Wilson Audio TuneTot Review (high-end bookshelf speaker)

[Vict0r]

"around US $10,000 (varies due to color)."

I might be interested in these in a cheaper color.

A $9000-cheaper colour would be my choice!

 

[Pearljam5000]

I personally find Amir's listening impressions quite helpful. For anyone saying buy the Genelec 8361a instead, I can't help but feel that his comments about them sounding small and the Wilsons sounding larger than they were to be extremely valuable. Sean Olive used to have the Harman training program on his blog and I went through it and it is as extremely difficult as Amir says it is, so I definitely value his hearing impressions. So for me this is not a cut and dry issue of "just buy 8361a". I've also owned (and still own) several of the best measuring mini monitors under the $500 range and these continue to sound like miniature speakers even with several subwoofers. To prevent any sarcastic retort about why I still own them it's because if ~ $1500 worth of speakers (good luck stealing the subs!) were stolen from my office I'd be upset but it wouldn't be devastating.

Going back to the annals of my audiophile journey I recall it was Wilson What Puppy 5 (or 6?) that really impressed me at a hifi show. One of my favorite albums at the time was John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, and the imaging on these was quite remarkable. Even more obvious was the fact that Rudy Van Gelder just didn't record piano properly and it sounds like a very small boxy instrument. This is evident on nearly any RVG recording where he also recorded horns, because to him the horn sound was the most important. These were recordings made to be played on 1950s and 1960s home consoles and the Wilson WP showed exactly this issue. I was working at Best Buy at the time and had their highest end JBL tower speakers that I got for a remarkable 40 or 60% off due to employee discount and on these speakers the presentation on A Love Supreme was more like a wall of sound where imaging was diffuse and all instruments were given equal size which was incorrect.

The major issue for me with Wilsons has always been how they will tank in value once they bring out a new speaker. I sure as heck couldn't afford the What Puppy 5 but when the next one came out there was a flash flood of the previous model on the used marked. By two or three revisions later even my meager pay could afford the ones I heard, but I chose to avoid them for this reason. I've been seeing the same pattern with them decades later.

Anyway, from the great The Sopranos that is my "$4 a pound"

I doubt that the 8361 sound smaller than the TuneTot

 

[theyellowspecial]

Better than M106. Hole-in-one panther!

 

[respice finem]

From just a quick glance at these, I wouldn't expect that. I mean physics matter, there are 2 small transducers and a port. What passive speaker in this configuration, at any price, can offer true full range performance?

I'm not defending the TuneTot and IMO it's GROSSLY overpriced, but let's not expect too much or fool ourselves. The fact that this speaker is not full range are the least of its issues.

At this price, this one's a "fool range" speaker

 

[hvbias]

I doubt that the 8361 sound smaller than the TuneTot

I didn't mean it to sound like a 1:1 comparison, just that for people like me it is not as cut and dry as "buy 8361a". The reality is I'm not the customer for Wilsons and I'd have to be damn sure I'd auditioned the 8361a in my room for several weeks to make sure those $10k speakers didn't sound how Amir described them.

Additionally for my smaller living rooms having something "more imposing" looking like Salon2 or Kii Three BXT is a non-issue. As long as they aren't refrigerators like JBL M2. Which even given the looks of the M2 I'd not consider them for my dedicated custom built room as they just do not match the Salon2 for classical music/music that is recorded unamplified where the Salon2 have more realistic instrument timbre. The M2 were very nice for electronic and ambient music like chillwave.

 

[Koeitje]

These guys are Mormons right?

I think you spelled morons wrong. /s

 

[Kevinfc]

I’ve always been fascinated economics of these extravagantly expensive audio items. What are the costs of parts, manufacturing and R&D ? How many of these $10,000 mini speakers do they expect to sell? At some point, their marginal profits must be enormous, but how many of these type of offerings ever reach that point?

 

[DanielT]

Man i dont get it, +6db at 120Hz. Its cool, so cool. For what? 10k+?
The only thing you can learn here, get a way to EQ your source. Than you not need to spend 10k for a wrong calculated port.

It would have been nicer if they checked out that port and fixed the problems. That instead of spending time and money on fix a 128 page glossy advertisement pdf.

... though a glossy 128 pages pdf may increase sales of speakers.

Everything can be sold with murderous advertising
Come and buy canned porridge
Everything can be swallowed with murderous advertising
Also reasonably sweet canned porridge

Question. If posting a Youtube link does it have to be that big, visually that is? A smaller one would have been ok. Now the link above takes up so much space in this thread. There is no one outside Sweden who understands a shit what it is all about so it does not have to be that big.

Edit
I posted a picture on Youtube video instead. Does not take up that much space in my post then.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Oh, cmon. Gross resonances, FR curve that looks like a civil war battle line, polar plot that could be significantly bettered by a $150 Behringer speaker which has a bigger, better woofer. and a preference score in the 2's. All for just $10k. Just another Wilson "smell my fart" design. How is this not a headless panther?

 

[Mojo Warrior]

Thank you for the review. I never expected for a Wilson speaker to appear on Amir's test bench. It certainly blows up the myth that more money = better sound. In reality this megabucks speaker under performs vs a DIY bookshelf speaker kit.

