Wilson Audio TuneTot Review (high-end bookshelf speaker)

[Bob from Florida]

The majority of ASR members with their mindless, collective heads firmly implanted in their backsides need to seriously go and experience, spend time with and actually listen to a decent pair of Wilson Audio speakers.

A good friend of mine has a pair of Sashas and they never cease to amaze me, and and anchor reality when it comes to where you can go and what you can achieve in high fidelity.

Ugly as sin, but incredible speakers. Combined with excellent amplification in a good room and you approach domestic audio reproduction nirvana.

I have a friend with Alexia V's and they are the best sounding speakers I've heard. Way out of my price range but a treat to hear.

One thing about these speaker reviews - I think it would be useful to listen before measurements with no EQ and no potential bias for or against by knowing the measurements. A "blind" listen of sorts.

 

[teched58]

The new Sasha V looks pretty cool
View attachment 295363View attachment 295364View attachment 295365

My goodness, Wilson speakers are uniformly hideous. I'm trying to imagine what sense of style/fashion a woman who would allow these things in her house might have. The very thought scares me.

 

[MattHooper]

I just hope the silly young and ignorant ASR followers would get out of their dank basements, eschew their mindless belief in a few subwoofers and a pair of piss-ant 6" 2 way speakers that tested fine OK on a Klippel robot, and actually listen to some real loudspeakers. They'd learn a few things.

"Shots Fired."


Wilson speakers have been controversial among audiophiles forever. Simultaneously held up as state of the art by some, a target for derision by others who saw them as a chance to point out the emperor has no clothes "Wilsons are so expensive, but I've heard them and they suck!"

Somehow I have rarely managed to cross paths with Wilson speakers. A local high end place had them for years back in the 90's but I just remember it was one of the giant towering pairs. I have a fairly vivid memory of a jazz piece played through the speakers and a fairly stunning sense of virtual reality, especially in the reproduction of the saxophone. But that's it.

Fremer, it's well known, uses big Wilson speakers. I know virtually no one here puts stock in anything Fremer writes. But my view is that he has heard/reviewed a gazzilion speakers, including those that measure really well and those that don't, and his descriptions of loudspeaker characteristics tend to match what I've heard. So my bet would be I'd find the sound in his "dialed in" set up to be impressive. (JA has remarked about being impressed).

Finally it looks like I'll be able to hear some new Wilsons as my friend might be getting some in for a listen. Looking forward to it, if it happens.

 

[maverickronin]

My goodness, Wilson speakers are uniformly hideous. I'm trying to imagine what sense of style/fashion a woman who would allow these things in her house might have. The very thought scares me.

I knew a woman on another audiophile forum who loved Wilsons and wanted a pair...

 

[MattHooper]

My goodness, Wilson speakers are uniformly hideous. I'm trying to imagine what sense of style/fashion a woman who would allow these things in her house might have. The very thought scares me.

And yet many in this forum lust after professional monitor speakers like Genelec:

Which I find distinctly off-putting.

I can see why some find the Wilson speakers to be ugly. Even their shorter floor standing speakers seem not far from a slightly futuristic public trash can.

But still, fit, finish and fine looking materials can go a long way to upgrading the look of a speaker. I'd take the look of the Wilson Sabrina speakers over the
plastic-butt-hole look of the Genelecs any day:

 

[Pearljam5000]

And yet many in this forum lust after professional monitor speakers like Genelec:

Which I find distinctly off-putting.

I can see why some find the Wilson speakers to be ugly. Even their shorter floor standing speakers seem not far from a slightly futuristic public trash can.

But still, fit, finish and fine looking materials can go a long way to upgrading the look of a speaker. I'd take the look of the Wilson Sabrina speakers over the
plastic-butt-hole look of the Genelecs any day:

The irony is that the Genelecs are aluminum and the Wilsons are indeed plastic or whatever that X materiel is

 

[Pearljam5000]

The only really distracting thing about Wilsons is that black foam/ rug on the front
I mean come on
You're a hi end audio company
You can design somethings without it

 

[Leif]

I've been listening to the Decoding The Gurus podcast, the hosts being a Aussie Psychologist and Northern Irish cognitive anthropologist.

