THIEL Weblog

Showing some respect for CS1.5 woofers

2008-10-31T10:17:00.004-04:00

One of the most heartbreaking phone calls I (thankfully seldom) have to make goes like this:
"Hi, it's Gary from THIEL. Just calling to let you know we received your parts."

Customer says, " Great, that was fast, what did you find wrong?"

"Well, your drivers were more or less wrecked. I can't tell if they played pin ball or demolition derby on the FedEx truck en route here. The combination of sparse styrofoam peanuts and ill-placed bubble wrap provided little in the way of protection. Oh, and the shoe box you packed everything in fell apart in the rain storm we had yesterday. The only reason they got here to begin with is that you strategically placed a strip of packing tape over our address."

"Oh, so could you tell what was causing them to buzz? Is it under warranty?"

*nearly choking* "Are you kidding??"

Unfortunately, this extreme is far more common than the opposite extreme. Allow me to share an example of the opposite extreme with you. Dear customer Arthur warmed my heart this week by packing his CS1.5s in such a way that made freight damage all but impossible. I was so tickled to receive his package that I almost giggled like a school girl. This man KNOWS how to package his drivers. Pictures are worth 1000 words. Behold:

New Speaker + Refurb special pricing details

2008-10-28T12:42:00.005-04:00

If you haven't read the post below, read it first.

If you buy:

pair of SCS4s, or PowerPlane 1.2s - Get $200 off restoration of your old THIELs
Pair of CS1.6s, an SS1, or an MCS1 - Get $250 off restoration of your old THIELs
Pair of CS2.4s, pair of CS2.4SEs, 5 PowerPlane1.2s, or 5 PowerPoint1.2s, - Get $500 off restoration of your classic THIELs
Pair of CS3.7s - Get $1000 (!) off restoration of your classic THIELs.

Fine print:

No, if your restoration is cheaper than your discount you don't get the balance back in cash. Thanks for asking
No, it's not retroactive - this is only for new THIEL purchases going forward...thanks for asking.
No, we won't restore your JBLs, Advents, QUADs, or other speaker - we don't even know how.

Questions? Call or e-mail Gary!

New THIEL and Restoration Special!

2008-10-27T15:35:00.003-04:00

I get calls quite often from folks who own THIEL speakers and are interested in trading them in to us for credit towards new ones. THIEL is not going to introduce that program.

However, we've long thought that it would be nice for us to show some thanks to those who own classic THIELs. So, we're offering you all a special. When you buy new THIELs from your dealer, you can send back your classics for restoration and we'll give you a sweet deal on the price of the restoration.

When THIEL restore s speakers, they are treated with all the love and care we've got. We get a little sentimental around here when we see a pair of classic Model 03as come in. It's also a real blast to hook up a pair of freshly restored CS3s or CS3.5s to our big system in our listening room. Next time you're coming into town, bring your classic THIELs, let us restore them, then hook them up to our new Jeff Rowland Continnum 500 or Krell Evolution 600s. You've never heard them sing like this before!

So what would you do with a pair of nicely restored THIELs now that you have a new pair? Your options are many:

Sell them for much more than you would have received if they were just in OK condition (selling your THIELs breaks Jim's heart!)

Put them upstairs in the bedroom on a 2nd system (That's what I'd do)

Give them to your son or daughter to ~~blow up~~ play at college

Use them as rear or side channels in your newly started surround sound system. (Be selfish!)

Donate them to your favorite music school (Don't be so selfish!)

Just because you're shelling out for a new pair of THIELs doesn't mean the old ones get kicked to the curb. Do something nice for the classic speakers that made you a THIEL lover! Stay tuned for price break details on the program effective immediately.

Old THIEL SS2 Hits Rock Bottom

2008-10-14T12:48:00.002-04:00

We've got an old SS2 here from the "early days" that we keep strapped face down to a cart so that we can have a convenient test cabinet for amplifiers that come back for service. We've rigged it up with clamps to make exchanging amps a breeze, so the whole cart + subwoofer assembly is a convenient test rig for amps.

Jim instructed Rob to run a particular amp HARD - an instruction Rob was too happy to comply with. So he pressed play, let the sub's massive output rattle everything in this bay of the plant and went to lunch. Pleased that he heard the sub still playing when he came back from lunch, Rob walked over to measure the temperature of the amp. Before he got there, "CRASH!....thud thud thud thud"

The SS2 was playing so hard, it shook the very heavy duty straps off the cabinet, the sub hit the floor back first driving the clamps to break the back of the sub. An adjacent edge broke open, and the grille mesh ripped out of the front. After years of service, our SS2 test cab is toast.

Cat Scratch Fever!

2008-08-14T17:01:00.002-04:00

I'm a big time animal lover, and I've got a cat who likes to keep warm on my Krell KRC-HR power supply. He doesn't cause any damage to my gear, and I generally get along with him except when he whines in the middle of the night and interrupts my already fragmented sleep. He's a troublemaker, but doesn't destroy stuff.

