Next phase generally means "selling brand". Optima purchased NuForce. Maybe Optima wants to get into the speaker business
More Bad News AT Thiel
According to Ted at Strat-Ta-Gee.com Thiel is on the verge of closing. According to the Chief Engineer who was let go Dennis Crosson Thiel is done. Upper management has denied this and stated they are planning to move into the next phase. Very confusing. Looks like Classe all over again. Very interesting article on what's going on.