A year ago I was in a changing room, and someone said something to me. I hadn’t a clue what he said, and asked him to repeat, several times, but no joy. He was Northern Irish. When he spoke to his friends, I did not understand one single word. Their English colleague translated for me.

Aussie is very variable, from posh semi English to hard core strine.

 

[MattHooper]

The irony is that the Genelecs are aluminum and the Wilsons are indeed plastic or whatever that X materiel is

That is ironic! Amazing how they made aluminum look so plasticy

I presume the Wilsons are MDF, but coated with apparently some "automobile-finish-level" something or other. Whatever the view of the design, most who see Wilsons close up seem to admit the finish seems very high quality.

 

[Pearljam5000]

That is ironic! Amazing how they made aluminum look so plasticy

I presume the Wilsons are MDF, but coated with apparently some "automobile-finish-level" something or other. Whatever the view of the design, most who see Wilsons close up seem to admit the finish seems very high quality.

The rumor is that it's a type of Corian or synthetic resin or something

 

[Leif]

I seriously doubt they can for all recordings. Some might be great because of the unintentional remastering, others terrible.

I had some PMC twenty.21 which had a not dissimilar frequency response. With classical, folk and jazz, they were amazing, very realistic. They were lousy with metal, hard rock, and oddly enough Joni Mitchell, whose voice sounded weird. I can’t see these working unless there is some weird interaction with the room that sorts them out.

 

[BlackTalon]

The essence of the philosophy is if it doesn't measure well then it doesn't / shouldn't sound good

????? I thought the philosophy was if it doesn't measure well it is not faithful/ transparent. And 'sound good' is subjective and does not correlate with transparent. I have seen it repeated numerous times on ASR that 'pleasant sounding' is an individual thing, and usually strays from neutral. Lots of people like a yellow/ warmish tint, etc. But that's something left best as an additive to a neutral/ transparent system -- tune it to your individual preference. Designing neutral/ transparent systems should be the goal, then let the user dial in their preference.

 

[pablolie]

"Shots Fired."


Wilson speakers have been controversial among audiophiles forever. Simultaneously held up as state of the art by some, a target for derision by others who saw them as a chance to point out the emperor has no clothes "Wilsons are so expensive, but I've heard them and they suck!"
...

Which isn't that unusual in audio. I like measurements as much as the next guy to establish if something is competently designed. But I'll still listen closely to stuff and make up my mind, which as a typical rule results in me thinking "OK so I don't miss the details, some may be presented a bit differently, but all in all this is a minimal change if any."

My experience with Wilson is limited to showrooms, and like I said before, I think they're designed to "impress" with a little boost here and there - total neutrality never seemed to be their ultimate design goal. But those are superficial impressions. But I'd certainly dispute that they sound "bad", I have no reason to love them, yet I enjoyed them. The 3 or 4 I listened to (big boxes) certainly presented big bass, which is a top consideration for many audio aficionados (not me personally, I think 20Hz is for FX and/or trying to attract a female blue whale to mate) (and yes, I know there are a few organs around the planet that have 20Hz, but I don't like organ music to begin with).

 

[YSDR]

The only really distracting thing about Wilsons is that black foam/ rug on the front
I mean come on
You're a hi end audio company
You can design somethings without itView attachment 295422View attachment 295423

The foam is there because they are unable to develop a proper... you know... waveguide for the tweeter.

 

[GXAlan]

The essence of the philosophy is if it doesn't measure well then it doesn't / shouldn't sound good

I think that’s a bit too rigid but I would love @amirm to do a dedicated post or video.

I think it’s that

1- “if it measures well, it will sound transparent to the recording and transparency is an ideal place to start since it’s preferred by most and can be seasoned to taste with tone controls/EQ”

2- “if it measures poorly, it’s unpredictable how it will sound because it’s no longer transparent ”

3- “if there is no difference in measurements, there is no difference in sound*”

(Or better stated, if the measured difference is well below the threshold of audibility (cables, AC line conditioners,) there is no difference in sound.

4- since it’s possible to get “measures well” and “not expensive”, we should try to get companies to improve measurements if they are also charging premiums *or* if they are insisting that measures poorly but is preferred despite a lack of transparency, be detectable with blind testing.