This guy must have done something really rotten to his cat to deserve this kind of punishment. We got these parts in after shutdown, and man they look rough. We see lots of cat scratch fever around here - I think audiophiles must be cat lovers. But man, this is bad. The customer said the woofers don't look bad at all which leads me to believe that his cat took running leaps at the speakers, landed on the low-mids, and clawed it's way to the top of the cabient shredding the grilles and everything beneath them on the way up. Despite our best efforts at protecting the delicate Scan-Speak tweeters with a tough screen, you can see that it was crushed by penetrating claws of destruction.

We've seen grilles that look worse than these before. Some have come in with actual tears in them. No such thing was found on these grilles probably because the cat got a great grip on the drivers. This poor guy is out more than $1100 bucks getting his speakers fixed. Bad kitty!

To all you cat owners wondering if you should upgrade to CS3.7s: A number of innovations have been developed to deter cat-scratch fever. 1) when the grille is in place, a screen covers the entire coax making it difficult for all but the most aggressive cats to shred the driver. 2) The tweeter is fortified by a rigid guard which provides a 2nd level of protection beyond the aforementioned screen. 3) The cast aluminum top is formed into a shape that makes it very unlikely that your cat will choose it as a perch.

Kiddie Audio Standard

2008-06-30T11:22:00.002-04:00

As our darling daughter Natalia gets more and more into toys that flash and sing songs, I consider more and more what standard of audio fidelity she's coming to expect. Let me be perfectly clear - the toys she has that giggle, sing, and otherwise make noise sound abhorrently dreadful. I mean they sound horrible! At best, they are 8 bit polyphonic midi devices that reproduce their dedicated 3 octaves without buzzsaw distortion. At worst, they wouldn't pass QC at the store-brand (pick your big-box retailer) alarm clock assembly facility.

Believe me, I'm not so snobbish to think that every audible nuance that Natalia experiences in these formative years must be reproduced with the kind of clarity and detail that would make Jim proud, but surely, growing up with toys like these is bound to give her the impression that 128kbps MP3s are God's gift to recorded sound.

Darling Wife bought her a really cute little pudgy elephant the other day found on sale that I think is supposed to approximate some type of baby babble, tongue-hanging-out-of-mouth noise. When Jennifer and I make this noise for Natalia, she goes berserk - absolutely loves it. When this little toy makes the noise, she stares at it as if to say, "What the hell is this and what did it just call me??"

Maybe, just maybe, an older generation has come to appreciate higher fidelity more because they didn't grow up with toys that pretended to sing songs. Their noise maker toys were more akin to playing cards in bicycle spokes some type of castoffs from the parents.

Sure, I'd love for all of her toys to have CS3.7 coaxes and miniature Krells belting out "Itsy Bitsy Spider", but I suppose that's not a very cost effective proposition.

Your fingers-in-ears baby rearer,

Gary

THIEL Restoration Shipping Tips

2008-05-16T09:21:00.003-04:00

There is a very active trade network for used THIEL speakers old and new. A search any day on Audiogon or ebay turns up several THIELs from all eras. Such robust enthusiasm for our older models prompted us to advertise the capabilities of our service department as savvy THIEL restoration experts.

One of the great challenges (as clearly illustrated above) of getting a good restoration job is getting the speakers to THIEL in the same condition that they left your house.

It's no secret that THIEL speakers weigh a ton. Even our bookshelf speakers can be surprisingly heavy in their boxes. This mandates expensive and well padded shipping containers for all models, but even with very protective packages, damage happens sometimes. So, when returning your speakers to us for refurb, take some extra care in doing so.

1) When at all possible, use original packing material for your speaker. If you don't have it, buy it from us. Not only is the original packing the safest for your speaker, but if you need to file a claim, most shippers are more receptive to paying a claim if you are using original packing material.

2) If you're shipping CS2 series or larger, please contact me so we can arrange to get them back by truck. Surprisingly, it's not as expensive as you think to send these by truck compared to a common carrier. More? Yes, but not tons more.

3) Do your best to procure a pallet to which the speakers can be strapped. This creates a boundary around the speakers (albeit small) and also boosts the odds that the speakers will stay upright throughout their whole journey. Pallets are not too hard to find. Ask any big-box retailer or grocery store if they'll give you one, and they probably will. Or, you can find a place to buy one via the phone book or Google.

4) How do you strap the speakers to a pallet? Duct tape is pretty stout stuff and should do the trick. Or, you might even try a roll of kitchen grade cling-wrap. It's very strong - just ask my high-school friend Kevin how easy it was to get into his Toyota after my junior-year prank. Whichever you use, be generous!

5) If you live within a few hours of Lexington, KY consider bringing the speakers down yourself. I'm happy to show you around the place and spin a few tracks with you in our listening room. It'll be fun!

6) Don't worry if you're having trouble reconciling any of the above. If you have a special case, call me. I'm sure we can work something out. Long live your THIEL classics!

Your freight-claim filing friend,

Gary

Vinyl is Dead! Long live Hardwood Veneer

2007-09-19T09:07:00.000-04:00

Vinyl has a very special place in our hearts for those of us who love music and high performance audio. It's such a wonderful medium for music, but you'll never find it on the cabinet walls of THIEL speakers.

