Wilson Audio TuneTot Review (high-end bookshelf speaker)

[Gremlins]

If this would be 500Euro/pair speakers people would say:

Not bad overall, but this idiots realy messed up the port calculation.

But this are 10k speakers with a 5 inch woofer. Thats a bad joke.

Yep

I also think that an onwner of these speakers at 10k would listen the same but in a less bling bling enclosure and priced at 500 euro would say it's a crappy sound

Some people have no ears

 

[YSDR]

Well, it gives a mighty kick. Makes the speaker sound larger than they really are, probably also helps power handling a bit.

Also note that they spec the thing to 65hz -3dB, but in room. Given placement close to the wall they’ll probably make that.

Still, it is a peculiar choice…

Actually below the tuning frequency, the power handling and frequency response of a vented speaker goes down steeply, because the driver are unloaded and the port is out of phase to the driver. So here we are, with an almost useless loudspeaker below 100Hz (and an ugly peak around that) for 10K Dollars.
And the funny thing is that these small Scan-Speak woofers are otherwise pretty good down to 50Hz or even lower. But not in this overpriced speaker.

 

[restorer-john]

And on top, they are nowhere near as precise as Apple Watch.

Exactly how precise is an Apple watch when it runs without syncing to an internet time server?

 

[Mystical Boar]

On a side note, I wonder where do they get ideas for these hi-end designs - in some retro horror movies?

 

[Fidji]

Doesn't matter, what matters is how expensive it is to a mundane, generic customer.

This is not true. Mundane generic customer is consuming music e.g. via YouTube from his desktop computer via $20 speakers or in his car.
Anybody even knowing what Discogs is, is part of smth. like 1% of population, interested in very specific, technically inferior, uncomfortable way of reproducing music.

Nobody on this forum is "generic mundane customer"

 

[Mystical Boar]

This is not true. Mundane generic customer is consuming music e.g. via YouTube from his desktop computer via $20 speakers
or in his car.

To me a generic customer in the context of hi-fi is someone who wants better quality than this; so he goes to any audio forum and asks for something "good but for a reasonable price", hence why ELAC DBR62 thread is so popular on ASR.

Generic customer doesn't shop on discogs, but there's something like a generic customer of discogs.

 

[Mystical Boar]

interested in very specific, technically inferior, uncomfortable way of reproducing music.

Or just people who hate compressed music, like me.

 

[zeppzeppzepp]

Are you serious ? $10k for such peaky sound ? It's a blot.

How does "peaky" sound alike?
A full range speaker with flat response sounds OK and so does a tiny speaker? NO.

$10k is not worthy for a small speaker, right, even for this kind of smart design.

The only issue for this is the price, not the sound, and even not the measurement.

What quality people can get from higher tier speakers but not from cheaper ones?
Response and directivity cost nothing in this computer-aided design era.

Just don't think one evaluation method is a universal law.

 

[Vintage57]

Really, there’s a discussion of what is acceptable by audi science review
Give me a break.

 

[aj625]

How does "peaky" sound alike?
A full range speaker with flat response sounds OK and so does a tiny speaker? NO.

$10k is not worthy for a small speaker, right, even for this kind of smart design.

The only issue for this is the price, not the sound, and even not the measurement.

What quality people can get from higher tier speakers but not from cheaper ones?
Response and directivity cost nothing in this computer-aided design era.

Just don't think one evaluation method is a universal law.

Measurements don't matter for sq, measurements not related to sq, it's all about what your ears like, all dac sound same, all amp sound same, all speaker sound same. Sounds familiar to you ?

 

[MrHifiTunes]

Do you believe Wilson just proved we don't need low frequencies for music, just replace them with a single 115 Hz tone? The wife's are going to be happy. No need anymore for large tower speakers or ugly subwoofer boxes.

Amir confirmed the TuneTot's absolutely need EQ, as expected.

You talk about the bass, Im talking about the lower treble. You don't get 2,3 score just because of bad bass.

Where you get the monotone bass from? Amir said that without the EQ bass on female voices wasn't so bad only when playing bass heavy tracks it became overwhelming. He also points out the EQ on the anechoic measurements isnt that easy in a real room listening environment and he does by ear.
He also said that it has nicer bass then the REVEL M106. He mentioned , I quote " I preferred the TuneTot over Revel".
I know this woofer myself and know how good it is in bass department. So definitely not monotone. This driver goes remarkable deep for it size.

So I wouldnt call this a design flaw speaker. It doenst do things textbook. But Im sure It sounds great in the right environment.
Im sure they know pretty well what customer they target. Having modern design it will mostly fit into a minimalistic high reflection environment and close to wall setup. (Amir also mentioned it sounded great in his highly reflective environment. ) Like a ferrari/lamborgini or Land rover. Are they great cars...in the right environment (racetrack/off road) they do come to life and can do better then any "average car". Should you buy one to get the kids from school and go schopping? Probably not...you can have more suitable car for far less money.

So i think its good that there are some niche brands to go the extra mile. For sure it will not preform good in any environment (a ferrari also doesnt) But in the right environment....they can do something extra.
So I think it's good that some brands leave the "middle down the road"approach.

 

[orangejello]

These guys are Mormons right?

Interesting question. Brings back memories of John Dunlavey moving his Speaker making operation from Australia to Utah based on state grants to do so. He claims he barely escaped with his money and his life when he fled to Colorado Springs. Seemed like a convoluted conspiracy but he told it the same way every time. In any case he talked about the racketeering that he claimed goes on in Utah with passionate contempt and some fear. Wish, like so many thing, I had a recording of that head spinning story. Also, Dunlavey seemed to be the opposite of Wilson. Every speaker was measured and tweaked. You could see the resulting measurements for each speaker that went out the door.

