Wilson Audio TuneTot Review (high-end bookshelf speaker)

[watchnerd]

Amazing to me all the pants-soiling going on over the recommendation of a speaker that doesn't fit their individual biases.

I don't know if it's that, or the fact that Amir said semi nice things.

It is pretty funny to get so worked up about how others spend their entertainment money.

 

[PierreV]

Sorted now , everyone out there needs to thank me for making them better BTW... thats everyone who actually listens to music and wants to feel something other than self granulation..

Maybe not a huge crowd on a audiophile site admittedly but I'm sure some of you ...

I still have mine. They haven't disintegrated yet since they last did. But hey, it was just a flesh wound

 

[watchnerd]

Are the Micro’s a Jones design I thought the CR1 and Ref were his?
Keith

You might be right, actually.

 

[Thomas savage]

You might be right, actually.

They were put out well after he left . Looked more like his pioneer work if anything.

Well the evolution towers did , ... at least i think he did some pioneer towers too, one of the brands under that banner of TAD at the time .

 

[Purité Audio]

I was all set to import TAD, Andrew was at Munich every year with them in the same room until one year he forgot to book the room, TAD appointed a brand ‘ambassador’ whatever that is and proceeded to appoint distributors willy nilly, I remember speaking to Andrew who was in his car driving along Santa Monica boulevard it all seemed pretty glamorous !
Keith

 

[Purité Audio]

The Pioneer TADs are really good, and much cheaper of course their drivers were labelled ‘TAD’.
Keith

 

[watchnerd]

I was all set to import TAD, Andrew was at Munich every year with them in the same room until one year he forgot to book the room, TAD appointed a brand ‘ambassador’ whatever that is and proceeded to appoint distributors willy nilly, I remember speaking to Andrew who was in his car driving along Santa Monica boulevard it all seemed pretty glamorous !
Keith

I have no regrets for the time in my life spent living on an apartment on the beach in Santa Monica between the ages of 27-31.

The selling point was that you could see them film "Bay Watch" from my balcony.

Big downgrade when I later moved to Boeblingen, just outside Stuttgart.

 

[Purité Audio]

Your life mirrors Andrew’s from California to Elac!
Keith

 

[MrHifiTunes]

It is the first time I see that dip at 1k and 3 k thought. 5db dip. Can you point out other designs which show this? Just for educational purposes

this is the response of the MA he did a few days ago. Dont see those dips there. this one looks like normal xo slopes to me.

is it the same thing? the dips are steep with Wilson those are more shallow. Also the steelp dip from the tweeter which these don't have.

 

[Robin L]

I don't know if it's that, or the fact that Amir said semi nice things.

It is pretty funny to get so worked up about how others spend their entertainment money.

When one deems oneself to be in the position to cast judgement on the luxury expenditures of audiophiles, Wilson Audio Speakers are among the first objects to be derided. There's a number of factors here. To begin [obviously], the exorbitant price. Second, their hideous appearance [not to mention weight]. And finally, their ubiquity in the pages of Stereophile as the ne plus ultra of audiophilia. If one is in the mood to fire off a jeremiad on the inherent immorality of cost-no object home entertainment, Wilson Audio Speakers are usually at the top of the list of offenders, along with Mikey.

On the other hand, Henry Rollins likes them, so go figure.

 

[DanielT]

So the differences all comes from the beginning.
I can play almost any lousy recordings on my systems.
My criterion for speakers is simple, it need to be played very loud and can endure all the bass thumping recordings.
Then all the cheap speakers with typical distortion and enclosure resonance are out of my sight.
No tiny speakers even Genelec or Neumann, maybe I could like the largest ones.
So what's about the science? I know what parameters I need to care about and that's all.
Is there any rewarding to train myself to be an expert that loving high scored flat-response small speakers?
Because that can change my thinking to be more scientific? No, thanks.
That's interesting.

"So the differences all comes from the beginning"

If you are a bass head, drive with many subwoofers.

Of course, science is a good support. How else to find out what is appropriate? That and the experiences that follow from it. You saw for yourself the calculator for suitable (sufficient) power amplifiers, as well as how to take the dynamics of the music into account. How else would you figure it out? Test lots of amplifiers, unnecessarily?

Another example, measurements. How good modern DACs are, learn where the limit for the audible is, so you do not have to put any major money on DAC. Such a thing, about DAC, never appears on forums that address Hifi from a purely subjective point of view.

Then as I believe in principle everyone says: The powder should, as usual, be placed on the speakers (and EQ).

EQ subwoffer you will not get around.

There was nothing new under the sun regarding what I just wrote above.Then comes the finesse, the details, settings and so on. It's lucky that ASR exists so to get tips and advice from more knowledgeable and experienced people.I benefit greatly from that in any case. Fun to learn as well.

