Wilson Audio TuneTot Review (high-end bookshelf speaker)

[dukanvadet]

How did we even get to people defending the 115hz peak? Even Amirs review relies on the consumer fixing this massive fault in the expensive speaker.

It doesnt work any better closer to a wall, if you want a bass response that is helped by close to wall placement you design a slow rolloff, like kef ls50 for example (that was getting a bad review for that reason).

Even if the peak was tuned to a very specific back wall cancellation (where are the placement instructions from wilson?) it wouldnt work. You dont fix a cancellation by filling it with more energy, its a waste of output. The more you put in the stronger the out of phase wave gets as well.
What you could do is giving specific placement instructions and adding an absorber behind the speaker, closer to the wall means higher frequency cancellation and thinner absorbtion needed. Of course this would requier another bass tuning as described above.

 

[Pdxwayne]

Why so much hate about that 115hz peak? Just close the port, problem solved, right?

 

[kma100]

Dolby Atmos is currently mostly offered by speaker systems that bounce sound off the ceiling, whether stereo or multi-channel. This system disperses from the ceiling, although you can link to a floor-based system at the same time. Each unit can play either channel, so currently, L, R or mono. These units have both Apple Music and Amazon HD onboard, so I can play either HD or Atmos mixes from my Amazon HD account. From what I understand, unlike traditional multi-channel, Atmos can be automatically converted to other multi-channel or stereo formats. Sooner or later the software on these units will most likely be upgraded for multi-channel allocation. They have all the Atmos facilities onboard, the other one being AirPlay.

None of which is relevant to the Wilson Tunetot, which I regret not listening to when we went shopping for new speakers, although it does look better on a shelf than a stand and I don't like subwoofers, which it probably needs in a primary system.

How does this work for TV (I think you mentioned you use it for TV/movies)? Is all the sound from the ceiling...including voices? Or is this music only?

 

[amirm]

Let's move the discussion of spatial audio to another thread folks.

 

[amirm]

Why so much hate about that 115hz peak? Just close the port, problem solved, right?

I did that but subjectively I thought it had too little bass then. It was better to get the extra output and then reduce it with filtering. Other rooms with other room impact may behave differently. The owner uses it with it blocked but he has a sub to go with it.

 

[JDiSilverstein]

The existence of this speaker is an affront to reality.

 

[DWI]

How does this work for TV (I think you mentioned you use it for TV/movies)? Is all the sound from the ceiling...including voices? Or is this music only?

In a nutshell, because it's not relevant here, if you want good sound with for example Apple TV, Netflix of Amazon Prime, one way you can do it is to use an Apple TV box and send the sound wirelessly to Airplay speakers. The units I have in the ceiling have Airplay so I have three left, three right, in front, above and behind the seating position. I have an LG TV and you have to use LG-compatiable devices to sync properly direct from the TV, and it uses Aptx bluetooth, which sucks. The 2021 LG TVs have pretty good sound themselves. I suspect there are lots of options for such speakers, but they all need power. Mine are powered from the lighting ring and draw about 8w.

 

[Pdxwayne]

I did that but subjectively I thought it had too little bass then. It was better to get the extra output and then reduce it with filtering. Other rooms with other room impact may behave differently. The owner uses it with it blocked but he has a sub to go with it.

I would do the same like the owner if I have the speakers. Even with port open, it wouldn't have enough sub bass for my taste. This is exactly what I am doing with my Paradigm Persona B in my room. Close the port and pair with subs.

 

[DWI]

I did that but subjectively I thought it had too little bass then. It was better to get the extra output and then reduce it with filtering. Other rooms with other room impact may behave differently. The owner uses it with it blocked but he has a sub to go with it.

I suspect we all have our own indicators of what is too little bass from a small speaker. Mine is stand-up bass. I have a pair of very small Raidho X1 speakers that have sublime midrange and treble but next to nothing under 100hz. Broken to some, me included, but I had a REL subwoofer in the loft (ever since someone put a cigarette through the grille) and it made a perfect combination. Adding a subwoofer to a speaker system designed to be inconspicuous rather defeats the object.

 

[wwenze]

I feel like i have seen reviews where cost was taken in to consideration before and regardless it is the right thing to do. A review that doesnt compare it to the available alternatives is pointless. I am considering removing my patreon payment at this point. (not a lot of money but its a matter of principle for me)

Yea, this is my view too.

Consider the below two reviews of a CPU cooler:

vs

Which chart is more useful?

 

[zeppzeppzepp]

I suspect we all have our own indicators of what is too little bass from a small speaker. Mine is stand-up bass. I have a pair of very small Raidho X1 speakers that have sublime midrange and treble but next to nothing under 100hz. Broken to some, me included, but I had a REL subwoofer in the loft (ever since someone put a cigarette through the grille) and it made a perfect combination. Adding a subwoofer to a speaker system designed to be inconspicuous rather defeats the object.

