New Thiels

Elberoth

Member Sponsor
Dec 15, 2012
2,007
253
1,170
Poland
The new Thiels are out. They look like an end to certain era.

I'm surprised noone posted this earlier.



December 2014 - Thiel Audio TT1 - Bearing obviously no resemblance whatsoever to the classic Thiel style, this 2015 model for $5'798/pr endeavours to take the brand's renewal under its new ownership to the next level. As part of the new 3rd Avenue Collection, the press release describes the TT1 as "a 4-driver array with multi-order crossover network in a heavily braced vented MDF enclosure. The sculpted elliptical side panels are created with proprietary tooling to achieve the most refined visual presentation. The rigid baffle construction and midrange mounting architecture have been engineered with a focus on back-wave optimization, resulting in unusually flat response and overall clarity. Another critical aspect of the TT1 is the sophisticated manufacturing process, designed to ensure that each production loudspeaker meets the exacting performance specifications of the reference design."

http://www.6moons.com/news/news.html
 

GaryProtein

VIP/Donor
Jul 25, 2012
2,542
31
385
NY
Nice woodwork.
 

FrantzM

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
6,455
29
405
Somewhat seems to subscribe to the Magico Aesthetics ... With vents :)
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
12,308
1,425
1,820
Manila, Philippines
Does anybody know who took over the design work?
 

jadis

Well-Known Member
Apr 28, 2010
12,352
5,470
2,810
Manila, Philippines
Does anybody know who took over the design work?

Jack, I think it's a design team, and I am not familiar with the names, starting with engineering VP Mark Mason. And now they have a new owner and have moved to Nashville,Tennessee. Thiel was the first speaker that brought me to a higher level after playing with a few mini-monitors. I heard the CS3.5 at a dealer in the Bay Area and ordered one immediately. I wanted to buy the CS7 but my amp then would have a hard time driving them.

http://www.thielaudio.com/news/
 

rblnr

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 3, 2010
2,151
291
1,170
NYC/NJ
Read about the 'new philosophy' awhile ago, disappointed to see that they're abandoning first order xovers which I'm a believer in. Obviously giving up on the coincident driver as well. IIRC, the designer had some background at Revel.
 

Andre Marc

Member Sponsor
Mar 14, 2012
3,970
7
0
San Diego
www.avrev.com
The new Thiels are out. They look like an end to certain era.

I'm surprised noone posted this earlier.



December 2014 - Thiel Audio TT1 - Bearing obviously no resemblance whatsoever to the classic Thiel style, this 2015 model for $5'798/pr endeavours to take the brand's renewal under its new ownership to the next level. As part of the new 3rd Avenue Collection, the press release describes the TT1 as "a 4-driver array with multi-order crossover network in a heavily braced vented MDF enclosure. The sculpted elliptical side panels are created with proprietary tooling to achieve the most refined visual presentation. The rigid baffle construction and midrange mounting architecture have been engineered with a focus on back-wave optimization, resulting in unusually flat response and overall clarity. Another critical aspect of the TT1 is the sophisticated manufacturing process, designed to ensure that each production loudspeaker meets the exacting performance specifications of the reference design."

http://www.6moons.com/news/news.html

If they have abandoned the time aligned/phase correct designs, then it is, sadly, the end of an era, and now they make expensive furniture, like 75% of high end speaker manufacturers.:(
 

jadis

Well-Known Member
Apr 28, 2010
12,352
5,470
2,810
Manila, Philippines
If they have abandoned the time aligned/phase correct designs, then it is, sadly, the end of an era, and now they make expensive furniture, like 75% of high end speaker manufacturers.:(

I recall reading that Thiel was proud of their woodworking, with many wood types to choose from. And they made fine cabinets, but not expensive. They, along with Spica, produced the best time aligned/phase coherent speakers in those days, imo, without breaking the bank book. For a while there was a local distributor here, but they stopped at the CS5 era. Too bad I wasn't able to hear their latter models after that.
 
