Thiel/Crutchfield

I can imagine some people who might use an acousticly transparent screen in a front projector system using a matching center floor stander in their Home Theatre. I can also see some confusion if Thiel priced their smaller speakers (some of which may have been primarily designed to be used as center, side/rear speakers) singularly and then priced their larger floor standers in pairs.

I would think with Thiels being hard to drive, and a somewhat demanding speaker to place. that Crutchfield would be the last place to sell and advertise their speakers.

MCPODY

I like how yesterday, Thiel was a well-respected, extremely customer service friendly, high-end speaker manufacturer and today, with the ability to buy them from Crutchfield, they are no longer any good.

Seems like a smart way to reach a much larger customer base without undercutting current dealers and having to deal directly with customers. (They ship direct from Thiel but all transactions are through Crutchfield.)

Ok,colour me dumb but how does selling direct, not impact the local dealer network?????? I would tell Mr. Thiel his listing floor standing front speakers, each; is reaching for the bottom of the barrel. His company--my opinion.

It seems an odd pairing. From what I can tell Thiel attracts a pretty limited crowd. I have posted my reactions to Thiels in the past and the fans appear to be mostly from the classiscal music fan base. Not that this is a bad thing at all. But somehow Crutchfield with its emphasis on automobiles, home theater and mid-fi just doesn't seem to be the place to sell this type of speaker. Besides, Thiels are a non-mainstream sounding speaker with treble that many find downright irritable (yes the new models still make me cover my ears) that to sell them without an audition seems to be a mis-service.