Right, people just afraid to admit bass boost is helpful for listening to small speakers.
Why do we insist the purity to flat small speaker with feeling too little bass?
Yes, people should go for adding subs or just don't care about the small speakers.
It's just an option for enjoying music and I don't know how this tiny option can ruin a good design.
People just can't do the same thing to the cheaper speakers, there's no way to boost bass without heavily degrading the sound quality for most small speakers.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

Right, people just afraid to admit bass boost is helpful for listening to small speakers.
Why do we insist the purity to flat small speaker with feeling too little bass?
Yes, people should go for adding subs or just don't care about the small speakers.
It's just an option for enjoying music and I don't know how this tiny option can ruin a good design.
People just can't do the same thing to the cheaper speakers, there's no way to boost bass without heavily degrading the sound quality for most small speakers.

Why? Inert cabinet, super duper speakers or crossovers? Or just hogwash?

 

[Kevinfc]

I was guessing $700-$800 for drivers and a very expensive all high end crossover. So then what, an $800 cabinet? So, $1600 add in another $200 in shipping material and costs and you are at $1800 all in. Not a bad profit if you bypass the dealers. I do not know if Wilsons are sold dealer only or not. If they are, then probably 2 or $3000 for the dealer. So now you are at $4800 still leaving Wilson $5200 profit IF they sell for list price. The dealers could always give up some money and drop the price $800 if needed. So, Wilson will make the money they need at $10,000 a pair. Too rich for me!

My point in asking about the component price wasn’t necessarily to make a judgement as to whether or not they’re worth $10, 000, rather to get an idea of the economics involved in such a high end piece.

 

[Tks]

This heavy (cost and literal weight) and we still have resonances that are audible during sweeps?

I need to literally go consult some acoustic engineer. How hard can it honestly be to make a speaker that doesn't exhibit this? What's it going to take? A literal monoblock of some material that is custom made with all the wiring and internal components in mind to the millimeter?

 

[zeppzeppzepp]

Why? Inert cabinet, super duper speakers or crossovers? Or just hogwash?

Maybe all of those including hogwash.......it just works........

 

[Walter]

Yea, this is my view too.

Consider the below two reviews of a CPU cooler:

vs

Which chart is more useful?

I agree that it would be great to have something like the top chart , but from a practical standpoint it is very nearly impossible. There is no single number that can be used to compare speakers, and audio memory is notoriously unreliable. Even if Amir were to keep several speakers of all types around just for such comparisons (which would mean he would have to purchase them), he would still not be able to switch out multiple speakers quickly enough to compare more than a couple at a time unless he had something like the speaker turntable Harman uses for testing. Even that disregards the fact that different speakers may require different room placement to sound their best--a fact I know you are aware of from your attempts to compare desktop speakers on the SG hardware forum. And then, even if he could figure out a way to make such comparisons, doing so would probably take more of his time than an entire test does now, not counting time when the Klippel is running and he can be doing other things, so we'd get fewer reviews. I think his subjective comparison with one or two speakers he knows pretty well, as he did with the TuneTot and the Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 is the most we can realistically hope for, unless maybe someone wants to volunteer to hire an assistant for Amir.

Note: Off topic, but those charts are equally useful, in my opinion, but for very different uses. The top one is in particular is also flawed in that, as is almost always the case, it does not show the time required to reach peak temperature. That is a very important metric for gamers and other users who have a highly variable CPU load.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

This heavy (cost and literal weight) and we still have resonances that are audible during sweeps?

I need to literally go consult some acoustic engineer. How hard can it honestly be to make a speaker that doesn't exhibit this? What's it going to take? A literal monoblock of some material that is custom made with all the wiring and internal components in mind to the millimeter?

Wilson is overpriced boutique. A successful minor player exposed.

 

[wwenze]

NAD D 3020's bass boost

PS Audio Sprout's bass boost, which is undefeatable in the first version. (Not sure about the later revision, I think they fixed it but don't take my word for it.)

Maybe audio manufacturers know something we don't.

 

[rkt31]

who are those 14 people voted golfing panther ? from wilson audio ?

 

[zeppzeppzepp]

NAD D 3020's bass boost

PS Audio Sprout's bass boost, which is undefeatable in the first version. (Not sure about the later revision, I think they fixed it but don't take my word for it.)

Maybe audio manufacturers know something we don't.

No, people just don't accept the reality and forget to measure the results they got after adding the subs.
Why people arguing bass boost? that is not the kind of 500hz, 1khz, or 5khz boosts that sounding broken.
The only reason to feel bad for solid bass boost is like eating too many sweets when dieting.
But that boost function of the amps doesn't work with most of the small speakers, often just resulting flappy and distorted bass.