Ever since Jim designed, built, and sold speakers from his garage outside of Lexington in the 70s, we've used real hardwood veneers. The only deviation from this practice was offering black laminate on some models back in the 80s and 90s.

Why real, natural, from-the-earth, hardwood veneers?
Quite simply, it's gorgeous. The look of a beautifully crafted cabinet, piece of furniture, or fine loudspeaker finished in fine hardwood veneer is stunning. Every speaker is unique. Even when we book-match veneers, each sheet is a little different, and each tree looks completely different from the last. Aesthetics are awe-inspring. Some hardwoods with wild grain patterns pick up light so magnificently that the grain seems to stand out in relief from the cabinet walls. There are massive features of heavy grain lines rising into cathedral shapes that draw you in for a closer look, then the minute details capture your eyes. If the speakers didn't sound so damn good, you might sit there and stare at them all day.

So why doesn't everyone use real hardwood?
Because in all things beautiful and natural, there are features and flaws that for some people completely wreck what would otherwise be a text-book example of beauty. I've got a pair of PCSs on my desk that have quite possibly the most remarkable bird's eye maple veneer ever seen. The reason I've got them and not some lucky customer is that we rejected them at final assembly because each speaker has a dark bird's eye that looks suspiciously like a sperm cell seen under an microscope. They're not flaws if you think that flaws are man-made. Rather, they're features...and they're book matched!

Everything in nature has something about it that we don't like. I LOVE backpacking in the mountains, and I've been doing it for as long as I can remember, and I'll do it till I die, but I still hate mosquitoes. Would I be happier if my PCSs didn't have little grey twin sperm on their tops? Probably, but I sure wouldn't return them or gripe about it especially if the only way to ensure that it would never happen again was to go for vinyl veneer that looks the same every time, and I don't fixate on this feature every time I see the speakers. My PCSs are still gorgeous speakers just like super-models with one well placed mole on their faces are still total babes. Hrm...don't they call these beauty spots? Maybe we're on to something!

I suspect the reason most loudspeaker manufacturers don't use a wide variety of hardwood veneers anymore because they were put out with the heartburn caused by having to deal with flaws, beauty spots, and general irregularity of natural hardwood. Let me assure you that our manufacturing process would be much simpler if we slapped a big vinyl "cherry-look" sticker on every cabinet wall in phase-1 of our manufacturing process.

But our speakers wouldn't be as beautiful. Even if they still sounded the same, I don't think our speakers would be as popular as they are. I, for one, wouldn't love my THIELs as much if they weren't finished in natural hardwood veneer.

--Gary

The life of tweeters as toys

2007-07-05T10:41:00.000-04:00

As my wife and I prepare for our 2nd prenatal doctor visit, an e-mail from yet another THIEL owner with children has compelled me to ponder the joys of fatherhood and the delight I'll take in sharing my favorite music with our new, lovely child.

The author of the aforementioned message, is but one of many fathers who's bright, curious children take a keen interest in high performance audio by exercising their sense of touch. I'm sure this young prodigy learned a great deal about the construction (or destruction) of high frequency drivers when he, with his smiling face, wide eyes, and outstretched arms, reached high for the top of Dad's finely finished, classic CS2.2s, and pushed hard upon the thin, shiny tweeter dome. He most certainly learned that though lesser drivers may crumple just the same, none can produce the satisfying, easily audible 'crunch' that ours can. Surely the feel and crunch imparted in him a sense of quality that he'll carry forth throughout his life. Perhaps the memory will remain strong enough that he'll cry a single tear of pride when his child crushes his first THIEL tweeter.

I will resist the temptation to move my THIEL speakers into a far away, locked basement guarded by baby gates and child proof doorknob locks. Our baby will be encouraged to learn and be curious, and will learn the virtue of sharing by our own example! Our baby will also enjoy the gift of music reproduced through a fine quality system. My hope is that our newest family member doesn't inflict too much damage so I can minimize our expense. Somehow, I don't see THIEL accepting diaper coupons for driver rebuilds.

With spare tweeters in waiting,
-Gary

'cause Jim designed it, thats why.

2007-06-29T16:07:00.001-04:00

This morning the sales department marveled over a slight modification to the PowerPoint 1.2 cabinet, the kind of thing that most folks will never notice, and makes no difference in terms of sound.

The modification included changing the binding posts and pocket they sit in. We're now using the same posts we use on PXO5 passive crossovers. "They're just cooler," I remarked.
"Yeah!" says Jim. "You know why? 'Cause I designed them, that's why!"

There's such joy in the little things around here. Perhaps we're just suckers for details.

-Gary

Distortion happens before the mic is even flipped on

2007-04-10T21:51:00.000-04:00

The process of creating art induces distortion! How ridiculous does that sound! But how true it is!

If you've read my earlier musings (c'mon, it's not like I've got a vast repertoires), you know I am fascinated by Brooks Jensen and his writings. He's a very keen observer and thinker. Once again, it's proved here. "The process of being a photographer is to work diligently to minimize the degradation in each step from conception to the final result" italics are mine for emphasis. Read the book that it's in, Letting Go Of The Camera. I love it.

