Dan,
You are not a rarity in using Thiel as surround sound. I see a lot of power points for sale and always wondered with Atmos - what it would be like to have Thiel in that lineup. I have 5.1 and use 4 PCS with MCS as center along with SmartSub.
My big news is I scored a set of 2.7's last Saturday and they are wonderful! I'm still tuning, but I'm very encouraged by the sound. Each refinement in the Thiel lineup was an improvement and I never thought I would be able to afford these. Happy as can be!
Prior to this purchase I noticed some glare in certain vocals and still see it. I'm trying to track down the issue. I did change some cables a few months ago, but I think they may have just brought this glare to the forefront. (Analysis plus solo interconnects) I see more transparency with these and think it was there before, just cables brought it to forefront.
Anyone have ideas? I have spares of some equipment and will change some things out to see if I can track it down.