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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

Galliardist

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Yes. The 'cutting edge design' not just deviates from common wisdom, but it frankly contradicts any established 'good practice'


> reflex tuning at about 90Hz, lower bass than that leads to extreme excursion, hence strong harmonic distortion and intermodulation
> big hump in bass response generates exagerated group delay, hence vastly inferior 'impulse response', if there is an ideal


> obviously the tweeter is out of phase, most probably with a shallow slope to make it more effective. Floor bounce is, around 1kHz, some 8dB stronger than direct sound.
> diffraction sideways again, way more sound towards the room bounderies than direct

This is, assumably, intended. It renders the speaker most sensitive to room placement. It sounds different, of course, in any place.

The philosophy reminds me of experiments with square wheels on a car. It has been done. Yes, it adds a lot of drama and excitement to the experience of driving. But would anybody choose such for daily commuting?

Same here. I can tell, because I often had failed designs on my bench. Namely my own DIY stuff, doing it for decades. These errors don't sound too bad for about a day or two. But then, hmm, nasty it appears more and more. Would anybody, after the purchase of a 10k speaker pair admit the wrong decision?

My advice would be to stay away from 'alternative wisdom' in speaker design, how fancy it may appear. Better stick to standards like Neuman 120A for 800$ each, active, digital. That would spare tons of cash for other excitements like sky diving, scuba diving, a yacht even. Let alone the music.
Thanks for the detailed response.

I’d just like to point out that my question which you picked up on, was referring to DanielT’s post above yours that referred to the Alexx, and not your post at all - I habn’t seen yours at the time!
 

phoenixdogfan

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Hm, futuristic? Or no, ..just ugly.

Usually, these speakers have a fairly high voltage sensitivity and a relatively low distortion, which is a good starting point for a dynamic sound. A prerequisite, however, is that the speakers are powered by a relatively current-capable amplifier because the impedance is usually low. An excessive midbas and some irregularities in higher registers give the illusion of a more dynamic sound, but only if one is not paying attention.

By the way, I have not heard a Wilson Audio creation that has sounded particularly good, regardless of price.
_____
Technical consultant in acoustics and audio technology


The WP III's sounded good, with absolute pinpoint imagining (but a miniaturized sound stage). Everything after that had the sonic equivalent of a Loony Tunes color palette.
 

srrxr71

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These kinds of products on ASR exist for only one reason: for us to laugh at.

Those of us who are recovered from the audiophile disease can also take the time to be be thankful.
 

Surge

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More absolute Garbage from this site.
Lots of pretty graphs showing nonsense. Tons of issues, but let’s start with:
1. the ”robotic” NFS measurement device - you cannot accurately subtract room reflections from the direct sound measurement, which is why no real pros do this. The math quite frankly has not been invented yet to do this properly. So right off the bat, this “test” is a complete joke.
2. room temp was 14C? What? You don’t listen to a loudspeaker in 14C/57F rooms, they are designed for at least 18C. Normal room temp is 20C/68F
3. Aligned “by eye” to the speaker center, which the tester guessed -wrongly - is the tweeter. Wilson states the center is not the tweeter. Read the manual, for starters.

Most of this site is a DISASTER. It’s where those who can’t afford, or don’t want to, pay for high-end audio come to lament the fact that these products suck. So wrong. It’s actually laughable.

You guys have no idea what you’re missing out on!
 

Doodski

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1. the ”robotic” NFS measurement device - you cannot accurately subtract room reflections from the direct sound measurement, which is why no real pros do this. The math quite frankly has not been invented yet to do this properly. So right off the bat, this “test” is a complete joke.
What math do you speak of that has not been invented yet?
 

Vintage57

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Weeb Labs

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More absolute Garbage from this site.
Lots of pretty graphs showing nonsense. Tons of issues, but let’s start with:
1. the ”robotic” NFS measurement device - you cannot accurately subtract room reflections from the direct sound measurement, which is why no real pros do this. The math quite frankly has not been invented yet to do this properly. So right off the bat, this “test” is a complete joke.
It is all described within Klippel's whitepaper, which you don't appear to have read. I would recommend that you do that.
 

Digby

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2. room temp was 14C? What? You don’t listen to a loudspeaker in 14C/57F rooms, they are designed for at least 18C. Normal room temp is 20C/68F
This might be a good point. Why was the room so cold?
 

Somafunk

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You guys have no idea what you’re missing out on!

I had a look at your 9 post history, now you’re going on ignore
 

C. Cook

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I had a look at your 9 post history, now you’re going on ignore
I liked this one in particular:

"Hahahahah. I have not laughed so hard at a thread in a long time. Some of you are delusional. YES, digital cables make a difference. But not as much on sh!tty gear. So that is likely your problem. And the apparent fact that you prefer to wallow in ignorance. Do yourselves a favor - listen to them. But if you can’t or don’t want to pay for better gear, then don’t. But stop spreading lies."

Which is saying that there's an audible difference between digital cables that are correctly manufactured. Talk about spreading lies...
 

richard12511

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oh a nice juicy necro of one of the spiciest threads ever!

popcorn time!
9 post account. I suspect this is either an alt account for an existing member who has beef with the truths that this site exposes, or a member of another forum who as the same beef. Probably someone who believes that "every component in the chain matters".
 

BDWoody

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You guys have no idea what you’re missing out on!

And I guess we never will, since we won't have you around to help us with these informative, insightful posts any longer.

So sorry you had to go.
 

heflys20

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Jul 24, 2021
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Most of this site is a DISASTER. It’s where those who can’t afford, or don’t want to, pay for high-end audio come to lament the fact that these products suck. So wrong. It’s actually laughable.

You guys have no idea what you’re missing out on!
No offense, but I have "no idea" what you're trying to say in that last paragraph. Are people lamenting the fact that they can't afford certain pieces of equipment, or that many expensive products actually suck?
 
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