Thiel is officially closed!!

Jim must have passed on some engineering as the 2.7s were completed (and I believe designed, or partially designed) after his death.

Good point. I think the CS2.4SE was Thiel's last project that was completed but maybe he had started on the CS2.7 before he passed? Would be interesting to hear the rest of the story.

Jafant mentioned Rob Gillium was working on become a proprietor for Theil legacy parts/work...but I don’t know that was completed, or what the closure of Thiel means for that venture.

If Mr. Gillium has the capital to buy the parts inventory then it seems certain that the bank and/or owners will gladly sell to him. How else can they cut their losses? Sell individually to each Thiel owner hedging against driver failure? I promise you they're not interested in that course especially if there is a buyer for the lot.

I could be wrong - I have no inner knowledge - but don't see how else this might turn out. The inventory is worth real money. Whoever owns it will want to sell it.

Aren’t they sometimes "seized" and that kinda thing, so they disappear?

If there are loans, the bank will want their money back. If there are not loans, the owners will want to cut their losses. Any spare drivers will surely be available from someone - they won't be locked up or thrown away if they are worth money. @jafant reported that Rob Gillium has arranged to buy the service aspect of Thiel. There is cause to be alarmed but it sounds like Thiel owners will still get repairs and replacement parts.

I'm also concerned regarding Ayre with the recent passing of Charles Hansen.

Ayre has a leg up relative to what happened at Thiel. Jim Thiel pretty much failed to train another engineer that could carry the legacy and vision in his absence. When Kathy Gornik sold Thiel, the new owners brought on an engineer that *completely* threw out all of Thiel's design principles (first-order crossovers, pistonic drivers, sloped cabinets, etc)! Why even keep the Thiel name other than brand recognition?

In the case of Ayre, Ariel Brown has worked with Hansen for something on the order of 20 years. No doubt things will be different at Ayre but I suspect we'll continue to see more designs with Hansen's philosophy (no negative feedback, fully balanced, etc.). We should know very soon - supposed to be a new integrated with onboard DAC released directly.

We blame the buyer of Thiel but surely they were in trouble before. The enemy of the good is better and the competition in great quality speakers has increased.

Jim Thiel died without a protege', the economy crapped the bed (the middle class continues to shrink even now), *and* the new owners didn't know what they were doing. High-end audio has always had good competition and Thiel kept pace . . . while Jim Thiel was alive. I surely haven't heard everything but I'm comfortable thinking my CS2.4SE are as good as anything new under $10 or, even, $15K. YMMV

But the Thiel 3.7s and 2.7s I’ve owned for a while now are about as close to the ideal as I think I’ve owned thus far, in terms of the things I love

Well said. I personally value transparency, resolution, and neutrality above all else. And, I don't think I can ever live again with a speaker that can't reach down at least into the mid-30 Hz. There might be a handful of sub $10K speakers that are on par with my CS2.4SE (Vandy Treo CT comes to mind) but I'm guessing I'd have to step up to something like the Vivid B1 (>$15K) to notably improve on these Thiels.

Also, the coax unit is impressive in its own right. The midrange is actually flat to 20kHz (without crossover).

Thanks for sharing @prof

That is super impressive and suggests that true pistonic behavior occurs over the intended range despite the slow roll-off filters. Jim Thiel really knew how to make superb drivers!

And I did not know the CS2.7 has 10" woofers. That is contrary to other reports. Example here.

It looks like Thiel specified the frequency response down to 35 Hz, which is the same as the CS2.3 but a scotch higher than the CS2.4.

I would suspect that there is no more coverage under warranty given that he is essentially starting a new biz,

Yes, I hope the handful of Thiel owners still under warranty appreciate the circumstances here. Sucks to lose your warranty coverage but at least it's possible to get service!

From posts on this board it sounds like replacement drivers are no longer available. Instead, it sounds like Rob Gillium refurbishes broken ones.

I wonder if he monitors this thread. If yes, may I suggest, Mr. Gillium, that you offer crossover upgrades to help Thiel owners get the best possible SQ and to give yourself a bigger revenue stream. Win-win!

@ronkent Thanks for posting that (looks like an e-mail from him?)

@jafant Thanks!

Is Gary Dayton leaving Bryston??

Tom can clarify but I'm guessing his role will be more of a consultant/advisor. But, hey, when Tom decides to start production of the Jim Thiel Commemorative Edition, all hands on deck ;^)