Anyone audition the new Thiel 3.7s yet?

I think they look pretty cool -albeit a bit phallic! Certainly more attractive than Wilson Maxx, my Vandersteens, or the new fugliest kid on the block: the new Leviathan (or whatever it's called) that is advertised in the Oct Stereophile.

More importantly, I understand that they sound fantastic.

Once you are considering speakers at this level a showroom demo isn't very reliable. Guessing how a ^$10,000 speaker will sound in your room with your electronics is a crap shoot. While there are some basic issues to consider when matching components, after that there are endless unpredictable variable.

I will never buy an expensive speaker again until I hear it with my stuff.

The cap and tweeter are horrendous. It reminds me of the first time I saw the N801's. I was so thrown off by the looks that I could only listen for a few minutes. Merlin, Verity and the lower-end Kharma's are another story completely.

Because of the black cap, I think they look best in very dark woods -- I especially like the new Ebony composite (shown in the Ayre suite at the past CES). However, in that price range, I much prefer the elegance of the Vandersteen Quatro Wood, which I believe to be one of the best looking speakers out there, YMMV.

they sound very good ,but needs a good powerful neutral sounding amp,,any amp tilted toward the upper mids and treble is ng makes them sound edgy and overly bright,,,but for 10 grand the fit of that aluminum dome on top of the speaker was the pits ,,looks cheap and feels a liitle uneven,,,