Thiel 7.2 and the 3.7

Unlike most audiophiles, soundstaging is not important to me.

I can say that the tonal balance of the Thiel is more uniform off-axis than any speaker I've heard, by a huge margin.

I thought the 3.7 sounded bad last year at L.A. Just heard them again at the RMAF driven by all Sim Audio or Moon Audio equipment and they sounded wonderful. And the best thing is that the binding post are now on the back, not at the bottom. And I guess if I have to, I can live with them, just need to cover the ugly tin cans with teh speaker grill.

According the the rep, Thiels is working on replacing the 7.2. The new version should be coming out in about 2 years. No plan to replace the model 6 yet.

FrankC

Comparing the 3.7 to the 7.2 does not add up.

Don't get me wrong. The 3.7 is going to represent a wonderful valud at under $5k, and will likely be classed among other lines of speakers costing up to $12k. Add a subwoofer, and I'm sure it will be something to behold. However, the 7.2 was $15k 10 years ago, and is a true full-range speaker. It is heavier, goes lower, and is a 4-way design. It has some of the most accurate and coherent bass I've heard. The 7.2 competes with speakers $25k and below, even today. I have resigned myself to acknowledge the need to spend over $25-30k to get something that betters it. For Thiel to produce a clear improvement on the 7.2, I would suspect it would cost $20-25k taking into consideration the number of sales and in-house production costs. That end of the market is far more competitive than it was 10 years ago.

I heard there are no plans to do a 7.3 as of now. Thiel has probably taken the wise strategy of more firmly straddling the home theater/2 channel market. They have kept costs reasonable whereas most companies are in the stratosphere. Power requirements are said to be more reasonable. Going to Crutchfield is a way to gain more widespread sales by breaking out of the audiophile niche market. Introducing subwoofers has brought modularity to their line. If he does decide to do a flagship two channel system like the 7.3, I wouldn't expect it for at least 5++ years. This is based upon the way new designs are slow to trickle from the company despite rumors that something is just around the corner. So don't hold your breath.

Rob

Rtn1,
The cost of a pr. of 3.7s is $10K, not five. Also the 7.2s in the standard finish were $13.5. They are comparible and I can see some who are not great fans of the Thiels thinking the 3.7 are the best they have made. I like my 7.2s. If I owned any lesser Thiel I would probably upgrade to the 3.7s. They are very nice speakers.

Tom,

I think I must have been looking at the price for each speaker. I'm also a fan of Thiel, just a bit skeptical the 3.7 should be viewed as a sucessor of the 7.2. Perhaps the 3.7 will have an even broader appeal, although Thiel has always seemed to sold quite well. I guess only time will bear that out.

Rob