Audio with no signs of slowing down.

Salute!

Good to see you- jonandfamily

You will get the next pair. I drove 1400 miles round trip to pick up my pair as I did not want them freighted either.

Happy Listening!

Man, I almost had the Thiel 3.7s that were listed recently (type  lis8790g in Audiogon search). We were working on how to get them from Tulsa to Birmingham before I made my final offer, but he sold them on eBay before we finalized. He told me that he sold them for $2500 to a guy in New York who was having them crated and freighted for $953. Even though they were my least favorite color- matte black, I would have driven the 1300 mile round trip for $2500. I guess if I were sure that I would like the 3.7s more than my 3.6s, then I would jump on these deals quicker. 

Welcome! drushaan-

sorry to read about your tweeter situation. Rob Gillum is in charge of parts and service for Thiel.  He can be reached at phone number;
615-866-2290 or rgillum@thielaudio.com

Please keep us posted as you contact Customer Service. Report your experience w/ Mr. Gillum as well. Hope this is helpful to you.

Happy Listening!

Looking for their 2.4 tweeter replacement can anyone guide me where can I get a pair 

Hi guys  have a pair of theil 2.4
My tweeters just blew off looking for a replacement please can anyone guide me where I can get a pair 

linnlingo and oblgny-
it would be interesting to learn the number of people employed at the Kentucky facility.  I will attempt to gather more information on Rob and his situation. More to follow.

Happy Listening!

I spoke directly with Rob @ Thiel a couple of times and once told him about this thread. I don't know if he's ever even taken a gander, but I'm pretty certain he'd find our collective appreciation for the speakers enjoyable. 
Perhaps even kinda scary. 

Pretty shaky ground we have here. Relying on one lone man in Kentucky to keep the Thiel legacy afloat, Sadly just a matter of time. Go to the Thiel Facebook page and click into some of the videos. That will give you some insight where they are going. Also feel free to leave a comment.

Good to see you- catalysis
excellent thoughts and insight into this situation. You are correct in that other companies fell out of the market directly related to poor business
decisions. Kathy deserved the treatment she received. She should have known better. The hope is that Rob either remains in-place and continues to operate customer service there in Kentucky. Or, he sets up an independent service in his own right as you pointed out. More to follow.
Happy Listening!

Much Thanks! for the follow up- oblgny
Class act indeed. Keep posting as you get comfortable w/ the BAT in your system.  Happy Listening!

I hadn’t looked at the Thiel website for some time until tonight. This is indeed an increasingly worrying situation. And yet an entirely predictable one, as a new CEO with no apparent high end audio experience makes her presence felt, with what appears to be an exclusive and unwavering focus on wireless and streaming products. Enough to make us all weep.

The tragedy is that they’ve cornered themselves into a situation where they’re flogging a wafer-thin "me too" bluetooth range, simply because they totally botched the transition from Jim’s stunning designs to those ordinary and yet unbelievably expensive speakers, for what they were, that, as far as I can ascertain, no one had even the slightest interest in. And now, it seems, those are being discontinued, with no sign of an equivalent replacement range.

Of course none of this would matter anywhere near as much if we didn’t all rely on Rob from time to time. As I’ve said earlier in this thread, I’ve repaired one of my 3.5 mid ranges myself and, I have to say, it’s still holding up wonderfully well. I think I may be getting both formally repaired sooner than later, though, given this latest iteration of the company, which seems to be moving even further away from what made Thiel such a special organization.

All that being said, what would happen if Thiel went bust while my mid ranges were with them? Hmmm, not such a no brainer decision to send them away then...

It seems very likely that the rationale behind keeping the Kentucky service department alive was to maintain a dialog with old customers, perhaps in the hope of interesting them in a new range. But that possibility has all but disappeared now hasn’t it!

It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to take my weekly journey through the latest additions to this thread and read that the service department, and/or Thiel as a whole, is no more.

Of course that may not be the end, even then, as presumably Rob and/or others could set up an independent servicing operation, perhaps buying the old tooling, reference pairs etc. Quite honestly that can’t happen soon enough and we can then all stop obsessing about the current Thiel company woes and poor product decisions and just leave them to commit commercial suicide.

We’ve seen this situation repeat itself too many times in this hobby, right back to the days when other wet behind the ears execs came into the industry in the early 90s with aspirations to sell a surround sound system to one and all. And we know how that ended...

