Thiel Owners

As I posted early on this thread; I owned Thiel 3.5s. Flew to Seattle, WA from Juneau, Ak then ferry to Bainbridge, Island, then drove to Silverdale, WA. Auditioned them at "Nuts about HiFi" with a pair of large Krell monos which I could not afford but sounded Wonderful !! Bought them, knowing that I had MY speakers! Air freighted them to Juneau. Only the grill frames were damaged. Kathy Gornick sent me a new pair include shipping for $70. Visiting family in Chicago for Christmas, I bought a pair of Forte' model 7, class A monos. Were not the big Krells but were CL A. Still own them. Kept me very happy through the long winters. Blew midrange and tweeters (seemed at least (1) each year.) Kathy would send the needed driver before I could get the damaged driver sent to her ; under warranty / no charge. Thiel will never be the same again w/o Kathy and Jim.
Played the Thiels with and without the equalizer. Mostly liked them with the eq at 40; 20 made them too muddy. Finally moved back to Chicago. Packed the Thiels in my van ( was not taking any chances w/ MY speakers! Finally got a Spectral system ( DMC 12, pair of DMA 90s used as bridged 200 watt monos) MAGICAL combo! No longer used the equalizer. When Kathy sent my last midrange driver with a letter saying this would be my last driver under warranty after a full 10yrs ( I bought them used) I sadly sold them to a guy that was very happy after a (1) LP side audition. Took me 8-9 years to finally settle on the Avalons I now own. Reading this thread; as long as "Rob" works and is allowed to work; Thiel owners should be OK. But I would start my search for a new pair of speakers before he is gone. Without Jim and Kathy, Thiel will never be the same. Will take time to find a new speaker! Suggest you might start with Avalons.

The subject of how long Rob will be able to keep the Thiel servicing going is one that should concern all us owners. It’s pretty clear to me that the new Thiel lords and masters aren’t adding any value into the business, in terms of innovation, indeed I haven’t read in any forum that anyone actually owns a pair of these rather ordinary looking new models, with their anonymous "me too" design.

It’s to the new company’s absolute credit that the servicing has been allowed to continue, as that at least provides some connection between old and new, but how long will this very optional indulgence be tolerated? Especially if the new speaker range isn’t successful, and quite frankly I struggle to see how it can be, certainly at the ambitious pricing.

All that being said, I haven’t heard the new Thiel range, but as they appear a very conventional design thats done away with the coherent source concept, long experience of the ways of this industry suggests there is little room for optimism, but I am hopefully wrong, because their success means that the service department can continue without creating too much cost cutting attention.

I have only had to deal with Rob once for a new set of spikes and, apart from being a really nice guy, he is clearly now the world authority on all things Thiel.

The major likelihood for most of us is midrange rebuilds from time to time (that was what Rob said, indeed), for which he quoted me $300 each earlier this summer. Mine are fine right now, but it’s clear they’ll one day need some attention and I’m seriously considering just getting them rebuilt ahead of the need to give Rob a little more business.

Other than that it will be a matter of someone else being entrusted to rebuild them and I can only imagine that being a compromise, to some extent at least.

Hi Dave, well I guess that's pretty reassuring. It would indeed be tragic if Jim's designs were allowed to succumb to the ravages of time. I dread the day when I have to look for another speaker.