Thiel Owners

George - C'mon, please say more.Thosb - You're welcome. These questions fascinate me this time around.

FWIW, I sure don't hear any harshness in my Thiel 2.7s driven by my conrad johnson premier 12 tube amps :-)
Not anywhere, not a bit.  They are one of the smoothest sounding speakers (at least with this amp combo) that I've ever heard.
And the sound is big, rich and lush - not the usual descriptors that have been traditionally associated with Thiel speakers (in the mind of many audiophiles).

Prof - the most modern Thiel I have in the HRGarage is the 1.6, which predates your 2.7s by a decade. And I don't hear any of those harsh attributes in it either. There was steady progress made through the years. But the early products could and would often sing sweetly. The positive reviewer experience rarely gives any mention to the complaints some observers proclaim. I'm developing some working models, but still there's a lotta mystery.

Tom, 
Electrostatic headphones use a very, very thin and low mass membrane, positioned between two stators that are driven by a high voltage signal. (The stators operate push-pull to ensure the membrane reacts in a near simultaneous move to the coming signal.

In effect, the membrane reproduces the signal,  covering all frequencies fed to it, in a near-instantaneous time. 

What this means is what you hear (for example) is what the CD spinner/DAC feeds to the headphone does not have the differences in both the reaction time and the physical distances in space that define a normal speaker system.

What you hear is essentially what the recording engineer and the manufacturer put onto the CD. 

I've been using Stax headphones and amplifiers for years to "audition" every classical CD in my collection.  (now using the 009 and associated amplifier)

Yes, an electrostatic can sound thin in the bass - - but very clean and precise, and the higher frequencies can appear bright - - but the accuracy and resolution  cannot be beaten by dynamic cans, nor the  arrival of complex sounds from my 2.7s.  (and, no room effects! :-) :-) :-) )

I use my Thiel 2.7s for musical enjoyment. My Stax for finding out whatinthehell really is on that CD. 

George

prof,
I agree with your description of the 2.7s, although I'm using a Bryston 4B cubed with a bp17 cubed preamp. To me there is a clear difference in the 2.7s being driven by the 4BSST2 and the 4B cubed.

George