Ultimately, you just have to marvel at the insanity of acquiring a company with the reputation, technical and customer service collateral that Jim and Kathy diligently built up and ending up in short order with a range of products containing zero DNA of what made Thiel so wonderful.

oblgny,

Bought a pair of MIT Oracle ICs from TMR recently. Condition was better than their rating of 7-9. Look like new condition. Very happy with their service. Waited 1 1/2 yr for this pair to show up. Grabbed them instantly. Would do business with them again.

See if you can get the "Everything Thiel Expert" to chime in on current state of affairs with Thiel, parts, service, and Rob in KY.

Best

Jafant...

TMR handled it directly.  Once I attempted the procedure BAT relayed to no avail, TMR sent me a shipping label back to BAT. They then shipped another unit to me. (They had 2)  All things considered there was an excellent synergy - one of your fave words - between manufacturer, retailer, and me, the customer. All pertaining to a recertified unit as well - imagine that!

Both companies have earned my trust should any opportunity arise in the future with either. Class acts. 

jafant,

Thiel Owners Need your Everything Thiel expertise. Pay attention.  Thiel is a dead company and other things like service, parts, Rob may be on the chopping block. Looks like a steep Crash and Burn dive.

Help your Thiel comrades.

You hit upon the very nature of Thiel speakers- oblgny.
Clean, articulate, rich and uncolored presentation are just a few descriptors for Jim Thiel's speaker designs.  The Bass is certainly addressed in a non-overwhelming way.  Adding a Smartsub or REL will bring the boom into your room.
Happy Listening!

Good to see you-William.
I concur that anyone with a keen eye would have spotted physical damage of the amp upon inspection. Not only would the amp casing show some kind of damage, but the packaging as well.  I have been observing TMR for quite some time, pretty impressive operation. They even have in-house repair/restoration electronic techs. Selling faulty gear would not be in their financial best practice.  I had wondered which party, TMR or B.A.T., handled your situation directly?  Good to read that both stepped up and offered a favorable resolution.

Many Thanks! for replying to my query about the BAT's front end.
Across many Audio forums, your B.A.T. integrated, is highly regarded.
Happy Listening!

jafant...

Oddly enough the tech at BAT noted that the unit I returned had been "dropped hard, onto a hard surface" causing the chassis to be bent and the led display to fail. This was not the case at all upon my receipt of it originally, something which I would have immediately related to Karl at The Music Room given that their site's description of the unit did not include such a physical condition. They describe their stuff pretty well. I repacked the unit as I received it, even forwarding photos to TMR to "cover my ass", as I did when I repacked the Neo and sent it to them. The BAT tech closed by stating there would be no investigation as to whom, or where, or when the alleged damage occurred, they repaired the unit and sent it back to TMR. 

Although I was somewhat irked by those comments, BAT and TMR responded quickly, attending to a customer's issue, addressing it, resolving it. No complaints there. Had I dropped the unit causing the DOA, I would have contacted BAT directly myself and sought repair at that point. My parents didn't raise dishonest kids. Furthermore, even though I didn't buy it through the 'Gon, my reputation as a seller/buyer here and elsewhere is something I take very seriously. 

Again, kudos to TMR's Karl who handled my trade and the issue professionally. Kudos as well to BAT for working with them to resolve the situation. 

Anyway...

Yes, the BAT offers more detail than did the Neo at my listening levels. The phono stage is far superior to the Neo's to a degree that playing vinyl supercedes the ease of playing my server. It's THAT good. (Marantz TT-15 with an mm cartridge. Basically it's a rebadged Clearaudio tt.) I listened to "Life Is A Carnival" by the Band as sort of a test because that is one "busy as hell" piece of music, and, well, just wow. Then I tossed on "Cyril Davies", Ginger Baker, from my Sony HAPZ1es, a tune I use to judge equipment, and again the sonics were impressive. Both were listened to without the REL T7 in service, so the bass definition here, that I thought was missing from my 3.6's, was quickly evident. It seems we dwell a bit on Thiel's bass reproduction and/or lack of it at times, and I hasten to add that I ain't looking for the "boom" at all, Thiel bass reproduction is clean, articulate, uncolored. That's what I love the most about Thiel in general. That, and the mids and highs. 