I just immediately thought that there is no reason I should find this to be so profound. Of course, we only find music and other arts to be so beautiful because we can see through it into the minds of their creators which is the object of real intrigue. It's very easy for me to call music beautiful when it's beautiful on its surface. The best music, the stuff that give me ERS, is the music that is so clear that I can KNOW without any hesitation what was in the creator's head.

Think of all the ways any artist can wreck what was initially a flash of life-altering creative vision. That'll take us forever, and I must sleep tonight, or I'll be cranky and unsympathetic when you call tomorrow with a blown tweeter and need it back by Saturday.

Let's start smaller. Think of 10 ways a singer/songwriter can adulterate what would otherwise be his career defining song. Specifically, 5 technical flaws and 5 creative flaws. When you're writing your list, consider that these flaws might not be immediately evident upon first listen, and the song might still be very good, even touching, but it just didn't move you because...

Technical Flaws-
1. It doesn't sound like it's in an intimate space that I feel like I'm sharing with the singer when I hear it played back.

2. Said singer/songwriter just didn't connect with his voice and guitar that day. It's just merely a bad performance. Or, the artist just isn't a master of his craft. That's not to say you have to be a virtuoso, you just don't want your impeccable vision blurred by your inability to control your voice, guitar, whatever else you play.

3. Other noises, goings on, punch ins, print through on the tape, etc. that you never intended to be there and don't add anything to the performance or presentation. Let's be professionals here y'all. You don't have to own Ocean Way to make a quality recording.

4. Unless your vision very deliberately includes liberties with the tuning of instruments, please play in tune. And, no, that doesn't mean auto-tuning it later. Take the time to tune EVERYTHING. It counts, it really really does. Oh, if your vision DOES include liberties, be prepared to defend yourself, number of cents you meant to be off included. Or, better yet, it should be so clear to me after being unbelievably moved by your song that I shouldn't have to ask why you only played your A string out of tune.

5. Make sure your voice sounds just like it did when the song came to you in your head. When you conceived your song, remember how excited you got when you heard the pre-chorus singing to yourself in your head? Voices have such nuance. Please let me hear every one you heard in your head.

Creative-
1. It's really easy to always think that every little thing that happens in the studio or in collaboration with your producer means something and should be part of the song. Not every accident is a happy one. Happy accidents do occur and can really ice the cake of an already good song, but we don't always get the little inside jokes or irony behind little accidents that happen. Choose the ones you include wisely.

2. As silly as it sounds to some, I'm sure, put the song in the right place relative to the rest of the album. This is probably more a matter of personal preference, but I think choosing and arranging the songs that go on an album together is an art unto itself. A great example is hearing Ryan Adam's harmonica wail into "Come Pick Me Up' right after "Damn Sam". There's just about nothing on this album that surprises me any more; I've played it gazillions of times. But I'll be damned if that part doesn't raise the hair on the back of my neck every time. I don't get it when I hear the song in a compilation like the Elizabethtown soundtrack.

3. If something bothers you as an artist a little bit in the studio or while writing it, you won't possibly be able to listen around it, and rest assured it'll drive you nuts. Maybe it'll drive you so crazy that the song doesn't mean anything to you anymore by the time you're done with it. I botched a snare track once pretty badly, but I was able to 'save' it in the mix. I even did such a great job fixing it that I got complimented on how right the snare sounded on the song by the very professor that critiqued my mix. But, a few others picked up on it, and every time I hear the song, I can't help but wish I got to re-track the snare.

4. Don't be afraid to let your vision evolve, grow, or be altered, but be sure it changes for the right reason. For example, don't change it for technical reasons like you can't quite lick that riff. Just learn how to lick that riff. How idealistic is that!

5. You'll know you really nailed it when it's done and you can still be excited about it, at least smile. If you just wipe your forehead and say geez, glad that's over with, something probably went wrong somewhere along the way.

I realize that this turned into more of a plea to the artists. I didn't mean for that to happen, nor am I really qualified to make such claims. But, that's my list and I'm stickin' to it. Send me yours as a comment. I'd really like to hear your thoughts.

--Gary

PS - ERS is "Endless Repeat Syndrome". It's the kind if thing that used to break your cassette tapes in the car at the same song every time you'd buy a new copy of the tape.

A day without music

2007-04-03T18:35:00.000-04:00

I totally feel for and sympathize with anyone who has to spend any time without their stereo. Some people who call or write and have problems with their THIELs are totally cool and say things like, "yeah, it happens", "no sweat", and even "take your time, no hurry". Others are downright frantic. I can envision them sweating or breaking out into hives the moment they realize they're going to be without their stereo (read: their music) for a few days. I can still hear their shortness of breath as they fight back the tears while resigning themselves to sending a driver in for service. Ugh!

I have been fortunate enough to only miss my stereo when I'm traveling as opposed to having any service troubles, knock on wood. But, right after I returned from Christmas holiday, I found that someone had pilfered the detachable face plate from my car stereo CD receiver. This was probably the 3rd time it had ever been detached. It wasn't a terribly expensive unit, a couple hundred bucks. I drive a crappy car, but it does have a pretty decent stereo in it. It's no ghetto cruiser, but it sounds nice, and it sure beats the pants of the factory unit.

