Thiel Owners

Tom,

More great reading, thanks.

QUESTION:

As you may know I have the 2.7s.

I don't know how old my pair is, bought them over a year ago - apparently a dealer pair -  though I know the 2.7s were introduced in 2012.

Can you give me some insight as to how long I might expect these speakers to last, in good working condition?

I bought a spare coax, woofer and passive from Rob for just-in-case scenarios.  But in terms of just speaker wear and breakdown over time, how long should they hold up and what parts are most likely going to need attending first?

My little Thiel 02s circa early 80's still work great, so I suspect the 2.7s should stay the course.   Though perhaps their added complexity makes things different?

Prof - Speakers have very few issues which I'll summarize here.
The cabinet is basically permanent, as long as you avoid furniture polish with silicone, which breaks down the finish. Also avoid sunlight as practical.
The drivers can last a long time - many decades. Thiel surrounds are natural rubber, the best of form. But direct sunlight degrades it. Keep the grilles on. The moving cone / dome /coil is connected via braided leads. They eventually fatigue and break. I hope to get and Rob does have the various lead braids. The usual cause of unabused driver failure is broken leads, which can be replaced. Voice coil burnout is caused by distortion or accident, which necessitates rebuilding. Avoid burnout.

Crossover parts, used within power limits are virtually permanent EXCEPT electrolytic capacitors, which have a life generally considered 15 to 50 years. Your 02s are near end of life. Thiel always used best of form electrolytic caps, and we have never heard of a single failure to date, but the bomb is ticking. They are replaceable with care with original or equivalent or upgrade to ERSE PulseX propylene for permanent solution.

The 2.7 has a large cap bank feeding the midrange to roll its low end out higher than the same driver in the 3.7.  The 2.7 XOs were Lexington built, so highest quality caps were used. I would budget 40 years life from accumulated experience.

Side note is that much of my present upgrade development revolves around heat management, which will extend life greatly and reduce age-related value drift. Electrolytics become less effective with age which shifts XO crosspoints. If shifted downward, then additional power can heat the driver motor to failure. Your O2's port helps cooling.

Thiel's historical experience is that most Thiel customers who bought from first-rate dealers (use education) never had a single problem, short or long term. About 10% of the customers had near 99% of the problems. The great majority drove into distortion with under-powered amps. Our warranty covered, in fact, such abuse ONCE, with an explanation and warning. Next occurrence was not covered. Rob is educative and generous, but most failures are user created.

Tom,

I'm interested, also.
I got mine about six months before the shutdown.

When I purchased my 2.7s I was able to pick from the last 3 sets 
available thru Thiel  serial #s 229 & 230 , in Cherry wood veneer .
That same day the last new 3.7s were listed for $7,000 a birds eye maple,  if they were only $6,000  .
The story was that the 3.7s were being kept incase there was a Thiel museum .
The 2.7s were seconds or blems for $3,000 , so I don't think that these were the last produced .
Anyway they had been moved to Tennessee but I had to purchase them thru Rob in Kentucky  .

tomthiel - happy belated birthday!  If I am doing things similar to you when I am 70, I should be a happy man!

prof - glad to find you are listening again - hope the rest of the recovery is speedy and total.

gasman117 - glad to hear about the PS Audio amp - it is on my short list of products to try, glad to hear about its positive impact to your Thiels.  (Also makes me wonder what happened to ronkent?)  And I also run w/o a pre, have yet to convince myself it is necessary, much less worth the relative investment.  Like anything else in hifi, might help, might not.

mr_bill (and jafant) - I do indeed have CS 2.3s and enjoy them greatly, but I don't know any better, these are only my second speakers (third if you count midfi HT) in the hifi journey, so I don't know what they lack in SQ relative to 2.4s etc.  One thing about the 2.3s, you might feel a bit left out of these discussions, as I think I am the only 2.3 owner who posts, and only rarely. On the other hand, they are a piece of Thiel history, being the first with the coax tweeter/mid, and they are generally lower cost.  And with all the xover upgrades these guys are planning, maybe they could be just as desirable as the other models.

btw - serial numbers - mine are 4467 and 4468.