Sure, with an off the shelf DSP plate amp anyone can build a decent sub.
This does nothing a 500$ SVS, Monoprice or whatever can't do. Well, at least the other 8500$ get's you a fancy paint job.
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Wilson LōKē Subwoofer
- Thread starter HammerSandwich
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This does nothing a 500$ SVS, Monoprice or whatever can't do. Well, at least the other 8500$ get's you a fancy paint job.
This thread is the best and worst of ASR in concise form. On the one hand we have to @HammerSandwich picking the plate amp component in the first post and @RayDunzl providing well-liked photo confirmation almost as quickly. Nicely done. On the other we have endless hand-wringing and vapid ventilating about the luxury price.
You can certainly get a 10" sub in a black ash box for a small fraction of that. Or multiples of same plus a DSP box with ample change, or a pair of SVS PB16 for likely deeper bass and certainly higher SPL. But that aren't going to match your Tune Tots or Sabrinas.
On the price, well it's also a fashion item and a luxury good. I expect it has immaculate fit and finish and pleasantly weighty tactility from the likely over-engineered x-material fabrication. It's also a fairly big f*cker and the ported design is probably decently executed so I expect the sonics are quite satisfactory. Be more than happy you can get similar performance for significantly less if you don't desire an aesthetic match to the Wilson main speakers you are never going to buy.
BrokenEnglishGuy
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Nice Christopher Bangle aesthetics there.What does mean that?
Do you mean by the looks?
(Not my cup of tea.)
What does mean that?
Do you mean by the looks?
Oh yes, the visual aesthetic, I didn't mean the sound (although I'd expect straightforward matching there as well, some stuff about crossover settings in their promo text). They look good with the fabric grilles/covers on I reckon (if you have that sort of decor) not so much with them off. I'm still mildly surprised by how large the cabinet is, but ported will do that (look at SVS ported vs sealed, etc).
Haha some 80s greed-is-good vibes?
Sorry to say imo this is fuglyWhat does mean that?
Do you mean by the looks?
moonlight rainbow dream
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Why are people assuming that it's a well-tuned enclosure/port?
Look at this! Just look at it! Absolutely massacred the bass performance of a driver that's renowned for its ability to go down to 40hz with authority in a small bookshelf form factor.
Look at this! Just look at it! Absolutely massacred the bass performance of a driver that's renowned for its ability to go down to 40hz with authority in a small bookshelf form factor.
Because it's been measured.Why are people assuming that it's a well-tuned enclosure/port?
Look at this! Just look at it! Absolutely massacred the bass performance of a driver that's renowned for its ability to go down to 40hz with authority in a small bookshelf form factor.
kemmler3D
Master Contributor
Lol, how about "literally any 10" 500w ported sub" for a comparison instead?
I will give credit where credit is due though. Wilson's paintjobs and product photography are among the best in the business. And, I am not being sarcastic here. I used to do the product renderings when I was in the low end of this market. I know as well as anyone, looks matter and are worth something, and marketing visuals count for a lot.
For almost $11K US though, you'd hope they would at least go for a Pascal or Hypex plate amp instead of parts express though... nothing wrong with parts express but it doesn't aim for SOTA or top-of-the-heap, you know? A bit of a slap in the face... maybe their dealers have crazy margins, I dunno...
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Wilson LoKe subwoofer Measurements | Stereophile.com
Sidebar 3: Measurements Although the LōKē was reviewed by JVS in a system with the Wilson Alexia V loudspeakers, I measured it in a different context, paired up with the Wilson SabrinaX.
kemmler3D
Master Contributor
Looks respectable but you definitely don't need to spend that much to get that performance. Of course I say this with KEF subs in my living room, so who cares what I think...?Wilson LoKe subwoofer Measurements | Stereophile.com
Sidebar 3: Measurements Although the LōKē was reviewed by JVS in a system with the Wilson Alexia V loudspeakers, I measured it in a different context, paired up with the Wilson SabrinaX.www.stereophile.com
Anton D
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Great post.
These are not in my budget range (and I would want two) and I don't even think I would be buying them if I had the fiscal wherewithal, but the "This causes me mental anguish and should not be tolerated" tripe smells of month old menudo.
If a subwoofer can elicit such umbrage, the old adage about getting a life become apt.
Relax, fellow audiophiles. Hobby, not death march.
Wilson Audio Specialties, a brand well known for its dubious practice of charging exorbitant prices for speakers that use run-of-the-mill parts, continues this practice with its smallest subwoofer, the nearly $9k LōKē.
I found out about this when I was cruising Daily.audio for interesting articles to read. There I saw the following link:
trackingangle.com
There are two reasons I wouldn’t normally read this article:
• Michael Fremer, the author and site owner, has proven himself over the years to be an arrogant dilettante and a general-purpose douche bag (he can hear the difference between $2K and $5K power cords… to him, pops, clicks and vinyl surface noise are like crowd noise at a live event - yeah, right!)
• Wilson Audio has no problem charging over $200k for a pair of speakers that uses drivers anyone can buy retail from Madisound for a total of less than $10k (as an OEM, they pay around half that price)
My morbid curiosity got the better of me. I clicked and skimmed some of the idiotic drivel spouted by Fremer and checked out the photos when one caught my eye:
Wow! This looks really familiar. So I went to Parts-Express.com and…
$350 at PE.
