Thiel Owners

Let me rephrase my previous statement. I don't think the Thiel cabinets are poorly engineered. My issue is MDF. Granted spruce fibered MDF is a cut above the other grades. 
Spruce bracing would seem more appropriate with Delignit framing/structure. 
I deal with delignit on a daily basis so very familiar with what it is capable of. 
I appreciate your input. 

Max - I consider Delignit to be a wonderful material and would be interested in what you know about it as a bracing material.

I have had some success adding cross struts of bamboo (in the league of Delignit) to the MDF shelf braces, which keep the struts from vibrational deformation - a nice pairing of attributes.

tomthiel,

I'm not a speaker builder so regarding Delignit as bracing I do not have that data.
I'm a US manufacturer in the motorsports industry and we are the authorized dealer for Delignit for motorsports in the US.
When a Formula! or Indy car hit over 200 mph the delignit holds up for the skids and bracing in these cars so I would have to think it would perform well with a moving speaker cabinet with nowhere near the velocity of a Formula 1 or Indy car. 
I'm game to experiment as I have the CNC flat panel routers to cut the Delignit into what ever shape it needs to be. 

Gentlemen,

I am not sure you guys are a support group or an enabler group.

The CS1.5 I have in the wood shop proved excellent, tho enchanting or delightful or wonderful might be a better word. To the point that the wife wants the B&W 9NTs replaced.

I have a verbal on some CS2.7s, manf numbers in the 380 range. 

I have an existing Rotel RB-1582mkII that I don't have the funds (right now) to replace.

I have to replace my Pioneer SX1050 preamp and keep it under $2,000 closer to $1,000 would be best. What should I be looking for?

I might be able to get an AR LS25 mkII for that budget, probably not. Or an Audible Illusions Modulus 3A. 

I use Roon for flac files and Qobuz. Bifrost for a DAC.

Any suggestions for a preamp? 

Thanks. John H

How many different materials did Thiel make cabinets out of over the years?  I know most are MDF but my 3.7s are curved plywood(I'm pretty sure, some kind of layered, curved wood product, very rigid.) and aluminum front.  The Powerpoints were aluminum, as were the viewpoints and powerplanes.  I believe the original 7 had concrete baffles.  I tend to follow ATC as well and they've followed a similar trajectory.  They've made a bunch of speakers out of aluminum but have returned to MDF.  They've been making a lot of curved cabinets in recent years but still some kind of wood composite.  

My guess is that for companies that aren't making cost-no-object products, wood of one type or another is the best option.  If you're a luxury brand, it's a different world.  The main reason you make cabinets exotically is so sales people who don't understand anything can appeal to the vanity of rich consumers who don't understand anything.  They have zero understanding of the tradeoffs, importance of various factors, etc.  The sales process is just some sort of ridiculous social ritual.