New Thiel Speakers - Post Jim Thiel Era

Lots of promises are made by new owners of companies. History shows that in reality the old is almost always forgotten quickly by new owners and new designers. The old almost becomes the enemy of new designers and management after a while, as they tire of hearing about how great the old products are. Everyone wants to put their stamp on the company and almost nobody wants to live in the shadow of what was done before when they were not part of it at all.

This likely won't be like Audio Research under new ownership. The new broom at ARC did not sweep all the personnel away like it did at Thiel.

Companies have to make a profit. Thiel will do that by selling new speakers. The plain fact is they will do whatever they decide is best to do that. Companies need to innovate usually to remain relevant but they would be foolish to trash the Thiel brand by selling new products that do not retain the things Thiel is known for.

I hope it works out well for all. Change may be good or bad. Try to keep an open mind. HOlding on to the past solely usually leads to disapointment.

ITs true that THiel faces a lot of competition these days whereas they ruled a certain niche in the audio market in years past, so that has to be a challenge for them.

Wow. Just took a look at the new TT3. I suppose there could be a number of business reasons the Thiel name and company could have been bought, but with no backward-sloping baffle, first-order crossovers, or coincident drivers one certainly starts to wonder why. Can't imagine loyal Thiel customers ever purchasing these new speakers -- they appear to share nothing with The Man's philosophy or implementation. And I agree that since the new lead engineer has very different ideas on speaker design that the older designs will probably be starved and basically left to wither on the vine until they eventually die. Sad. Whether or not Thiel as a company is technically dead, in spirit it indeed appears dead. One of the few remaining true time/phase coherent speaker makers likely lost. What a shame. RIP Jim -- you did great things.