Only three manufacturers?

Just when Playboy is becoming more and more irrelevant and selling fewer copies, they start talking about real hi-fi. But even with their "deminished capacity" they sell a hell of alot more copies than S'phile and A' Sound combined. So maybe some day high end will become more mainstream? Don't hold your breath.

By the way I've heard quite a few Vandys and Thiels and they could not be at much more of two ends of an axis.

Somebody needs to tell Playboy that they're analog set up that they showed isn't likely to work too good without a *phono cartridge*.

I am suprised a magazine such as the Playboy knows let alone recomments brands like these that are not that well known outside the audiophile's circles .Imagine if they talked about BOSE being the best.Never take reviews seriously,I trust my ears .
George

Great responses here and though I am a devoted Thiel fan and owner (CS6s), I also compose and record music in a home studio environment. I have asked Jim Thiel about this too: Hey folks, it matters not a rat's *ss if the production of the recording itself was MONITORED and MIXED on non-time coherent, non-phase coherent MONITORS. Just think, if the engineer is mixing and mastering so as to eliminate or reduce phase shift cancellations by ear, well if the speakers being used to actually do this don't have those features, then how the heck is the MUSIC ever gonna be time and phase correct IN THE RECORDING AND HENCE THE PLAYBACK up to the point of coming out of our speakers????

Jim/Shari/Kathy at Thiel couldn't even tell me studios they know that use phase and time coherent designs to PRODUCE music, so go figure.

My point here is that unless all music is recorded, monitored and mixed on phase and time coherent designs, then we will never benefit from what such designs can deliver.

It's just one of those situations in life that makes me think so much of our energy in listening and enjoyment just gets so bogged down in chit chat (even though it's fun once in a while!)

Stevecham, not to start an argument but I think this misses the point. The idea of time and phase speakers is to allow a recording and its cues to be reproduced for better or for worse, in phase or out phase. Time aligned speakers as REPRODUCERS, in my opinion, are better at giving a more accurate presentation of the recording event no matter how it was recorded(which is not the issue.) If you use non time and phase speakers, then they are going to mess up a mess even more in reproduction of the original phase and time mess.
Maybe if recording studios paid more attention to these parameters, a lot of our CD complaints would go away. I think a lot of CD's inherent problems IS due to phase issues. One of the reasons people like analogue is there are NO phase problems with the reproduction of this source. The stylus stays in phase with the reproduction of the grooves.
CD players alter phase relationships and if the source is all out, then we compound the problem.
Just my opinion for what it's worth. Go back and search time and phase discussions. This has all been hashed out before.