This makes me think that they’re most likely also using a $200 Dayton 10” sub driver.
Put a $130 flat-pack cabinet in your cart and you have the makings of a sub just as good as the LōKē for less than $700.
Forget the kit cab and use a very small fraction of the $8K+ you saved to pay a cabinetmaker for a really sweet box. That would be cool.
Or, for $9k, you could buy six kick-ass, 12” subs from Rythmik, SVS or a whole cadre of other companies. Any one of them would be better than this box. Six of them massed in a room is probably two orders (or more) of magnitude superior in every possible audio metric.
What you have in automotive terms is a Dodge Charger R/T that’s priced like a Corvette ZR1X.
Wilson Audio’s products are so overpriced that it’s just legally shy of being fraud. And, clowns like Michael Fremer who shill for them should be ashamed and embarrassed.
Unfortunately, this is the state of audio journalism today.
I found out about this when I was cruising Daily.audio for interesting articles to read. There I saw the following link:
Wilson Audio Specialties' LōKē Subwoofer Clears 20Hz In Style
Especially Tune Tot friendly but will work well with smaller Wilson floor standers and other brands too
trackingangle.com
There are two reasons I wouldn’t normally read this article:
• Michael Fremer, the author and site owner, has proven himself over the years to be an arrogant dilettante and a general-purpose douche bag (he can hear the difference between $2K and $5K power cords… to him, pops, clicks and vinyl surface noise are like crowd noise at a live event - yeah, right!)
• Wilson Audio has no problem charging over $200k for a pair of speakers that uses drivers anyone can buy retail from Madisound for a total of less than $10k (as an OEM, they pay around half that price)
My morbid curiosity got the better of me. I clicked and skimmed some of the idiotic drivel spouted by Fremer and checked out the photos when one caught my eye:
Wow! This looks really familiar. So I went to Parts-Express.com and…
$350 at PE.
Dayton Audio SPA500DSP 500W Subwoofer Plate Amplifier with DSP
Dayton Audio SPA500DSP 500W Subwoofer Plate Amplifier with DSPDayton Audio SPA500DSP Subwoofer Plate AmplifierElite Control with DSPDayton Audio's SPA500DSP true 500 watt digital switching plate amplifier features advanced signal processing control that every audio enthusiast wants. With Class D...
www.parts-express.com
This makes me think that they’re most likely also using a $200 Dayton 10” sub driver.
Put a $130 flat-pack cabinet in your cart and you have the makings of a sub just as good as the LōKē for less than $700.
Forget the kit cab and use a very small fraction of the $8K+ you saved to pay a cabinetmaker for a really sweet box. That would be cool.
Or, for $9k, you could buy six kick-ass, 12” subs from Rythmik, SVS or a whole cadre of other companies. Any one of them would be better than this box. Six of them massed in a room is probably two orders (or more) of magnitude superior in every possible audio metric.
What you have in automotive terms is a Dodge Charger R/T that’s priced like a Corvette ZR1X.
Wilson Audio’s products are so overpriced that it’s just legally shy of being fraud. And, clowns like Michael Fremer who shill for them should be ashamed and embarrassed.
Unfortunately, this is the state of audio journalism today.
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I was going to comment about value being subjective but the parts-bin construction of the unit is really something eh?
A fool and his money.
I imagine there are such fools who've parted with said money for this thing on forums such as this who will argue vehemently that the price tag is justified.
A fool and his money.
I imagine there are such fools who've parted with said money for this thing on forums such as this who will argue vehemently that the price tag is justified.
kemmler3D
Master Contributor
There's nothing wrong per se with using off the shelf parts, Ascilab does in many of it's speakers, for example... and I also I think it's easy to underestimate costs other than parts and thereby find the retail price unreasonable in comparison...
That said, this is pretty hilarious.
I think your comparison to the Dodge is too generous, though. This is a Toyota Corolla priced like a corvette. I priced out building my own PE-based subs a while back and concluded that getting SVS at any kind of discount was a better deal.
That said, this is pretty hilarious.
I think your comparison to the Dodge is too generous, though. This is a Toyota Corolla priced like a corvette. I priced out building my own PE-based subs a while back and concluded that getting SVS at any kind of discount was a better deal.
I never said there’s anything is wrong with using off the shelf parts. The vast majority of speaker manufacturers do that.
That’s what I do when I build speakers.
This reminds me of 15 or so years ago when Lexicon got caught repackaging a $500 Oppo Blu-ray player for $2,500.
Imakeller
Member
A 10” paper cone, 500w sub for $8,750+? Um, no, thank you.
You can get a Wilson Audio sub in any colour you like! That’s surely worth the price alone? <irony mode off>
I recall the Loke being called out for bog standard ingredients soon after release. That said, their high end speakers have provided some scintillating demos over the years, in the hands of the UK importers. But too spendy for me!
I recall the Loke being called out for bog standard ingredients soon after release. That said, their high end speakers have provided some scintillating demos over the years, in the hands of the UK importers. But too spendy for me!
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