Thiel Owners

prof - I just visited a pair of Brazilian Rosewood O2s that I inherited from my dad's estate. When I get them here from Virginia, I'll draw the schematics and conjure an upgrade. The O2 was before we discovered 6-9s wire or film caps. Simple second order 2-way XO that fit in one hand. The cabinet might need some bracing, and the grille frame an inboard bevel wedge - it was a plain square frame . . . perhaps felt on the baffle.  No end to the fun.  The O2 was designed for the newly emerging audiophile dealer to sell against Polk and Advent. I think those retailed for $150 / pair in 1977, which would be $500 in today's dollars.

tom,

I like my 02s so much I’ve been considering having them re-finished (their old finish is a bit blah, faded, and doesn’t match our room at all).
I don’t know if it would be possible to actually have a veneer of another wood placed over them, or whether it’s just a case of changing the stain colour.

BTW, as a fellow philosophy nerd (more via self-education and interest over the decades - it wasn’t a major), it’s nice to see you had a background in philosophy. Epistemology, ontology...I’ve been in the debate trenches with those subjects many times.  Tough nuts to crack!


It’s both my practical, and philosophical side that leads me to defend certain empirical virtues that often don’t seem too welcome in the world of audiophiles. (And I certainly count myself as an audiophile).

prof - your philosophical base leaks through. Isn't it a joy to pursue things as far back to first principles as we can? Kierkegaard - Heidegger were my focus.

Reveneering with any clamping method would bow the panels inward and not work well. But you could use pressure sensitive adhesive backed veneer.  A more likely solution would be to strip the finish (Lex is nitrocellulose lacquer, I believe Heinl is also) with citrus stripper and then scrape, sand and refinish to order. The veneer started out at 0.025" thick minus production sanding of about half that thickness. So be careful.

And keep up the good work. You might expound those emperical virtues you referenced.

Tom,

Heidegger!  Yikes, a tough read!

Yes, I love digging down in to assumptions, axioms.   It's become a reflexive habit for me when proposing any claim or argument that I first check myself for special pleading and consistency, seeing as far as I can in many directions whether the argument upsets any apple carts in my own philosophical structure.   I may be wrong...but after many years I'm pretty confident in being consistent . :-) .  Unfortunately I find attempts at arguments that are nuanced in the way philosophy often demands, often fall on deaf ears, and one faces a lot of straw-manning of one's position.   When you even question someone's firm belief in a phenomenon, they seem to presume an opposite position of firmness to you.  Hence any nuanced case for a skeptical - but not decided! - position is just ignored and doubt is characterized as dogmatism.   Makes conversation about assumptions pretty tough.  (But then, that's the nature of challenging assumptions in the first place).

Anyway, 

Thanks very much for the info on altering the Thiel 02s.  I'm not handy at all with such things and would have a professional furniture refinisher I've used before.  If I go ahead, I'll keep the info and suggestions you've given as a helpful note.

prof - the whole bit of identifying and challenging assumptions is at the core of progress. In a scientific / research based proposition like Thiel Audio, we did it every day to ascertain that we were true to our vision, rather than believing accepted orthadoxy. It was so painfully interesting to see the new owners do the opposite, to mine any perceived values for assumed advantage. Their first sales manager, Steve DeFuria, an industry friend and long-time Thiel dealer, tried to include me in the realignment / assessment discussions. But ownership was not interested in "the past", which is of course a mis-assumption of what I would bring to the table. They got it wrong at every turn. We'll see if we can collectively keep an ember alive and build some joy around the campfire.