Thiel CS 3.7 vs Tidal Piano Cera

Larry, my sole criticism of your post was in the incorrect retail pricing that you provided. US pricing is a very fluid variable when it comes to foreign made products coupled with a change in distributorship which occurred last summer (well before your post with pricing information). Sound quality is something we should all debate, but I would not descibe it as a fact like retail price.

To be honest those two speakers cost the same in Europe....
So which retail price are we talking about , the US or the European one?
Again, even if they cost the same in Europe they belong in a totally different class....

>>12-06-10: Geopolitis
Again, even if they cost the same in Europe they belong in a totally different class<<

You forgot to add "in my opinion".

Speakers, like all components, are a subjective call. There is no hard and fast rule I've seen annointing Tidal or any other speaker as the "best" or better than another.

Lots of cheerleading doesn't carry any weight either.

Audiofeil,
We all have an agenda, hell I started a company that I brag on, (at least brag shamelessly about the designs, lol) but this one does have a special feel. I'm glad you pointed it out.
The central point of this thread I thought, was, 'to compare them.' This, to me an unfair comparison, as I pointed out, (floating prices notwithstanding) as the Piano cost about twice the price of the THIEL. My statement was something like this: If the THIEL can be compared to the Piano, why not compare the Piano to a speaker costing $52 or more--unless it's emperical and not, 'value per dollar', the comparison falls flat. No one (seriously) compares a Corvette to a Ferrari given their price differential.
Now, that said, I'm not an absolutist--a piano JUST sounds like a piano--if the 3.7 gets it close enough to fool most people is that good enough? No! Audio doesn't work that way--within a good rendering the nuance and delicacy that makes our skin 'bump' is what some of us pay $K's of dollars, every day, year.
I too, think that cheerleading in either direction is suspect.
Do I have an agenda with THIEL...yes and no, having worked for them, and having the greatest respect for Kathy Gornik and Jim/Tom Thiel makes my opinion suspect--but I try to carefully weigh that respect with audio 'reality', (see price/performance curve).

The slight difference between the prices I gave, which were posted the day I made the comments, and what Linkster corrected the to, are inconsequential--we are still talking a full multiple. How do we compare that?
To further confuse things--and even reverse fields!Imported products make for strange comparisons. Import duties, additional shipping, distributor charges make pricing of products and therefore, 'value' a very elastic debate. IMHO a speaker that costs twice the price of it's 'home country price' when exported/imported really muck things up. Perspectives, and validly so, become very difficult.
I suppose, the only REAL way to compare the THIEL and Tidal would be to look at them from a 'home/home' price. So if the THIEL costs $14 in the US, and Tidal costs about $14 in its domestic, the comparison IS valid.
I do know this, they ARE ONE BEAUTIFUL SPEAKER.

This is wordy AND confusing, but, I think worth saying.

Larry

You need to be consistent with the meds larry and not allow the cycle to lapse.