Since I drive a crappy car that will probably be replaced soon (I hope!), I decided I would just tough it out. I didn't need to spend another hundred or two hundred bucks on a deck. I could do without. After all, I have an 8 mile daily commute (total!), and we take Jennifer's car most of the time when we go elsewhere. I can deal...yeah sure. I've had worse.

The last 3 months have been excruciating! Holy $#!+ I can't believe how masochistic and cheap I've been by depriving myself of a radio in the car for a whole quarter. Driving had lost it's fun, I quit hearing of new bands from college radio, lost track of the concert schedule, lost my humor, lost 30 pounds, and became a zombie. The last 2 aren't true, though I appreciate your concern.

A week ago, my soul mate and ever wise Jennifer suggested I search eBay for a new face plate since new ones are prohibitively expensive. Lo and behold, Buy It Now for $20 bucks! A used faceplate beckons. It's mine! It showed up today at the office.

I only realized the full magnitude of my 3 month despair today when I understood my elation when Rob brought me the face plate after lunch. I ran in a circle around Lana's desk shaking it above my head like a little kid with a Ninja Turtle. It absolutely made my day.

I lack the vocabulary to express the ecstasy that rushed over me the moment I heard the faint rush of FM noise coming through my car stereo for the first time since 2006. The color came back to my face, I laughed, returned from the un-dead, and got my 30 pounds back!

I feel your pain! I know what it's like to be without your music. I promise that we'll do everything possible to get your speakers back in service as quickly as possible.

Your gleeful little kid with a Ninja Turtle,

Gary

Don't make 'em like they used to, eh?

2007-03-17T19:45:00.000-04:00

Jennifer and I took a drive to Cincinnati today for the purpose of wandering their large downtown to take pictures. I confess that my mood was bordering on unpleasant due to the ridiculous cold, but it changed quickly when we stopped at a store front window so she could shoot a road bike. I peered into the window and saw GOBS of stereo equipment piled up all over the place. When I say gobs, I mean hundreds of pieces, and all vintage.

As we were walking away, the shops proprietor unlocked the door and asked if we'd like a closer look. We gladly accepted the invitation to peruse his treasure trove of goodies. Vintage stereo gear, cameras, mechanical watches, and bicycles. This is no junk shop, the guy has some serious taste and a great eye for quality.

He was quick to point out that there is nothing in the store (at least stereo wise) post 1984. Why, I asked. That's about the time they quit making good quality stuff. Though some of the gear (not all) in there was very good in terms of sound quality, I think much of it was just well built. That is, it won't break down after playing one record. He was quite proud of his collection and its remarkable durability compared to new stuff today.

While Jennifer discussed photography with him, I pondered quality a bit in this context and what it must mean for modern stereo components. There is a ton of what I would call great quality stereo stuff being built every day (much of it in Lexington, KY...ahem). It just happens to cost a lot of money, probably much more so than it did 23 years ago before the dawn of poor quality. And, much of it is being built by much smaller outfits such as THIEL that aren't owned by a massive, faceless corporation.

Often, when I hear people say things like "They don't make them like they used to..." or "It's better than the junk foisted on the public these days..." I think they're referring to general build quality. Things like heavy metal chassis and heft were much more common among general consumer level gear pre 1984. Their newer mass-market kin are more likely to be constructed out of plastic and can be carried with one hand.

Many people who claim the above statements are either unaware or dismiss the undeniable fact that we've now got 23+ more years of learning and experience under our belts and can now make gear that sounds way better than it did back then! But, to do so and still maintain a very high standard of build quality costs so much money, the companies that create these modern masterpieces never make it to the radars of those heralding the good ole stuff. To recognize a 'mass market', many of these companies gave up a lot in terms of quality to satisfy a price, reach more customers, and make more money.

The 'good ole' argument unfairly compares the mass market of today to the stereo market of pre 1984 when determining quality. If they compared the audiophile market of then to the audiophile market of now, surely they would see that we are making even higher quality stuff today than we could back then.

Your not-so-vintage yet high quality service guy,
Gary

PS - I will not publish more than one comment about me not being old enough to know jack about vintage audio :)

CS3.7 Dry Build

2006-12-22T16:09:00.000-05:00

If I was a child, Kathy Gornik was my mother, and Jim Thiel was my father, getting permission to post this picture would have been like asking both parents and then going with the decision I wanted to hear. Dawn took the picture, Kathy said post it, Jim said "over my dead body". So there it is. I have probably just pitted them against each other, and Jim against me. Uhoh.

So, the building of prototypes commences! What you see is Jim, Tommy V, and Walter dry-building the first of 10 CS3.7 cabinets for CES with metal cabinet parts. This is monumental, y'all! It turns out that most everything fits pretty well. There are some minor tweaks to be made, but so far so good. We spent the day yesterday machining the back braces and bases. The idea is to have all of the cabinets ready for final assembly on Wednesday when we get back from Christmas holiday. I really like having so much surface area for the wood veneer. It's a great looking cabinet.

