Thiel Owners

Bray - I only know the broad outlines from observations and a few conversations. The SW1 came out in 1997 from work Jim had been doing for about 5 years. That was early Class D and incorporated thermistor compensation and shaping circuitry ; the SW1 (2-10") were made in-house. That product became the SS2 in 2004, also made in-house with the 1,2,3,4 line. The unique design required in-house repair, which Jim performed due to his intimate knowledge of the complex circuitry. Jim was sick for a few years before he died in 2009. Sometime in there Bash/Canada began producing the amps, but it seems there was continual struggle to keep the sophisticated particulars in-tact and supported. When New Thiel took over in 2012, they decided to cease support of the line, by then out of warranty (red flag.) My speculation is that manufacture ceased somewhere between 2009 and 2012. I don't have direct knowledge and I don't want to bother Rob with my learning curve. I am gradually assembling my fact base.

Bray - what is the difference between the SS2 and SS2.2. What is your "late model" serial number?

Tom:  thank you so much for the info on the speaker grills.   I posted the link above just because i thought it was interesting.  It does not surprise me a  bit that Thiel speakers would not treat them as an after thought.

  I still remember calling Gary Dayton when i found out that Jim had passed.  Even though i had never met Jim,  i felt really sad about that and wanted to give Gary my condolences

tomthiel, thanks for the grill history! I'm particularly curious about the implementation of the wave guides. What were the goals for their implementation, and to that end how successful where they?

Tom, 

I have an SS2.2. I'll have to move it out from the back wall to get the serial number.(It weighs a short ton!) The 2.2 has a different "back panel" than the 2. Looking back, I probably got one of the last ones produced, as when I went back to the dealer a month later to get a second one, he said there were no more.   It's interesting I was able to get the PX05 with a caption for use with the 2.7 speakers. (The PX02 was out of production).  I have not tried it via the LTE input, although the owners manual shows the capability to connect both the passive PX and an LTE at the same time.