Thiel Owners

jonandfamily.

Wow, you got rid of the Revel Ultima Salon2s?  Those are among the most universally lauded flagship speakers!  And you probably know they were designed via the blind-testing facilities at Harmon.  There's a big thread on them, along with great input by Floyd Toole, at the AVSforum.

Can you tell me what disappointed you about the Revels?

I haven't heard that model, but I've auditioned a couple slightly lower on the rung and while I was generally impressed as they sounded really neutral and well designed, I still preferred my Thiel 3.7s (and 2.7s).  Something about that Thiel tone, soundstaging, realism...

prof,

I negotiated an unbelievable deal on a new pair of Ultima Salon2s from HiFi Buys in Nashville. Believe me, I read all the reviews and I listened to them in their Nashville store with some high powered McIntosh gear in a large listening room. When I put them in my smaller listening room with my tube gear, they lacked the huge soundstage I was accustomed to, they lacked the Thiel warm bass that seems to penetrate my viscera, and they were simply fatiguing to listen for more than an hour. I really did a bunch of repositioning and changing around my acoustic treatments, but I just never found that magic. Since I have a tough time connecting my right brain feelings to my left brain verbalization, the best way to express my thoughts are like you say.....realism and believability.

Obviously, there are too many variables to make a blanket assumption including the fact that I probably never gave them time for a full break-in and maybe didn't have adequate power, but the bottom line is that I didn't have the patience or money to rebuild my entire system around the Revels. My original deal was so good that I was able to easily sell them without a loss. The process did make me more content with my Thiels. All I want to do now is to try out other Jim Thiel speakers to see if my 3.6s are my favorite.

I've always been nervous about having speakers shipped so I tend to constrict my inquiries to "local" sellers.  I just had a gent drive up from Tennessee to pick up a pair of Alon ll's that I had for a month - now THAT's audiophile!  (But that's another thread altogether, ain't it?)

Audiogon, Thiel, damn you!  Since becoming a member you have driven me to an enjoyable madness.  I hasten to add that all of the stuff I have bought over the last few years were attempts to find the "right" matches for my Thiels. It was never, "gee, these speakers kinda suck" as it was "gee, these speakers need better stuff" even though they immediately made my room sound better no matter what amp I had at the time. 

McIntosh, Musical Fidelity, Primare, Threshold, Simaudio, BAT, GAS, Pass Labs, Conrad Johnson, Audio Research (pre only)  - each have had their go at my 3.5's. This quest has had its ups and downs, I wish I still had my Pass X150.5 to see how it would do with my 3.6's now. I moved to an integrated recently because I grew weary of all the wires and NASA type startup procedures involved with separates, but who knows what the future and/or opportunities may present?  

Of the aforementioned amps etc the Pass amp/BAT pre combo was, IMHO, perhaps the best. (CS3.5)  I also liked the ARC preamps I employed - brighter than the BAT yes, but I like bright more than most. At this point in time a Pass INT 150 remains out of my reach financially. Used they're going for upwards of $6k. My BATVK300xse integrated is doing swell right now. 

The difference between the 2.2 and 2.3's I had was minimal. The difference between the 2.3's and 3.5's was not - it was a much more obvious difference, and all good. The difference between the 3.5's and 3.6's is immediately obvious - very different, but all good. What an amazing product Thiel is. 

Damn. Now I'm thinking 3.7's...


You b*st*rds!

I’m curious how many 3.7’s Thiels were built before closing down their production line. 

Thanks for the warm welcome and positive encouragement on the speaker shipping!

I'm figuring out how to set up my virtual system... but, it's basically a rag-tag group of vintage components that have somehow learned to play nice with each other and actually sound really great with my 3.5. My analog front end features a direct-drive JVC al-y7 turntable with an AT oc9ii cart. Digital source is a Pioneer Elite (upside-down) CD transport into a Schiit DAC. My preamp is an all tube VTL 5.5, and the amps are a pair of 1963 Sherwood a-5500 iv in bridged mono, feeding about 160w per channel into 4ohms. Interconnects are Monster Sigma retro golds and Speaker cables are Straightwire Serenades. As far as power I have everything hooked up to a 20amp Equitech son of Q, with several power cords from jps labs and Acoustic Zen. Like I said, strange group of components that actually sound quite musical together.. especially through THIELS ;)