Last edited:

Andre Marc

Member Sponsor
Mar 14, 2012
3,970
7
0
San Diego
www.avrev.com
I recall reading that Thiel was proud of their woodworking, with many wood types to choose from. And they made fine cabinets, but not expensive. They, along with Spica, produced the best time aligned/phase coherent speakers in those days, imo, without breaking the bank book. For a while there was a local distributor here, but they stopped at the CS7 era. Too bad I wasn't able to hear their latter models after that.
I'm a huge Thiel fan and IMO the CS2.4is one of the finest speakers every made under ten grand.

The 3.7 is a marvel, but requires a larger room. Jim Thiel would be spinning in his grave. His life's work tossed out like yesterday's newspaper.
 

Andre Marc

Member Sponsor
Mar 14, 2012
3,970
7
0
San Diego
www.avrev.com
The new Thiels are out. They look like an end to certain era.

I'm surprised noone posted this earlier.



December 2014 - Thiel Audio TT1 - Bearing obviously no resemblance whatsoever to the classic Thiel style, this 2015 model for $5'798/pr endeavours to take the brand's renewal under its new ownership to the next level. As part of the new 3rd Avenue Collection, the press release describes the TT1 as "a 4-driver array with multi-order crossover network in a heavily braced vented MDF enclosure. The sculpted elliptical side panels are created with proprietary tooling to achieve the most refined visual presentation. The rigid baffle construction and midrange mounting architecture have been engineered with a focus on back-wave optimization, resulting in unusually flat response and overall clarity. Another critical aspect of the TT1 is the sophisticated manufacturing process, designed to ensure that each production loudspeaker meets the exacting performance specifications of the reference design."

http://www.6moons.com/news/news.html

What you have here is a PSB speaker with a hint of Thiel cabinetry.
 

edorr

WBF Founding Member
May 10, 2010
3,139
14
36
Smyrna, GA
I'm a huge Thiel fan and IMO the CS2.4is one of the finest speakers every made under ten grand.

The 3.7 is a marvel, but requires a larger room. Jim Thiel would be spinning in his grave. His life's work tossed out like yesterday's newspaper.

I heard the 3.7 once at a dealer in SF and was blown away - best sound on a sub 50K system I heard at a dealership. Phenomenal speaker (or probably phenomenal setup).
 

Andre Marc

Member Sponsor
Mar 14, 2012
3,970
7
0
San Diego
www.avrev.com
I heard the 3.7 once at a dealer in SF and was blown away - best sound on a sub 50K system I heard at a dealership. Phenomenal speaker (or probably phenomenal setup).

I could not agree more. I had one in my system for 6 months, and I used all sorts of amps with it like ARC, Marantz Reference, McIntosh and others. Fabulous speakers. That speaker was the one that woke
me up to how much gouging there is in the high end speaker market.
 

jadis

Well-Known Member
Apr 28, 2010
12,352
5,470
2,810
Manila, Philippines

Andre Marc

Member Sponsor
Mar 14, 2012
3,970
7
0
San Diego
www.avrev.com
I was wondering what happened to Kathy Gornik and apparently she left due to the new owners' different thrust in handling Thiel's business.

http://www.strata-gee.com/kathy-gornik-why-i-sold-thiel/

Yep. She was booted. They did not see eye to eye.

I love how this panned out..just all the other acquisitions we hear about.."There won't be any changes made, we will run the company just like it always has been"...yeh right.
 

GaryProtein

VIP/Donor
Jul 25, 2012
2,542
31
385
NY
The new ownership bought the name and are running a different company resting on the laurels of the old one.
 

GaryProtein

VIP/Donor
Jul 25, 2012
2,542
31
385
NY
Let's hope that when the new models are available, they do homage to the old ones.
 

Sauerball

Member Sponsor
Jul 30, 2013
156
0
0
New York, NY
I guess you can leave a legacy, but that doesn't guarantee no one will screw it up.

I am sure these are nice speakers, but are they really Thiels? Pretty sure that Jim think "no".
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing