Jim Thiel has passed.

It is a very bad news. His great talents and designs will be missed. I have been a fan of Thiel's speakers. I owned CS2, CS3.6, and now own CS7.2. The CS2 taught me what soundstage was.

I thought I would be upgrading to another new design (CS9?) in the near future. Now my dream may not come true. Hopefully someone in Thiel can continue his great work and designs and offer high value and high performance speakers like before.

As Albert Porter notes above-- this has been a terrible year for losing great talent. We can argue endlessly about differences in gear but it takes a special person to create that gear in the first place. Jim was one such special talent and his company reflected his manner and values. Within weeks we've now lost J.Gordon Holt and Jim Thiel, who knows how long any of us have. Enjoy the music and maybe, maybe, recognize the talent that goes into bringing music to our lives.

Never owned any of the Thiel speakers but he had a innovative mind. He will be missed in the Audio world.
May be find everlasting peace.

Met him once when he was doing the rounds at audio shops introducing the 3.7s. He was a true gentleman. I have owned his 2.4s for the past 3 years and love em. Condolences to his family and friends and may he RIP.

Condolences to both the Thiel family, and his many friends at Thiel.