Moving away from the Thiel platform is a difficult task in that doing so laterally or moving up the proverbial food-chain obviously comes at a cost. No one here has yet commented on the new Thiel product line which, as it so happens to be, has as much to do with Jim Thiel as I do.
The return-on-investment Thiel extends is considerable in terms of sonics - personally speaking Thiel has become my reference point for what a loudspeaker can do. I am, as always and as an Audiogonian, curious about how other manufacturers compare. And I will no doubt purchase some others when opportunity arises. I've enjoyed Von Schweikert, Totem, Magnepan, Alon, KEF, DYNAUDIO. In this somewhat limited field the only manufacturer that comes close - to my ears - is Magnepan. It was interesting to learn of Jim Thiel's appreciation for planar speakers in an earlier post here.
For many including myself, this almost insane pursuit of fidelity is fantastically enjoyable. I believe that I was looking to buy a vintage Pioneer receiver a few years back when I stumbled onto this site and saw what my absence from actively pursuing hifi had become. To paraphrase my girl-friend's universal comment when she comes to my house, "is THAT new?" Almost as universally my reply is, "yes."
One of the questions I repeatedly ask of winemakers is whom they respect as winemakers. The answers are illuminating. I have as a result moved afar from my previous comfort zone with winemakers I once considered to be my benchmarks, my reference points. They remain in my vino-wheelhouse as Thiel remains in my audio-wheelhouse, always there, always referred to, always curious about others because of them.
Wow. I've gone off point again...
