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Wilson Audio TuneTot Review (high-end bookshelf speaker)

Rate this speaker:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 363 58.7%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 186 30.1%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 44 7.1%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 25 4.0%

  • Total voters
    618

EXIF68

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For the Price of this speaker you can get the magico A1.
look at this graph. It looks a little bit better.
55C3B21B-3C11-407E-867C-07BC39FFF768.jpeg
 

YSDR

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For the Price of this speaker you can get the magico A1.
look at this graph. It looks a little bit better.View attachment 174868
Yes, it seems slightly more linear, but better or not, it develops in a person’s mind under the influence of his (room)acoustics, his electronics, his favorite musical style/recordings, and his own taste etc. Don't forget, these speakers are not studio monitors but also entertainment devices in the first place.
Of course, that doesn’t mean I would defend the WA TT speaker, not at all.
 
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aj625

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There will always be some market for everything, even if you price it $100k or even more too. People having money do care little about graphs and measurements but such people will only be few for sure. It's like the remainder of matrix equation. :p You can minimise the remainder but can't fully eliminate it. You see imperfections and anomalies are essential for progress and improvement. Treat these speakers a part of such remainder and anomalies. :p
 

Juhazi

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Magico A1 has sealed bass, and bass response is very similar to "plugged" TuneTot! Another similarity is the on-axis notch around 4kHz, which is compensated by wide radiation in that range. Depression above 10khz is typical for all Magicos, sad to say.

I would choose Magico A1, because of my sympathy for sealed designs, and esthetics. But on the other hand, I would never put 10.000€ for a pair of small bookshelf speakers! One can get maximum performance for those at around 5-800/pair, eg. Monitor Audio

 

Crosstalk

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Seriously, what on earth do you know about how Wilson speakers are sold? Have you ever been to a Wilson dealer demonstration? Have you ever owned Wilson? Ever had them at home? Know anyone who has bought them?

Contrary to what you believe is humanly possible, we bought a pair without knowing anything about the Wilson business, its engineers, its marketing, any product reviews or the speaker measurements. And I haven’t looked at any of this stuff since we bought them. I‘ve not heard anyone defending these speakers, if there was no demand for them they wouldn’t make them.
The first part is the typical response you see in any audiophile audio forum. “Have you bought it and tried it at home, then don’t speak about it”. Sorry bro, wrong forum. You don’t need to listen to everything to understand how they would sound if you know how to interpret the graphs and has some experience with some reference grade stuff like Genelec. Just adding the eq on the genelecs to match the tune tots definitely gives a glimpse of that horrible sound

For the rest I think you have your own answers:

“what on earth do you know about how Wilson speakers are sold? “



“bought a pair without knowing anything about the Wilson business, its engineers, its marketing, any product reviews or the speaker measurements”



“I‘ve not heard anyone defending these speakers, if there was no demand for them they wouldn’t make them.”



“we bought a pair without knowing anything about the Wilson business, its engineers, its marketing, any product reviews or the speaker measurements. “



“And I haven’t looked at any of this stuff since we bought them. “



  • Really?? So you weren’t reading any of the posts in this thread until this point?
 

DanielT

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There will always be some market for everything, even if you price it $100k or even more too. People having money do care little about graphs and measurements but such people will only be few for sure. It's like the remainder of matrix equation. :p You can minimise the remainder but can't fully eliminate it. You see imperfections and anomalies are essential for progress and improvement. Treat these speakers a part of such remainder and anomalies. :p
Magico A1 has sealed bass, and bass response is very similar to "plugged" TuneTot! Another similarity is the on-axis notch around 4kHz, which is compensated by wide radiation in that range. Depression above 10khz is typical for all Magicos, sad to say.

I would choose Magico A1, because of my sympathy for sealed designs, and esthetics. But on the other hand, I would never put 10.000€ for a pair of small bookshelf speakers! One can get maximum performance for those at around 5-800/pair, eg. Monitor Audio

There are lots of speakers in the same size at a tenth of the price (or lower) that measure / sound better than the Audio TuneTot. What I am most fascinated about is how selling the Wilson brand itself is.
 

voodooless

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we bought a pair without knowing anything about the Wilson business, its engineers, its marketing, any product reviews or the speaker measurements.
Is that your normal way to decide to spend 10k on things?