The BAT's tubed front end mimics the setup I employed with the Pass amp/BAT preamp I previously dug. The BAT takes about a minute to reach operation.  A blue led light flashes in tandem with the main display until that's reached. I'm finding that things become more distinct after about an hour of play, which is pretty much par for the proverbial course with anything. There's a little more heat from the top of the unit because of the tubes, but I don't stack my equipment anyway, so that's never been an issue. 

All in all, despite the glitch encountered, a good purchase. 1 year factory warranty, more power, good customer service, good amp. 

Happy Friday- ALL.

Good to see you- linnlingo
the new offerings do look very similar to Sonos products indeed.
Thankfully, we will always have the older/vintage models to purchase via the secondary market. Happy Listening!

Oblgny-
keep us posted as you massage the B.A.T. into your system.
Would you say that this integrated has a similar presentation to your previous B.A.T. pre-amp?

Happy Listening!

Welcome! back- stevecham.
it has been some time since you posted here. Hope you are enjoying your Thiel speakers.  Any updates to your system?
Happy Listening!

We can certainly keep supporting Rob- nkonor.
With Mr. Thiel gone and Gary at Bryston, it would take another special person along the order of Mr. Vandersteen whom understands the time / phase coherence theory, application, principle.   Agreed, one has to spend a significant amount of money to better those legacy models.
Happy Listening!

Good to see you again- lalitk
shortly after the release of the TT1- I contacted and spoke w/ Taylor of Goldprint Audio in NC. He has been a long-time rep for Thiel, operates his Audio operation from his personal residence and is an all-around gentleman.  He did take on a pair of these speakers for his showroom and did like the build, finish and sound quality.
Happy Listening!

There are certainly many points of interest and queries for the continuation of Thiel. I am interested  in learning more about Rob at Thiel Kentucky.
Did he procure a special contract w/ Mr. Thiel prior to his passing?

Yep, it is a company for the Audio history buffs- unsound and saffron_boots.
Good to see you guys.
Happy Listening!

Sad, indeed -prof
Good to see you.
Happy Listening!

Good to see you -oblgny

Man, you took quite an adventure w/ the B.A.T.
Always good to read about sellers/manufacturers standing behind their products and offering favorable customer service.

Any further idea(s) of the culprit behind the non-working amp?

Happy Listening!

Happy Wife ; Happy Life

Best

Still loving both speakers.  I have the 3.7s running again and after two years they still blow my mind.    I also crank them quite loud when I'm listening outside the room (they are down just a short bit of hallway from my computer chair).   They seem to handle high SPLs very nicely.

I've continued to audition other speakers - most recently Proac Response D20 some Revel speakers, Kudos and Kharma (Kharma more because the dealer happened to have them playing).

I found the Proacs looked beautiful, but unfortunately they had that "ribbon tweeter" discontinuity that I almost always hear in such speakers.  (The exceptions being the Raidho and the JM Reynauds from my auditions of those speakers).   And every time I come home to the Thiels they blow me away compared to what I've just heard elsewhere.
I have the 3.7s spread really wide apart, and about 6 1/2 feet from me, and the sound is just a massive, incredibly deep stage with beautifully focused voices and instruments throughout.  And just clarity from top to bottom.  The only speakers that really come close to doing that kind of effect (other than my MBLs) are the Audio Physic speakers - Avanti.
I am pretty curious about the Audio Physic Codex - the Avanti is possibly the most beautiful speaker I've seen in one of their high end finishes.  The Codex is I think not much smaller than the Thiels so wouldn't solve much of my "too big" issue with the 3.7s.

I still think I may be headed to purchasing the Joseph Audio Perspectives when I can, at which point I will have to let go of either the 2.7s or 3.7s (if only to please my wife).

prof,

Live levels sometimes. Soft on a Sunday morning; Saturday night we're rocking. Musicians listen "Live" all the time. I have a 100+ yr old  house and space so I do not annoy the neighbors. It is a brick Landmark Status. They do not build homes like this anymore. No kids. Take care of 10 feral cats ; they live outside .

How are you coming with your decision on 2.7 / 3.7s ?

Avalons are 12yrs old; no problems with the drivers. If I remember right, Kathy replaced 4 or 5 midrange and 2 Tweeters.

Best

I've never blown a driver in any speaker I've owned in my whole life (and that's a lot of them).  Some people either have bad luck, or like their music super loud I guess.