What Happened to Thiel?


I've been trying to reach Thiel Audio. Their web site is down and their phone is always busy. Anybody have any idea what's going on?
coyolxauhqui
That's odd. I spoke to someone at Thiel who said there were no plans to replace the 7.2 anytime soon.

The rumors of a replacement for the 3.6 went on for many years before anything actually materialized. So history might suggest that nothing in terms of a single box full-range speaker is just around the corner.

Seems to be more emphasis on home theater in recent years.

Rob
FYI,
Thiel and full range:
CS 3.5's -3dB 20 Hz
CS 3.6's -3dB 27 Hz
CS 3.7's -3dB 32 Hz
CS 5's +/-1dB 23 Hz
CS 6's -3dB 27 Hz
CS 7.2's -3dB 23 Hz
Don't ya just love manufactures specs. Just like EPA fuel comsuption for cars - YMMV.

Heard 3.7 at RMAF. There are stiff ompetition at $10k. Yes I think they are butt ugly in a "danger Will Robinson, danger Will Robinson" way.
CS 3.7 is not exactly a full range speaker is it? I mean -3dB at 32Hz means you kiss goodbye to your entire first octave. Moreover, in the 2nd Octave Low C on a standard piano is about 32Hz. What is Thiel thinking a 10 grand speaker that needs a sub-woofer?
Gee, I thought the first ocatave was from 20 to 40 Hz? Thiel's measurements are done in an anechoic chamber, so in real practice most will have some in room bass reinforcement.
I do agree that $10K seems a bit much for the this level of bass output.
While I don't dare challange Jim Thiel on technical issues, I do question Thiel's decisions and trends. First of all, I have trouble understanding why Thiel would abandon sealed boxes for passive radiators and ports. I don't understand how passive radiators and ports can possibly be time and phase coherent, something of a Thiel trademark. I doubt the size and corresponding construction costs and transport challanges associated with a larger sealed box would matter that much to people shopping at the upper end of Thiel's range. In as much as equalizers are a red flag to many audiophiles, Thiel has used them sucessfully in the past to offer full range sealed boxed, relatively easy steady 4 Ohm impedance, 89 dB, modestly sized speakers in the past. Heck, the original CS 3 cost $2K 25 years ago and offered all of the above. Now that Thiel has garned experience with digital amps for their subwoofers, I would have imagined using some sort of digital technology for a modern digitaly updated eq'd CS 3-3.5 would have allowed Thiel to cost effectively offer a product with better performance than the current 3 series. This might be especially true now that Thiel develops all their drivers in house. As Thiel has increased the sensitivity of their speakers the impedance have become lower with time. I would imagine that finding higher powered amps into higher impedances would be less difficult and less expensive than finding lower powered amps that can handle lower impedances. Of course many audiophiles wouldn't even consider a product that has the words "equalizer" and "digital" in their description, even if they offered smaller dimensions, better time and phase coherency, more extended bass response, easier amplification requirements, and built in room tailoring. Damn shame.