This is exactly why selling speakers in carparks from unmarked vans works...
 
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zeppzeppzepp

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There are lots of speakers in the same size at a tenth of the price (or lower) that measure / sound better than the Audio TuneTot. What I am most fascinated about is how selling the Wilson brand itself is.
Same size?
Probably not.
which one is recommended?
 

DWI

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The first part is the typical response you see in any audiophile audio forum. “Have you bought it and tried it at home, then don’t speak about it”. Sorry bro, wrong forum. You don’t need to listen to everything to understand how they would sound if you know how to interpret the graphs and has some experience with some reference grade stuff like Genelec. Just adding the eq on the genelecs to match the tune tots definitely gives a glimpse of that horrible sound

For the rest I think you have your own answers:

“what on earth do you know about how Wilson speakers are sold? “
“bought a pair without knowing anything about the Wilson business, its engineers, its marketing, any product reviews or the speaker measurements”
“I‘ve not heard anyone defending these speakers, if there was no demand for them they wouldn’t make them.”
“we bought a pair without knowing anything about the Wilson business, its engineers, its marketing, any product reviews or the speaker measurements. “
“And I haven’t looked at any of this stuff since we bought them. “

  • Really?? So you weren’t reading any of the posts in this thread until this point?
So just to clarify, you’ve never heard any Wilson speaker either at a dealer (which is where they are sold) or anywhere else?
 

DanielT

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Same size?
Probably not.
which one is recommended?
Not exactly the same shape and size of course but a regular small two way speaker.

Amir has tested many two-way speakers. Check it out and you will see.:)
This one measures about the same. A little EQ on it and it will be good. It's yummy for the wallet.


However, with these, I do not really understand what Amir came up with in terms of levels of distortion. But if it's ok (the distortion), for the price, then it's going to be another yummy on my part.:)
 

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thewas

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Magico A1 has sealed bass, and bass response is very similar to "plugged" TuneTot! Another similarity is the on-axis notch around 4kHz, which is compensated by wide radiation in that range. Depression above 10khz is typical for all Magicos, sad to say.

I would choose Magico A1, because of my sympathy for sealed designs, and esthetics.
At least on the Magico you get for similar money also a 6061-T6 aluminium enclosure with a total weight of 22 Kg per loudspeaker and a Beryllium tweeter, imho no comparison in value for money. https://www.audio-components.de/assets/Uploads/Magico-A1-stereoplay-11-2021.pdf
 

zeppzeppzepp

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Not exactly the same shape and size of course but a regular small two way speaker.

Amir has tested many two-way speakers. Check it out and you will see.:)
This one measures about the same. A little EQ on it and it will be good. It's yummy for the wallet.


However, with these, I do not really understand what Amir came up with in terms of levels of distortion. But if it's ok (the distortion), for the price, then it's going to be another yummy on my part.:)

OK, I've expected to see Genelec or Neumann......
Lower range wharfedales? No, thanks.......sound like cardboard speakers.......
 

MrHifiTunes

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The ASR in-room chart is still just a calculation, if Amir likes (or not) some speakers in his room, then why he not shows his actual measured in-room responses and then compare them to the calculated in-room responses? That would be interesting I think.
Yes interesting if he could do it for all the speakers he evaluate. Then you can compare them properly. But still don't know how they preform in your room.

That's why we have the standard on-room calculation. It's the same in the end.
 

DWI

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Is that your normal way to decide to spend 10k on things?

This is exactly why selling speakers in carparks from unmarked vans works...
Yes.

We go to manufacturer’s own stores (we have Nissan cars, Nissan operate their own dealers) or authorised dealers (with audio), or buy from the manufacturer direct (as with my turntable). My only interest in the manufacturer is if I can expect support/repair over the expected life of the product. I suspect I am in the majority.

