Wilson Audio TuneTot Review (high-end bookshelf speaker)

[MattHooper]

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.

I'm trying to tell my wife that, but she still keeps hinting I have to go on a diet.

 

[Axo1989]

I'm trying to tell my wife that, but she still keeps hinting I have to go on a diet.

Oh no !! Not appreciating the quantity of your quality then?

 

[Pearljam5000]

The larger Wilsons are instant divorce for sure

 

[Doodski]

The larger Wilsons are instant divorce for sure View attachment 295515View attachment 295516View attachment 295517

It might be justifiable! Those are some nice looking speakers!

 

[restorer-john]

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

I agree. I much prefer the single cabinet in those models.

 

[CleanSound]

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

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 Genelec & DD are indeed eye sores. But looks like a lot of people in this forum just don't seem to be bother. One member even said he would be ok if an amp was in a case made of cardboard if it wasn't for RF causing noise. So there you have it.

 

[RayDunzl]

Most people think of Mercedes when they think about luxury cars

Years ago, someone told me:

"Americans think of Mercedes as luxury cars.

The rest of the world thinks of them as Taxis"

 

[YSDR]

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

Okay, it's felt, if you felt better (pun intended, sorry ) from that! But the purpose is the same. It's there to limit the dispersion of the tweeter to get less unwanted diffractions from the cabinet edges. But we can see how uneven the frequency response of these Wilson speakers in the range that is covered by the tweeter, partly because they use felt (or foam or whatever damping material) and not a proper waveguide. Yeah, this is a Wilson Audio speciality (ahh, a pun again ).

 

[Axo1989]

The purpose is the same. It's there to limit the dispersion of the tweeter to get less unwanted diffractions from the cabinet edges. But we can see how uneven the frequency response of these speakers in the range that is covered by the tweeter, partly because they use felt (or foam or whatever damping material) and not a proper waveguide.

Oh god you are serious aren't you. No it was a joke (about new-fangled plastics vs old-skool materials, foam vs felt). The opening pun didn't get you in the mood?

Ah you top'n'tailed the post now ... maybe lighter touch on your puns, way too obvious.

 

[Galliardist]

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

Most of the materials they use seem to be synthetic stone or resin based. You can see that in this video (found quickly - I think there's a better one somewhere in this thread already if you want to go through all 80-odd pages to find it)

 

[Mart68]

The Genelec & DD are indeed eye sores. But looks like a lot of people in this forum just don't seem to be bother. One member even said he would be ok with an amp was in case made of cardboard if it wasn't for RF causing noise. So there you have it.

for me the D&D look fine and I like the look of the Genelec. I don't have a problem with any of the Wilsons either. They're not pretty but not objectionable.

Vivid Gaya now that's a speaker I would turn away on looks alone but some love them. There's no point in arguing aesthetics.

 

[Doodski]

for me the D&D look fine and I like the look of the Genelec. I don't have a problem with any of the Wilsons either. They're not pretty but not objectionable.

Vivid Gaya now that's a speaker I would turn away on looks alone but some love them. There's no point in arguing aesthetics.

Those Wilson towers would dominate a room and be a conversation piece for sure. There's no hiding them or subtleness about them. I like them.

 

[Mart68]

Those Wilson towers would dominate a room and be a conversation piece for sure. There's no hiding them or subtleness about them. I like them.

I like them in the white finish but I could live with the other colours. It's form following function and that appeals to me, I like the Technics SL1200 for the same reason.

 

[Doodski]

I like them in the white finish but I could live with the other colours. It's form following function and that appeals to me, I like the Technics SL1200 for the same reason.

I have had white speakers and they look good.

 

[Leif]

I can’t help thinking they are Veblen goods. I’m not saying someone might not like them, in fact they might really like them, but the price bears no relation to the cost of design and production. Okay, that’s not quite true, at that price they will sell in small quantities, and hence the cost of design will be spread over few units. And with Veblen goods, scarcity is key.

 

[Killingbeans]

There's no hiding them

https://www.acoustimac.com/acoustic-insulation-materials/acoustically-transparent-fabric

 

[CleanSound]

for me the D&D look fine and I like the look of the Genelec. I don't have a problem with any of the Wilsons either. They're not pretty but not objectionable.

Vivid Gaya now that's a speaker I would turn away on looks alone but some love them. There's no point in arguing aesthetics.

Agreed, you can argue until the cows comes home on aesthetics, it's a matter of personal choice.

 

[Galliardist]

The larger Wilsons are instant divorce for sure View attachment 295515View attachment 295516View attachment 295517

I'm sure they can say "Take me to your leader" with perfect fidelity...

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

In that this is a review of the smallest Wilson speaker, perhaps a bit odd that the Wam Bam Thank you Mam models are being discussed.
Isn't it true to say that the largest speakers are to be used in baronial halls and such, where they would be barely noticed?

 

[Galliardist]

In that this is a review of the smallest Wilson speaker, perhaps a bit odd that the Wam Bam Thank you Mam models are being discussed.
Isn't it true to say that the largest speakers are to be used in baronial halls and such, where they would be barely noticed?

Wilson are, as you can see, polarising in many ways. Brands like Wilson and D'Agostino and a few others are, for many, the very "enemy" that people come here to get away from.

In fact, for many escapees from the high end, Wilson were once the brand they aspired to, precisely for the reasons that they now mock them for, I guess.

The big speakers and all the other high end stuff, there is an actual market for. Now, the following is guesswork but not necessarily so far out.

Let's say that there are around 800 million people living in developed countries, that two percent of that number could buy a Chronosonic without even noticing, and that eleven percent of that number (as in the general US population) actually own a stereo system. This is conservative, because in that sector of the population you don't have to decide whether to have a stereo or some other recreational item instead. Let's see: we're talking two million people, before we get to those who do have to at least think about it.

Wilson get 1% of that market and most buy the top model, they sell 20000. Now, I bet they don't get that number of sales of that model, but this is fantasy economics after all, and they may have something like that as a target for the top three models in the range.

The cheapest floorstander is in the range of a much larger market who will aspire to having a Wilson (but as audiophiles they will want to listen to lots of other speakers first... so their market share will be smaller accordingly).

Wilson do something rather interesting. They often launch a model, it stays low down in their range a year or two, and then they "revise" it and double the price. I presume this is a deliberate strategy - they regularly have something new for the entry level, and it looks like they are perfectionists who work on ways to improve everything.

But what of these TuneTot things? I don't think that many people aspire to them, to be honest. We have an indicator of that. Remember the Duette? That went through the upgrade thing as well. There was the Duette, which was only very expensive (IIRC around $8000 in the US), then they turned it into the Duette II at twice the price, then they dropped the model. Presumably, it just didn't sell enough. Nobody would aspire to a $16000 Wilson Audio standmount.

Hence the TuneTot is something quite different. It's designed to do duty anywhere and do it fairly well - while passive, in every other way it's the Bose Companion speaker for the 1%. And if anyone aspired to it, or could afford it and liked it enough to buy outside of that market, that's a bonus.

There must in fact be many more rich people than I tend to think, because our local suburban shopping centre has a Rolex dealership that fairly regularly sells watches that cost more than the TuneTots. In fact, I'm hardly rich and if I had to spend the cost of my system on a from scratch replacement I could (but no way I would) put them in that replacement system (but I don't drink, drive, smoke, etc) and my wife doesn't go in for expensive items, just books in large quantities

The economics aren't so bad for them, and these speakers will sell. So they'd better be good enough for Amir to recommend.