Lexington, Ky. – Thiel Audio will make its high-end freestanding and custom-installation speakers available online for the first time following an agreement with Crutchfield, which is making the speakers available through its Web site, catalog, and brick-and-mortar stores.
Thiel cited Crutchfield’s customer support for taking its products online.
“This partnership allows Thiel to adapt to market changes without altering our core values and will surely prove to be a winning combination for the sound enthusiast,” said Thiel co-founder Jim Thiel.
Crutchfield will offer 10 of Thiel’s 15 speakers at prices ranging from $990 to $5,450 each. The mix for Crutchfield includes floor-standing speakers, in-wall and on-wall architectural speakers, and subwoofers. In all, Thiel offers 15 loudspeakers ranging in price from $990 to $8,000 each.
Thiel will join multiple other standalone and custom-install speaker brands in Crutchfield’s online selection, but many of Thiel’s products will be the site’s highest-priced speakers. Other brands on the Crutchfield site top out at $1,749/pair for a floor-standing pair from Polk. Other Crutchfield home speaker brands include Infinity, Mirage, Boston Acoustics, and Yamaha.
“Thiel has considered branching out with online sales in the past, but we were unwilling to compromise the level of service and support that we have become known for in the industry,” said Thiel president Kathy Gornik. “With Crutchfield,” added co-founder Jim Thiel, “we have the strongest level of confidence in their capacity to pair each customer with the right components because their staff really takes the time to experience and understand their complete product mix.”
“Thiel allows us to bring the absolute highest degree of quality and sound perfection for our customers, who want only the best,” said Rick Souder, Crutchfield’s EVP of merchandising.