I know as much about the designers of our speakers as I do about our cars, which is almost nothing. Bought them the same way, by taking them for a test drive.
 

MrHifiTunes

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It's x10 or x20 for speakers having better engeneering.
Mackie. Krk, presonus, Neumann, focal, infinity, jbl, revel, kef.....
Wake up!
What is better? Look at the in room response what could be improved? And again dont focus on the bass bump.

This design had a different approach then what we are used too. They lower directed sound in specific areas at 1-3k and fill it with indirect sound to make it balanced again. Hence the flat in room response.

A trick which seems to work quiet well in a reflective room if you read the different listening tests
 

DanielT

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OK, I've expected to see Genelec or Neumann......
Lower range wharfedales? No, thanks.......sound like cardboard speakers.......
cardboard speakers...? I do not know. They sound as they measure, you see the test.Wharfedale Diamond 220.There you get where you pay for, reasonable price.:)

Of course Genelec or Neumann but they play in another division. I took Wharfedale Diamond 220 because they were some that were similar to TuneTot, in terms of how they measure, that is, sounds.:)
 
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thewas

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What is better? Look at the in room response what could be improved? And again dont focus on the bass bump.
And again the PIR is not enough to show a great loudspeaker design if like in this case the poor directivity is compensated with a poor on-axis/LW response.

And again, almost everything is objectively poor on this loudspeaker, even if it would cost one tenth, not to speak at its current price, on-axis/listening window, directivity, bass depth, bass distortion. I have no problem if someone likes its looks, voicing, company or whatever else, but trying to convince its objectively good really is just a joke.
 

MrHifiTunes

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You are not passing my question over and over again because you have not measured it with foam plugs and there is no graph of the née measurmen. Every thing you say on the top of it is just escaping with some stick man’s argument
You can not read the graph? It said SAME WITH PORT CLOSED.
 

MrHifiTunes

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There is nothing constructive to say about this speaker. At its price is a horrible speaker. That can be the most constructive thing I can say about it.
Then you better stop posting. We already know your point of view....it doenst help anyone
 

Robin L

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I've got two separate & indelible memories of hearing Wilson Audio Tiny Tots. That would be the first iteration of the Wilson Audio sound, the one that kick-started the enterprise.

First was at Skywalker Ranch studios, mid 1990s. The engineer/producer overseeing the project [big orchestral stuff] brought in his Panasonic 3700 DAT loaded with a recent orchestral concert he recorded to check out the studio's monitors. The speakers spat out a whole lot of stuff around 4k-8k---a real obvious boost---so that everything had a crusty texture. The engineer/producer then switched the WATTs out for something British & small & polite for the rest of the sessions.

I suspect that designing a mini-monitor for remote recording that made the nastiest, glariest region of sound stick out like a sore thumb could be useful, in theory. I mean, if you want a smooth sounding recording, it's got potential. And developing speakers for remote monitoring was the initial incentive for the whole enterprise. The fact that it managed to morph---"Transformer" like---into something twisted, hideous and obscene is an essay to be writ by another scribe. In any case, the fact of the Sony V-6/7506 being a popular tool in pro audio ought to say enough right there. Sometimes you gotta focus on the nasty stuff.

The other was at John Curl's apartment, [2000] with some sort of cloth covering the tweeters of his WATTS [he really bitched about that], his [first rate] audio system set up to show off his "CTC Blowtorch" preamp---a hotrod, two-chassis line stage with a Valhalla phono pre on steroids attached, cost no object as regards parts, military build on everything. There was a Linn Sondek LP-12, it was tweaked, to the max, low-output moving coil [natch], Micro-Benz, as I recall. Parasound amplification, can't recall particulars otherwise. And that, playing $2 [WEA] used LPs from Amoeba [Berkeley, greatest record store ever, and nearly down the street from where JC lived at the time] happened to have the best audio reproduction I have heard so far, proving that bumblebees can fly, after all.
 
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