 

[MrHifiTunes]

Of course you realize the probability of happenstance is far greater than that of clever engineering. Engineering a situation in which ragged FR and ragged DI sum together to create a pleasant listening experience would be the absolute longest and most arduous way to reach the goal, and it would likely fail.

Also, as long as you are inside the directivity window, its smoothness matters very little. As these are wide directivity speakers, it is common to be inside the window. I think you are making way too much of the "wobbly-ness" of the DI.

Fair...I can understand that for the directivity.
Although I do not know much about the directivity window, but I can asume that at a certain point good is good enough.

But those FR slopes dips of 10-15db would really be unacceptable if they are not filled in with the directivity. I would never think that Amir would say he prefer it more then M106. He would not even call it good.
these are not BBC dip which add some flavour some like or dislike.

So Im still hungry to learn how and why

 

[watchnerd]

On the other hand, Henry Rollins likes them, so go figure.

Between Henry liking Wilson and Beyonce liking Devialet, I'm not sure who to trust.

 

[zeppzeppzepp]

"So the differences all comes from the beginning"

If you are a bass head, drive with many subwoofers.

Of course, science is a good support. How else to find out what is appropriate? That and the experiences that follow from it. You saw for yourself the calculator for suitable (sufficient) power amplifiers, as well as how to take the dynamics of the music into account. How else would you figure it out? Test lots of amplifiers, unnecessarily?

Another example, measurements. How good modern DACs are, learn where the limit for the audible is, so you do not have to put any major money on DAC. Such a thing, about DAC, never appears on forums that address Hifi from a purely subjective point of view.

Then as I believe in principle everyone says: The powder should, as usual, be placed on the speakers (and EQ).

EQ subwoffer you will not get around.

I would never argue the measurements for electronics, that's really simple, good or failed.......

Subs can solve nothing. Only pairing subs to real capable speakers is valid.

 

[DanielT]

I would never argue the measurements for electronics, that's really simple, good or failed.......

Subs can solve nothing. Only pairing subs to real capable speakers is valid.

Sure how many subs are needed, plus sensible integration is certainly something to think about.

Good speakers, of course without it there will be no good sound. I do not even have to hover with the answer:
Everyone thinks so.

In addition, you can only EQ the sound to a certain level. If the speaker itself has high distortion, it has. There is nothing you can do about it.

Edit:
My guess is based on what you write, what you like::,Electrostatic speakers are not for you, but you could certainly recommend some to someone who appreciates the sound they produce.
So it's a matter of taste.

 

[DWI]

The 40th Anniversary and XD models do sound just a touch clearer due to the less intrusive? crossovers, but I do agree they're large (for some UK rooms including mine) lumps to fit in - delightful midrange though. Heck, depending on what we end up doing here I'll be reduced to the pencil or column type B&O actives which can be got for little money now, the column 6000's being perfect for close to corner siting, the 8000's on a long wall and the rather excellent 4000's on tall stands or a shelf (slightly larger bass driver so less eq needed).

I had the 40th anniversary because they came in walnut, for a walnut room, all of which has now gone to woody heaven. Being a scientific website, so I'm told, I can describe Wilson Sabrina as Harbeth SHL5+ 40th AE with more top and bottom end and better imaging, but much the same tonality including that gorgeous midrange that seems to make most music effortless (except, I presume, heavy metal). When I die and am reincarnated as a visually impaired Goth I'll consider Genelec, but not before then. Wilson make me realise how "safe" Harbeth are, but in a good way, and both are undemanding on amplification, unlike Focal, which really needed more horsepower than I have on hand.

If I get some illness or disease that gives me incurable shakes such that I can't operate a turntable, then I might go active + Alexa. I already have Alexa active throughout the house from speakers that are 40hz (-6db) to 25khz and the size of a 1lb jam jar. Rather than support poor struggling engineers as suggested by @Crosstalk, the speaker was designed by a chap who was Chief Engineer of B&W for two decades, before founding Vivid Audio. As I mentioned pages ago, I expect the system soon to go multi-channel with Dolby Atmos. I have high hopes for Dolby Atmos as cinema has driven so much sound technology, starting with stereo in the 1930s, and it is ideal for headphones and automotive audio, which is where the money is.

 

[watchnerd]

Your life mirrors Andrew’s from California to Elac!
Keith

It was all part of the secret pact we made at Davos.

 

[Purité Audio]

It was all part of the secret pact we made at Davos.

The leader of the Darleks?
( that could be too much of a U.K centric reference)
Keith

 

[thewas]

Where am I talking about EQ-ing? I miss that part. I know that you can not flatten directivity with EQ. I have no intention to do so. It would ruin this design.

Compromising and adapting on a loudspeaker design the on-axis response to compensate for directivity problems is nothing different then when the user uses EQ to do smoothen the LP FR, they are not fully successful attempts and will never make it a great loudspeaker.

 

[watchnerd]

The leader of the Darleks?
( that could be too much of a U.K centric reference)
Keith

Because of a bad dating relationship, I'm fluent in Who