Since the last batch of prototype woofer surrounds weren't quite right, they needed to be slightly re-formed. In an exercise of making-due-with-what-you've-got, Jim used the toaster oven in our kitchenette. Without going into detail on how, let me just say that it reeks. There'll be no more making toast at work in THAT oven. Furthermore, when the timer goes off, Dawn and I, like Pavlov's dog, go running to let Jim know that it's done so it doesn't cool down before he gets to reform it.

Other that this chaos, the Christmas party was last night. That was a riot. There were no pictures taken. We must maintain our air of professionalism.

PS - Cheers to Rob, Kevin, Phil, Alvin, and Tommy for staying way late tonight to finish building these. Can you believe a crew that's so cool that they'll stay late on Friday before Christmas to build CS3.7 cabs? Man, these guys are the greatest.

Merry Christmas!

Learning new behaviors at the ding of a bell,
-Gary

Metal cabinet parts rolling in

2006-12-13T15:25:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to show off a picture. Metal cabinet part samples are rolling in. We got a very nice SCS4 baffle in today. It's a die-cast aluminum baffle that's powder coated black, then part of it (the silver part) is brushed silver, then the whole thing is clear coated. You can see some long, slots around the edges of the back side of the baffle. These hold some small neodymium magnets which will hold a metal-mesh grille in place. Cool huh?

In both new speakers, using aluminum baffles holds the drivers very rigidly in place. Any movement of the driver that the baffle allows is bad news, it obscures details since these small movements were meant for the driver diaphragm, not the driver basket Using very heavy MDF baffles like in every other speaker smaller than a CS5 we've ever built really works pretty well, but it doesn't have the compressive strength of aluminum. We figured this out years ago when Jim decided to cast the baffle of the CS5 out of a mineral composite. These composites work really well, but there are 2 problems. The problem that isn't immediately apparent to you is that the stuff is a real pain in the butt to work with. The second problem manifests itself in your lower back after a day of trying to move the speakers around.

Aluminum is good stuff. Listen closely, you'll like it too.

Rigidly held in place at his desk all day,
--Gary

New Speaker Updates

2006-12-04T16:06:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm fielding lots of phone calls and e-mails (even taking some flak) about the status of the new speakers, primarily the CS3.7. Yes, yes, we announced them last CES, and no, they're not shipping yet, BUT...we have some new developments. Read on.

First, the price has been decided upon for the CS3.7s. Those interested can follow the link for product pricing in the navigation bar of our homepage (I could just announce it here, but that would be too easy :) ). Secondly, as some of you may know, one of the big delays on the CS3.7 has been making sure the metal cabinet materials would be workable. We just received some new samples of metal cabinet parts, so Jim is very hard at work evaluating their usefulness. Even if they aren't perfect, this is VERY good news because it means tooling for these parts is largely done. Lead times on such things is typically very long, so I feel like we're headed down the home stretch. We will be building several pairs of CS3.7s for CES that should be largely, if not entirely, representative of the final, product. We are still not certain of a release date, but we are getting close. Have you heard that before?

SCS4s, our new LCR / bookshelf speaker is very exciting as well. Sadly, it's introduction is being somewhat eclipsed by the CS3.7. Not only will this be cheaper than the SCS3, but will probably sound better. We received a sample metal baffle for it today which looks awfully good. We didn't order it to be totally painted or anodized, but that's what we got. I guess that's why they're called samples. It's going to be a lot of fun to have a sub $1,000 speaker again. We haven't had one since the CS.5 which was a smash. Lots of people who wouldn't otherwise be able to enjoy THIELs will get to thanks to this model. We will be playing an advanced version of the SCS4 prototype at CES.

My first thought about playing $1,000 each center and rear speakers with nearly $10,000 each mains (oops, meant to force you to the pricing link) was that it was a kind of insane. But, now I think that it's actually not an unlikely match up in the real world. Why? Someone who wants a killer stereo setup that also does occasional surround for movies won't want to put $5000 into each speaker (despite the merits of doing so). Instead, he or she can spend the big bucks on the front left and right speakers, and still get a timbre matched set of THIEL center and rear speakers that will perfectly integrate with their THIEL SmartSub. This is all done without raking the other kid's college fund. This is a really inexpensive way to build a smokin' home theatre that has an obvious budget-focus towards your 2 channel habit (read addiction).

That's all for now! Let me know if you've got any questions.

Your excuse-maker for why the CS3.7s aren't out yet,

Gary

Tube Amp Owners Rejoice!

2006-10-03T08:37:00.000-04:00

I know I promised a bit of a CEDIA wrap up last time, and I still may write one (not that you're chomping at the bit for it), but I have more pressing matters at hand!

I occasionally run little mini-tours and host mini-listening sessions when a customer brings in a pair of speakers for repair. Yesterday a guy drove down from Ohio with his CS1.2s, so I hung out with him in the listening room for a few minutes. Our VAC Renaissance 70/70 300B tube amp caught his eye as it does many. It's a strikingly cool looking amplifier.

We were listening to CS3.7s which are really quite sensitive at 90dB, and they have a very stable impedance/magnitude curve, so I thought, what the heck. I wouldn't normally hook that amp up in our massive 10,000 cubic foot listening room especially for customers because many encourage me to "crank it up" beyond levels at which one can maintain sanity. This amplifier coupled with our speakers conjoined in our room is not a system built for blowing out walls.

