Wilson Audio TuneTot Review (high-end bookshelf speaker)

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

Which would you buy?
Kef Reference 1 for US$8000/pair
View attachment 173938
or this "thing"?

This Kef plus 2 rythmik f12

 

[gsp1971]

We need an ASR Europe center! The huge prices sending heavy speakers to USA are the only thing holding me back from sending in equipment.

@amirm do you franchise?

 

[Zensō]

I think next time you should take a picture with 2 panthers, one with and one without equalizer. Just like you do for headphones. That gives a better view of what you are actually getting.

Not a bad idea, but anyone who would spend $10K on these speakers is not going to be swayed by Amir or his Panthers.

 

[orangejello]

…, but the best mechanical movements are clearly better in terms of performance than the budget mechanical ones...

Seagull ST21 Chinese at 1/5 the price of it’s ETA equivalent. And not far off from a Rolex. You can get some really nice watches with ST21. It is also the thinest movement as far as I know so great for dress watches.

 

[Pearljam5000]

At least the accessories are priced reasonably

 

[aschen]

I can only imagine the type of person who buys this sort of thing is outfitting a Manhattan loft or something and has his assistant shop for the "best" of everything.

The entertainment area gets a big pair of Wilsons. The bedroom, study, and master bath each get a pair of these, and the salesman gets to put his kid through college.

 

[gsp1971]

At least the accessories are priced reasonably
View attachment 173947

how much for the whole ecosystem?

 

[Weeb Labs]

This speaker costs more than a pair of Buchardt A700s. What were they thinking.

 

[Eetu]

Have they scaled the x-axis to be >= 200 Hz so as not to show the bast boost?

Since they used simple quasi-anechoic measurements the results are not accurate in the bass region. I don't think there's any foul play going on. The treble response is not that flattering either..

 

[gsp1971]

Since they used simple quasi-anechoic measurements the results are not accurate in the bass region. I don't think there's any foul play going on. The treble response is not that flattering either..

They did not seem to mind when measuring B&W 801 D4 (https://www.hifinews.com/content/bw-801-d4-loudspeaker-lab-report)

or Kudos Audio Cardea C20 (https://www.hifinews.com/content/kudos-audio-cardea-c20-loudspeaker-lab-report)

or KEF LS50 Meta (https://www.hifinews.com/content/kef-ls50-meta-loudspeaker-lab-report)

or ...

 

[BlackTalon]

Yeah, but Wilson has kind of short-circuited that strategy with the name, don't you think? Imagine a visitor to a rich guy's living room:

"Wow, those are cool speakers!"
"Thanks - they're Wilsons."
"Cool ... what model?"
"Tune Tots."
"Oh."

Rumor has it Jeffrey Epstein sent Ghislaine Maxwell to start grooming a few pairs for him...

 

[xaviescacs]

These use more or less the same drivers for 4k €. 22 kg each monitor.

https://www.studio-22.com/pulsar-audio-ambiente-monitor-revelator-xl

In Spain and I guess in Europe in general the TuneTot are at 12k €, so third the price.

 

[beagleman]

I can only imagine the type of person who buys this sort of thing is outfitting a Manhattan loft or something and has his assistant shop for the "best" of everything.

The entertainment area gets a big pair of Wilsons. The bedroom, study, and master bath each get a pair of these, and the salesman gets to put his kid through college.

Woudn't that be Bose?

 

[617]

As a factual matter, they are LDS, and like most LDS folks I've met, they are very nice.

Most LDS people I've met are extremely nice and also very intelligent (and I've been close to many), but unfortunately they also give 10% of their income to a church which lobbies against my interests. In my personal life I have zero prejudice but if I was spending this kind of money it would present a moral dilemma for me.

 

[beagleman]

I think the "Worth" of an item, (not Value) has to be factored in to any ratings.

One poster said, that we all "value" things differently, maybe true, but we all also judge speakers all differently also.

 

[Eetu]

They did not seem to mind when measuring B&W 801 D4 (https://www.hifinews.com/content/bw-801-d4-loudspeaker-lab-report)

or Kudos Audio Cardea C20 (https://www.hifinews.com/content/kudos-audio-cardea-c20-loudspeaker-lab-report)

or KEF LS50 Meta (https://www.hifinews.com/content/kef-ls50-meta-loudspeaker-lab-report)

or ...

The TuneTot review seems to be from early '19, they didn't offer full range measurements back then? See this Kef R3 'lab report' for example.

 

[Lorenzo74]

a score of 2.6 at only 10k€???
Why looking for a D&D 8C, a Kii three or a Genelec if you can afford a 2 ways Wilson…
come on, we are entering into Stereophile world. @amirm are you ready for the challenge?

great review
best
lorenzo

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

I thought a terrific write up by amir. Warts and all measurements. (Not that I ever understand them.) And rather liking the sound of them, which is honest.
For the rest of twelve pages, a basic kicking of Wilson. We only need to add a touch of ,half million dollar turntable mickey taking, and we will all have volunteered to be Fremmerised.

 

[LTig]

I once listened to some big B&W floorstanders at my local dealer, followed by Wilson Audio Sophias (don't know which version). The Sophia's were played very loud and I had big fun listening to rock and jazz. Especially horns sounded great. I can understand @amirm that he liked the Tunetots.

However the fun disappeared completely when opera was played. Male voices were horrible through the Sophia's, rough and aggressive in the mids [1] and I knew immediately that those speakers were far from neutral and that I couldn't live with them.

[1] Similar to Naim SBLs even longer ago - the FR I saw later in a magazine revealed a strong resonance around 2 kHz.

 

[ROOSKIE]

Which would you buy?
Kef Reference 1 for US$8000/pair
View attachment 173938
or this "thing"?

REALLY, REALLY curious how this compares with the R3
I mean it is beautiful (even better in person), however at the HiFi shop I saw them in person at in Chicago the listen space was in the middle of checkout counter area. Did not sound great that way, though nothing would.