REPRINTED FROM
November/December 2004
Electronically reprinted from
Issue 57
D
esigner Jim Thiel is pret-
ty much a legend in
high-end audio circles.
For decades, his floor-
standing speakers have
been rated at or near the state-of-
the-art, even compared with the
price-no-object competition. Jim
recently focused his speaker
design talent and trained ear on
building the ultimate plasma TV
speakers. Now, it’s possible to
have both superb aesthetics
and
superb sound in a room where a
full surround system isn’t an
option.
I’ve stated many times in
reviews that plasma monitors usu-
ally don’t make the best home-the-
ater displays, although they can
look very, very good. It seems that
many people agree, because in my
ISF calibrations I rarely see plas-
ma-based home theaters. Many of
my customers have plasma sets,
but they’re almost always being
used as the home’s primary dis-
play, while a front projector or
RPTV occupies the dedicated
home-theater room. Plasma dis-
plays are popular because they
mount on the wall, take up little or
no space, have a bright sharp pic-
ture that looks great from any angle in
a fully lit room, and are cosmetically
the best solutions for many spaces. In
such circumstances, a surround-sound
system with six or more speakers
would just add the clutter that plasma
is designed to avoid. But how do you
get good TV sound with a plasma
monitor without multiple speaker
boxes or the hassle of multiple in-wall
speakers? With the ViewPoints, Thiel
has the answer. The ViewPoints are
high-end audio all the way, yet they’re
custom-made to perfectly match the
styling and cosmetics of your particu-
lar plasma display, giving true audio-
phile sound with a totally seamless,
integrated appearance.
Features
The ViewPoints may be small and
thin, but don’t let that fool you.
Dynamite comes in small
packages. The custom-built,
custom-painted cabinets are
extruded from solid pieces of
aluminum specially engi-
neered for minimizing vibra-
tion and enhancing clarity. A
single ultra-low-distortion
coaxial/coplanar driver on
each side gives uncolored
response to the widest possi-
ble listening area with per-
fect time and phase coher-
ence—something multiple
drivers could never accom-
plish in such a configuration.
No expense is spared in this
driver, which Thiel makes in-
house. Even super-powerful
neodymium magnets are
used. The woofer uses a
short voice-coil with a long
gap for high power-handling
and long excursion. The
coaxially mounted tweeter is
also capable of extremely
high output and is, in fact,
the same one used in the CS
7.2, Thiel’s most expensive
audiophile speaker. Maxi-
mum recommended amplifi-
er power is an incredible 400
watts per channel.
A U D I O R E V I E W
❘
R a n d y To m l i n s o n
How do you get good TV
sound with a plasma
monitor without multiple
speaker boxes or the hassle
of multiple in-wall speakers?
With the ViewPoints, Thiel
has the answer.
Thiel ViewPoint Plasma TV Loudspeaker
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