Thiel Owners

jon_5912,

I'll let Tom comment with regard to your post.

Personally, I think there's a market for both: time-phase coherent and non-time-phase coherent.  There are plus and minus in either approach.  

Tom seems to think time-phase coherent is the only way to go.  The new Thiel management seems to think otherwise.  I was not there, but it seems like the lack of a reconciliation of the two polar opposite idea was what had done them in.  If there was a middle of the road, maybe Thiel would still be around.  

@andy2 - I have both.  I have two (or so) stereos and one is Thiel.  The other has some active ATC 110s.  I love both but I think there's no way to say one is better because there are inherent tradeoffs.  The ATC system has dynamics that the Thiels can't come close to.  The Thiels have a different kind of realism with unamplified, acoustic music that the ATCs can't touch.  I like a variety of music and for any particular recording one system is almost always a clear winner.  

That's why I think either approach has its merits.  To say one is "better" than the other is missing the point.  As I also said in my previous posts (many posts ago), high-order speakers such as 24db/slope tend to have more "slam" vs. first order speaker, but on the other hand, first order speakers have a certain naturalness that not found in higher order speakers.  

The differences are subtle, but important.  

Thiel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkf5uscX7Mg

ATC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_QsAlqTN_E

The two examples above are not "subtle" :-)