Thiel is officially closed!!

Just noticed this thread.

As I mentioned in the owners thread, I’m now very concerned about
getting the spare drivers I was just intending to order. I’d been in touch with the legacy parts department just a few weeks ago and the feeling was the drivers would be available for the foreseeable future.

But...now?

On one hand I’m thinking they would still want to sell off whatever they have including spare egacy drivers.

On the others, I’m pretty clueless about how companies usually go about liquidizing assets. Aren’t they sometimes "seized" and that kinda thing, so they disappear?

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.

Thiel owners, it goes without saying but please take good care of your speakers. Mine are precious reproducers of music and I would be very sad if they no longer worked. There is Vandersteen, of course, but they don’t sound like Thiel, and shouldn’t. I hope that someone from Jim’s inner circle can find a way and have the motivation to restart and carry forward Jim’s design philosophy and expertise. I won’t hold my breath.

RIP Thiel.  You really passed with the venerable Jim Thiel in 2009.  I’ll always have the fondest memories of Thiel.  I still believe to this day my best system ever was with Thiel CS2 2, Classe 200 monoblocks, ARC ls25 preamp, ARC CD3 and MIT cabling.  We move forward.

beetlemania,

Given the way Thiel has been run since the new ownership, I’d presume the worst case scenario in terms of finances.

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.

Though, I’m guessing that it was clear Thiel wasn’t going to be in the business of servicing legacy speakers and with writing on the wall, I’m hoping Rob was actually preparing with this day in mind, so he could still service legacy Thiels, not linked to the fortunes of the current Thiel company.

I hope.