Anyway, because of the great specs of the CS3.7 and our dear customer's sensibility with the volume knob, I warmed it up for an hour and then switched from a mighty Krell to this piece. Sweet Momma! This sounds Gooooood! So I turned it up...no strain!

After the office closed for the day I went in there to do some more listening. It was really for pleasure, but I did it under the premise that I needed some topical inspiration for the blog...anything to get out from behind the desk right? Vocal after vocal was super pure, violin solo was chilling, piano was true to life. This is a really fun setup to listen to.

We're only lacking in bass weight. The Krell will really spoil a man in terms of bass power and punch. I recalled having superb results with CS1.6s on this amplifier at home with a SmartSub, so I thought I'd try an SS3 and PXO2 in the mix. This worked marvelously. The bottom octave snugged up substantially and came up to the same level as the rest of the music. If any THIEL owner has a tube amplifier and feels like his/her bass is lacking, soft, or MIA, I very much encourage an audition of a SmartSub. I lost nothing in terms of coherence, the soundstage actually got wider and deeper. It took very little imagination to see the musicians working their art.

If I get some free time before we ship this pair to one of our distributors, I'm going to try an Integrator in crossover mode. I suspect that this will be even better because I can preserve more headroom in the VAC.

Back to my point stated in the title, many THIEL owners for many years have enjoyed considerable musical bliss with tube amplifiers. But, our flagship and 2nd best speakers aren't notorious for their high sensitivity and flat impedance curves. For this reason, many people have summarily dismissed tube amplifiers as a possibility for driving THIELs. I highly encourage anyone who has dismissed a tube/THIEL combo in the past to try again with CS3.7s, even in large rooms. You may like it, you may hate it, but CS3.7s are probably more well suited for tube amplifiers than any thing else we've built in the CS3.x series in the last 15-20 years, maybe ever. It's certainly a more appropriate match than CS6s or CS7.2s in the vast majority of cases.

Happy listening!
-Your glowing grid service guy

P.S. The CS1.6 is equally sensitive and 'resistive', therefore just as well suited for a medium powered tube amp as the CS3.7. I encourage this audition as well! In fact, if memory serves, one of our newer dealers sold a pair of CS1.6 on a Cayin tube amp much to the new owner's continued happiness!

3.7s are coming...no really!

2006-09-11T09:51:00.000-04:00

I cannot remember the last time I wore a grin so big thanks to an audio component. Rob, our service tech extrordinaire, just finished building our prototype pair of of CS3.7s for CEDIA. Several of us in the office pandered pretty hard to have them built in Bird's Eye Maple. As I understand it, we normally build protos in Amberwood because they always get beat up, drilled into, modified, or otherwise altered, and Amberwood is easy to touch up. Not so with Bird's Eye, but man it looks good! These are some fine lookin' speakers!

Sadly, one of our favorite amps bit the dust and is in service right now, but that wouldn't stop us from doing some preliminary listening before we ship them off to the show. This isn't the first time we've heard CS3.7s, but this is by far the first listening that has been so much fun. We already knew that they possessed the ability to play with unprecedented transparency throughout the midrange. I was unprepared for my inability to concentrate on any one area of the songs we heard. Frequency response is FLAT, transients are super fast, even the slightest dynamic shadings can be discerned, and they are imaging CHAMPIONS, even from well off axis as I was.

I know this entry reads like a hype-sheet, and to some degree it should, but I am extremely enamored with these new speakers. Jim says they'll only get better too! Once we replace the prototype top and baffle with cast aluminum, cabinet rigidity will be even better. Can they be even more clear?

I'll let you know how they sound at CEDIA in the next entry.

We all talk about art the same way, I suppose

2006-03-20T20:55:00.000-05:00

Woah! It's been a long time since I've posted! It's not like I was ever a particularly prolific writer, but anyway...

Has anyone read Single Exposures (2005 Lenswork Publishing) by Brooks Jensen? It's a fascinating collection of musings and commentary based around the art of black and white photography, but the topics are so broad! Nearly everything he writes has a remarkably pertinent parallel in our world. Please allow me to give you an example. Commentary is fair use, right? My years of copyright law in college only taught me paranoia, so I had to ask.

I feel really bad about spoiling the last entry of the book, but it's such a poignant example. Jensen is discussing a photography contest being thrown by some publication in which entries may be classified by one of several categories such as "nudes, body, dance, ...nature, landscape, seascape, ...abstract pattern, texture, etc., photojournalism, streets and portraits, advertising." He muses, "Is there anything that strikes you odd about those categories like it does me? Maybe it's just me...But I've never thought that photography was about the subjects that are photographed, but rather I tend to think that photographs are about the emotional content of the image and what it communicates about the photographer's ideas, or emotions, or statements, or reactions to the world."

Right on! I often ask people what kind of music they're into and get an answer like, "I dunno, jazz, rock, pop, classical...". Sometimes I'll interject and suggest, "You just like anything good, right?" "Yeah! That's it!" is always the enthusiastic response. I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut that the reason for the concurrence is because those folks, myself included, are listening for the emotional impact, maybe catharsis, and can find it in a wide variety of compositions.

