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.
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.