Vinyl or R2R vs CD is a good example of that. I think Amir is not a vinyl fan but he does have a R2R setup and he has said that it can sound really good. Easily ABX’able and clearly there are preferences.

Tube distortion or Pass Labs distortion hasn’t actually been proven yet.
DSD distortion hasn’t been proven yet either.

5 - Transparency is objectively assessed with measurements. Individual preference for transparency can differ from majority/population preference. That’s OK too.

 

[MattHooper]

Which isn't that unusual in audio. I like measurements as much as the next guy to establish if something is competently designed. But I'll still listen closely to stuff and make up my mind, which as a typical rule results in me thinking "OK so I don't miss the details, some may be presented a bit differently, but all in all this is a minimal change if any."

My experience with Wilson is limited to showrooms, and like I said before, I think they're designed to "impress" with a little boost here and there - total neutrality never seemed to be their ultimate design goal. But those are superficial impressions. But I'd certainly dispute that they sound "bad", I have no reason to love them, yet I enjoyed them. The 3 or 4 I listened to (big boxes) certainly presented big bass, which is a top consideration for many audio aficionados (not me personally, I think 20Hz is for FX and/or trying to attract a female blue whale to mate) (and yes, I know there are a few organs around the planet that have 20Hz, but I don't like organ music to begin with).

I'm the same: I want to hear to make up my mind. I understand why it's reasonable for some people to buy speakers just on specs/measurements. I like to actually hear a product to see if I like it. Some coloration indicated in the measurements might not be as audible or intrusive as it "looks," perhaps once all the other characteristics of the speaker is brought to bear. It's not easy, at least for me, to perfectly predict the sound of a speaker or if I'll really want to buy it, solely on the measurements.

I was listening to some of my records on a very expensive set up yesterday and...however it measures...I would not prefer it to what I have at home. Back home the same album just hit all my pleasure buttons. Especially there were some female back up vocals that I found to sound hardened and artificial and "not quite right" in timbre on the expensive system, but on mine they immediately struck me as "yes, THAT sounds like a female vocalist!"

Totally subjective, with whatever mash up of biases might be involved, but...I'm just looking to please my own perception anyway.

 

[cavedriver]

As my Irish friend would say, “oouse can awl get fooocked”

you're Irish friend? Are you sure you don't mean your neighbor from Philly?

 

[Axo1989]

The foam is there because they are unable to develop a proper... you know... waveguide for the tweeter.

Well (excuse the pun) the foam isn't there at all. It's felt.

And yet many in this forum lust after professional monitor speakers like Genelec:

Which I find distinctly off-putting.

I think the blending of the coaxial and the waveguide is very nicely done myself. The hidden woofers too, I prefer not to see too many drivers on the front baffle. The rest of the box has a clumsiness to it however. When I found out they were designed by Harri Koskinen (his block lamp is famed) I was surprised at first, but can see his hand in it. They are very-form-follows function of course. My own speakers may sacrifice some function for more idealised form (a sharp-edged parallelepiped rectangular prism with a slight rearward lean is a mouthful) more like up-market KEF reference than Blade. I'm more than fine with that. I have to look at them too. For hours at a time some days.

I can see why some find the Wilson speakers to be ugly. Even their shorter floor standing speakers seem not far from a slightly futuristic public trash can.

But still, fit, finish and fine looking materials can go a long way to upgrading the look of a speaker. I'd take the look of the Wilson Sabrina speakers over the
plastic-butt-hole look of the Genelecs any day:

I'm not a fan of the aesthetic of the larger multi-box Wilsons so much, but I think the Sabrina is one of the nicest looking speakers made currently. I'd love a pair (I've never actually heard a Wilson speaker though).

 

[Killingbeans]

I really like the look of Sabrina and Yvette. Probably some of the best looking high-end speakers in my book.

Genelec 8351B on its own is absolutely fugly. On its side, on top of a W371A it's not quite as bad, but still very utilitarian.

A beauty compared to the transformer Wilsons though...

 

[Axo1989]

The irony is that the Genelecs are aluminum and the Wilsons are indeed plastic or whatever that X materiel is

Haha true, but calling Wilsons plastic is like calling Genelecs tinfoil. Also true, but masses of it. As old mate was fond of saying, quantity has a quality all its own.