 

[mightycicadalord]

magic...

no, Amir mentioned these are even inferior to Genelec 8050, so maybe inert cabinet with little bit bigger woofer does things single 6.5" don't

Bigger woofer almost always wins out.

Still don't get price thing, the cost is inherent to the speaker, it's something you HAVE to deal with if you want the speaker, just like EQ is somthing you'll need to get these speakers to behave. I don't agree with creating an alternative world to judge the speaker, where we can just ignore certain aspects about them to get a more favorable result.

 

[aj625]

You talk about the bass, Im talking about the lower treble. You don't get 2,3 score just because of bad bass.

Where you get the monotone bass from? Amir said that without the EQ bass on female voices wasn't so bad only when playing bass heavy tracks it became overwhelming. He also points out the EQ on the anechoic measurements isnt that easy in a real room listening environment and he does by ear.
He also said that it has nicer bass then the REVEL M106. He mentioned , I quote " I preferred the TuneTot over Revel".
I know this woofer myself and know how good it is in bass department. So definitely not monotone. This driver goes remarkable deep for it size.

So I wouldnt call this a design flaw speaker. It doenst do things textbook. But Im sure It sounds great in the right environment.
Im sure they know pretty well what customer they target. Having modern design it will mostly fit into a minimalistic high reflection environment and close to wall setup. (Amir also mentioned it sounded great in his highly reflective environment. ) Like a ferrari/lamborgini or Land rover. Are they great cars...in the right environment (racetrack/off road) they do come to life and can do better then any "average car". Should you buy one to get the kids from school and go schopping? Probably not...you can have more suitable car for far less money.

So i think its good that there are some niche brands to go the extra mile. For sure it will not preform good in any environment (a ferrari also doesnt) But in the right environment....they can do something extra.
So I think it's good that some brands leave the "middle down the road"approach.

Why you people keep comparing audio with cars ? Cars and automobile have all together different preference and requirements. Some need power, some mileage, some style , some space, some comfort , some off roading, some loading capacity, some looks but in audio how many want only looks ? Audio is all about sound quality. Only a very very few need style statement with audio gear and those too won't admit it easily.

 

[MrHifiTunes]

Why you people keep comparing audio with cars ? Cars and automobile have all together different preference and requirements. Some need power, some mileage, some style , some space, some comfort , some off roading, some loading capacity, some looks but in audio how many want only looks ? Audio is all about sound quality. Only a very very few need style statement with audio gear and that too won't be committed by the user easily.

I dont talk about a "statement" I'm talking about good sound quality just as Amirm is.
And the comparison with cars is about best performance in the right environment

 

[respice finem]

Thanks. I like audio but I signed up here to practice English really . It was one of those cases of not thinking of the obvious and searching for very clever interpretations, I guess just for fun or/and to pretend to be clever.

BTW if you also like to practice German, "tot" means "dead" in German (seriously)

 

[dshreter]

The discussion here is being wasted on “what is expensive”. What is much more interesting is that they subjectively sounded good! Figuring out what makes a speaker sound good that isn’t apparent from the spins is what I want to know, and how to dig that information out of other measurements.

It’s like all the arguments around KEF R3. Does it sound like a nearly perfect speaker or not, and which measurements should be pointed to? The poor measuring speakers that sound good and the excellent measuring speakers that don’t sound great is where the next level of understanding will come from.

For that reason I’m thrilled to have these analyzed here, though would not buy them myself.

 

[aj625]

I dont talk about a "statement" I'm talking about good sound quality just as Amirm is.

Didn't you support the poor design and measurements of speaker in the garb of car analogy ? This speaker even at $100 doesn't deserve any kind of praise at all with such measurements. See how many have voted already it as a headless panther. Going by the previous reviews I was a bit surprised it was not rated as headless panther.

 

[orangejello]

You talk about the bass, Im talking about the lower treble. You don't get 2,3 score just because of bad bass.

Where you get the monotone bass from? Amir said that without the EQ bass on female voices wasn't so bad only when playing bass heavy tracks it became overwhelming. He also points out the EQ on the anechoic measurements isnt that easy in a real room listening environment and he does by ear.
He also said that it has nicer bass then the REVEL M106. He mentioned , I quote " I preferred the TuneTot over Revel".
I know this woofer myself and know how good it is in bass department. So definitely not monotone. This driver goes remarkable deep for it size.

So I wouldnt call this a design flaw speaker. It doenst do things textbook. But Im sure It sounds great in the right environment.
Im sure they know pretty well what customer they target. Having modern design it will mostly fit into a minimalistic high reflection environment and close to wall setup. (Amir also mentioned it sounded great in his highly reflective environment. ) Like a ferrari/lamborgini or Land rover. Are they great cars...in the right environment (racetrack/off road) they do come to life and can do better then any "average car". Should you buy one to get the kids from school and go schopping? Probably not...you can have more suitable car for far less money.

So i think its good that there are some niche brands to go the extra mile. For sure it will not preform good in any environment (a ferrari also doesnt) But in the right environment....they can do something extra.
So I think it's good that some brands leave the "middle down the road"approach.

I think these brands exist almost entirely because rich egotist exist and can be parted from their money. They make toys for these folks. For many reasons I don’t find much to justify or to admire in that kind of business.

 

[MrHifiTunes]

Didn't you support the poor design and measurements of speaker in the garb of car analogy ? This speaker even at $100 doesn't deserve any kind of praise at all with such measurements. See how many have voted already it as a headless panther. Going by the previous reviews I was a bit surprised it was not rated as headless panther.

Did you read that Amir prefers it over the Revel M106? This speaker doesnt measure well at first glace but everything seems to fall into place.... And that in my view makes it great. A designer that doesnt follow to beaten path but know how a speaker will preform in a certain environment. But this makes it a niche product