Thiel Owners

ron,

One of the considerations I’ve had in deciding whether to sell my 3.7s or 2.7s is that I’ve figured the 2.7s would be a harder sell. They were pretty much under the radar (excepting of course the cover story on Absolute Sound - otherwise not a lot of reviews) and came out just before Thiel folded being Thiel. So I don’t think a lot of them were likely sold.

On the other hand the 3.7s had tons of reviews and years of coverage so everyone seems to know them. So they usually sell. (I haven’t even put my 3.7s up for sale, and I’ve had a number of email offers to buy them).

Plus, I got my 2.7s at such a good price it almost seems pointless to sell them.

That said, I did research 2.7 sales and it seems, though rare on the market, all the ones I could find did end up selling.

They are such a gem of a speaker. It’s too bad more people haven’t been exposed to them. I recently played some Bernard Herrmann recordings on vinyl for my musician brother who has listened to every system I’ve had since the 90’s. This was using the 2.7s and he was in shock at how incredible the sound was. I don’t think he’s ever been more effusive...and he’s heard my system with the 3.7s as well. Good recordings always help, though.

The 2.7s are keepers for me, which is why I just ordered spare drivers from Rob Gillum, which should be arriving soon.

Dan, I need my SmartSubs for my emerging guitar-making-research-recording-evaluation studio. One SS2 is being repaired. I'll report on the level of success.

350wpc is not too much. Too much really doesn't exist in my book, although there are small-amp aficionados who specifically want the wet sound of overdriven tubes. The amp you listed above @ 250-8 x 375-4 I judge to be inadequate (without ever hearing it.) If an amp doesn't double its output from 8 to 4, it is current limited and therefore producing distortion when driven hard. Thiel speakers drive hard, dropping below 3 ohms over extended ranges. That amp is likely to sound ragged / dry / conjested plus it could blow up drivers at high volume. Look for an amp that doubles from 8 to 4 and makes at least 1.5x its 4 ohm rating at 2.

thanks Dan and Prof for your comments.  it is funny that your brother may have liked the 2.7's better as my girlfriend likes them better too.   i think that the "sweeter" mid bass sound is what appeals to her as they have a bit more warmth in some ways than the 3.7's.   Hell if i cannot sell them,  i might have to sell the 3.7's as i cannot afford to keep both.

It seems a lot of people have old Classe amps sitting around.  I've got a pair of CA200s from 1996 that haven't been used in 5+ years.  They developed intermittent crackling sounds that I couldn't get fixed.  I replaced them with a pair of Cambridge 840s that I run bridged mono.  They've been good.  I find them more neutral than the Classe and they seem to have plenty of power, at least for my purposes.  Cambridge tends to be high performance/marginal quality from what I've read but these amps have worked perfectly since I've had them.  We'll see how long they last.  

I'm not surprised that it's tough to sell the 2.7s.  I decided a long time ago that most "audiophiles" don't actually care that much about absolute sound quality.  It's a factor but looks, novelty, preferred colorations, how much attention something is getting in the press make a bigger difference.  Thiel was never big on exotic materials or other talking points that may have helped sales but that may or may not have improved the sound.  People who want accuracy are a niche within the high end audio niche. 

In the long run, I believe the 2.7 (and 1.7) will become collectors' items. They were made in Lexington after Jim's death and before the sale, using old-Thiel type parts (high purity inductors, PP caps with PS bypasses, etc. on point to point boards. The 2.7 uses the 3.7 coax with a smaller woofer for a hypothetically "easier" crossover than the 3.7. I suspect that further tweaking, such as replacing the big electrolytics with PPs might make the 2.7 one for history.