It reveals what I have long suspected. That obscenely over priced speakers are deliberately voiced and designed to include a Fletcher-Munson Curve to help sell the speakers in a boutique dealer's showroom. Customers in this price category are rarely sophisticated listeners and the bass boost is pleasing to the untrained ear when played at low dB levels.

But hey, it's your money. $10,000 vs $150

 

[mightycicadalord]

You might want to read this.

That's pretty interesting, would love to take that test but it's not up anymore?

 

[Vict0r]

How is this not a headless panther

I think because, despite his measurements, Amir kinda liked how they sounded when he listened to them after EQ, and even recommended them.

 

[wwenze]

Regarding that bass peak,

How many people do you personally know actually EQ away even taller peaks that are present in your room?

If you run a $2k speaker without EQ-ing away that peak, it is not much different from having a $10k speaker with one additional peak. i.e. probably won't notice except for a "tight punchy controlled bass". Of course any music with any amount of bass note sophistication would get royally ruined... or "has new life injected in more dynamics" depending on the interpretation.

 

[Ron Texas]

Sign me up for 5 pairs, one for every bathroom, LOL. Thank you @amirm

 

[GaryH]

That's pretty interesting, would love to take that test but it's not up anymore?

Here you go.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Thank you for the review. I never expected for a Wilson speaker to ever appear on Amir's test bench. It certainly blows up the myth that more money = better sound. In reality this megabucks speaker under performs vs a DIY bookshelf speaker kit.

It reveals what I have long suspected. That obscenely over priced speakers are deliberately voiced and designed to include a Fletcher-Munson Curve to help sell the speakers in a boutique dealer's showroom. Customers in this price category are rarely sophisticated listeners and the bass boost is pleasing to the untrained ear when played at low dB levels.

But hey, it's your money. $`10,000 vs $150

The last good speaker Wilson did was the early Watt-Puppy (I think II, but maybe III). Everything after that I heard sounded like some rich guy's conception of what an expensive speaker should sound like. Wilson is not an audiophile brand. It's for people who buy diamond and sapphire encrusted watches the size of hockey pucks with $10 internal movements and other similar grotesqueries.

 

[Aperiodic]

I can't give a 'cost not considered' rating for something like this, especially (as others have already pointed out) the available alternatives. For $10K (per pair, even) you gotta deliver. The better Genelecs thrash this thing. Wilsons are overrated (and ugly) and this one is no exception. Headless at $10K.

 

[ElNino]

I don't have much to add to the discussion, but I just thought I'd mention that the Revel M105 might be a better natural comparison for this speaker, since the woofer size of the TuneTot is closer to the M105 than the M106.

 

[ezra_s]

I personally find Amir's listening impressions quite helpful. For anyone saying buy the Genelec 8361a instead, I can't help but feel that his comments about them sounding small and the Wilsons sounding larger than they were to be extremely valuable. Sean Olive used to have the Harman training program on his blog and I went through it and it is as extremely difficult as Amir says it is, so I definitely value his hearing impressions. So for me this is not a cut and dry issue of "just buy 8361a". I've also owned (and still own) several of the best measuring mini monitors under the $500 range and these continue to sound like miniature speakers even with several subwoofers. To prevent any sarcastic retort about why I still own them it's because if ~ $1500 worth of speakers (good luck stealing the subs!) were stolen from my office I'd be upset but it wouldn't be devastating.

Going back to the annals of my audiophile journey I recall it was Wilson What Puppy 5 (or 6?) that really impressed me at a hifi show. One of my favorite albums at the time was John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, and the imaging on these was quite remarkable. Even more obvious was the fact that Rudy Van Gelder just didn't record piano properly and it sounds like a very small boxy instrument. This is evident on nearly any RVG recording where he also recorded horns, because to him the horn sound was the most important. These were recordings made to be played on 1950s and 1960s home consoles and the Wilson WP showed exactly this issue. I was working at Best Buy at the time and had their highest end JBL tower speakers that I got for a remarkable 40 or 60% off due to employee discount and on these speakers the presentation on A Love Supreme was more like a wall of sound where imaging was diffuse and all instruments were given equal size which was incorrect.

The major issue for me with Wilsons has always been how they will tank in value once they bring out a new speaker. I sure as heck couldn't afford the What Puppy 5 but when the next one came out there was a flash flood of the previous model on the used marked. By two or three revisions later even my meager pay could afford the ones I heard, but I chose to avoid them for this reason. I've been seeing the same pattern with them decades later.

Anyway, from the great The Sopranos that is my "$4 a pound"

Thanks for the album recomendation, decided to play in my living room and check and indeed it sounds phenomenal, I have the saxo playing now next to me.

About amirm impressions on the speaker, I am also buffled. Perhaps is those scan-speak revelator driver that I heard a few times being mentioned as one of the best that help the speaker sound so good? I wouldn't know...

Anyways I can't take the price off my head....

 

[Zutroye]

Wow!
They're ugly, have poor measurements, and are way too expensive.
Aside from all that, the big kicker for me is the name. I don't think I could own a piece of audio gear named 'TuneTot'. Seriously, marketing team.