What a thought provoking book this is! I only came across it because it's required reading for one of Jenny's photography classes. Not that I'm an authority on the subject, but this is my idea of an art education!

What can I do for you?

2006-02-15T21:11:00.000-05:00

Before you read the real post, take note of this disclaimer:

The following entry was not written for the sole purpose of puffing up THIEL, or it's already highly esteemed customer service department (of which your's truly is a humble servant). It is merely meant as an insight into the inner workings and policies of this facet of our company.

There, I said it. Don't call me a braggart in your comments.

In eight years as a member of the shopping mall retail community, I realized that most folks had different ideas of what quality customer service was. To some, customer service meant never saying no, despite the absurdity of the request. To others, it meant simply taking the time to be helpful or being patient. Many felt that they were not properly served unless they got a discount because...well because I was so blessed that they graced my presence that day.

Although I was generally granted (by the man that signed my paychecks) the latitude to make customer service decisions on behalf of the store, if the customer contested, I had to give in. I think the attitude of "the man" was don't rock the boat. He had no interest in standing up for principals. His directive was, "Smile, nod, and give them anything they want". Although I took my work there very seriously and personally, such an attitude did nothing to reinforce the value of customers in my mind. Okay, it's obvious that customers are always valuable because they fund our paychecks...duh, but the appreciation of them wasn't exactly cultivated.

At THIEL, we're just different. Plain and simple. I can't think of a greater compliment to us than for you to spend your money on our stuff. To some of you, 5, 10, or 20 grand is chump change, to other's it represents a trememdous commitment, but that's not the point. The point is that you have made a cognisant decision to buy our speakers, and for that, we extend our highest level of gratitude. Why do we feel this way? Because you are real pleasure to do business with.

Rather than just giving away drivers to everyone who calls with a problem, we take the time to talk you through the problem and help you figure out why it happened in the first place, because it's not always clear. No, we won't replace parts that failed due to abuse or amplifier failure under warranty, for example. But you better believe we'll cover a part under warranty if it's our fault. Everyone here takes way too much pride in their work to eschew responsibility if something goes wrong on our watch.

Because we're so appreciative that you bought our speakers, the least I can do in thanks is everything possible to help you out if they fail. That may not mean that we'll give you a free replacement for your woofer that was played so hard that the cone turned inside out, but you can count on us helping you get your speaker running again quickly and helping you figure out why it happened, so you don't have to be without your speakers for any longer than absolutely necessary. Regardless of whether you bought new or used, yesterday or 2 decades ago, expect to be treated with the utmost courtesy and respect when you raise issues with us.

Is this the right approach to customer service? We think so. What do you look for in customer service? What do you expect? What does it take to wow you? Would you be happier if we just replaced everything that failed for free throughout the warranty period? I just want to know what it is that makes a great customer service experience to you. After all, we're consumers too. I know I've been told where to go (in no uncertain terms) by customer service folks before. Even one ugly experience puts a nasty taste in my mouth about the whole company. Maybe that's not fair, but it's reality.

Well, that's my bit of shameless self promotion, or patting our own back perhaps. Let me know what customer service means to you.

Your gracious customer service guy,

Gary Dayton
Customer Service/Technical Support

Audiophilic Rock & Roll?

2006-02-05T21:14:00.002-05:00

"What should I write?", I groan. "I'm not a good writer."
"I don't know anything about that stuff." Jenny retorts. "Just write like you talk."
There's no real way to punctuate my erratic speech patterns.

Only since coming to THIEL in August have I realized just how poorly my favorite music is recorded. I can't emphasize enough how awful that is. Granted, it still sounds way better than it did on my old mid-fi, I'm still perpetually perturbed at how there seems to be NO correlation between recording budget and sound quality. I'm not an audiophile, rather a music consumer with a voracious appetite for good records. But, despite the artistic qualities of the records I hold so dear, I still remain drastically underwhelmed when it comes to the sound quality of the final master. Does this diminish my ability to enjoy the record? Emphatically, "YES!"

Excellently recorded music that fails to impress in the quality of music category is worse though. Who cares how great it sounds if it's painstaking to listen to anyway? Maybe that was unfair. What right do I have to tell someone whether or not their music is good? Jenny's 'rock-a-billy' friend came over to hang out one night and was nothing short of disgusted with my selection of Bill Frisell. Case in point.

I think I know why most of my favorite records sound so awful by 'audiophile standards'. The market for them demands that they sound that way. The public that consumes 90s alternative, for example, wants crushingly loud guitars with heavy bass undertones, and drums that will knock your head off, and they want it to do all of this in their '86 Chevy Cavalier with a factory standard AC Delco stereo. How might an enterprising record producer make this happen? Compress and EQ the snot out of it!

I happen to be in the underrepresented market segment who loves 90s alternative but treasures quality recording. If money didn't talk, I'd probably get my wish. I can only hope that my demographic has the buying power to influence killer rock & roll that sounds equally killer one day...or at least killer re-masters.

Your lead-eared listener,

Gary Dayton
Customer Service/Technical Support