Thiel Owners

Stereophile can't or won't measure Thiel's at the appropriate 3 meters.

It makes sense that JA measures from the same distance (ie, standard) for everything but he has to be close (50") using his "quasi-anechoic" conditions to avoid early reflections. Definitively puts first order designs at big disadvantage. Soundstage has a real anechoic chamber and measures at 2 m.

It's all he can do with his limitations and budget. He used to acknowledge the extra problems for measuring Thiels, Vandersteens, et al. but not for many years.

BTW, I'm NOT defending Stereophile!

I’ll defend them, they do more than most others.

I believe that a major factor in the popularly-held fallacy that phase and time information don't matter or can be misrepresented in test design is that such measurement techniques are given undue validity by most, leading to most manufacturers implementing designs that will test well against a fundamentally flawed standard . . . supporting a vicious cycle that justifies and validates the fallacy. This statement is philosophy-speak for don't eat everything you're fed.