Teton monitors from Wavetouch Audio - A Must Hear


In the market for a pair of monitors recently, to gain more living spaces that being taken over by the growing LPs collection and the Wilson Sophia that I have put up for sale, I start doing some audition, googleing and look around. I know it's going to be a tough task finding any speakers that could produce the sound I have used to for many years from the Sophia.

To make sure I don't make a mistake and miss out on the big names, the likes of Harbert, Tannoy, B&W, psb, sonus....I start hitting the showrooms of LA. All of them are good, decent speakers but they don't strike me as possible replacements for the giant Wilson, three times their sizes. Then I found an unknown brand advertised, kevlar, horn tweeter and exotic rosewood in all. The rosewood always got me, I contacted the owner for a listen. A copy cat of B&W it turn-out and the speakers were bought in lots for testing and experiments by Alex Yoon of Wavetouch Audio in LA. Alex then let me take a peak listen to something he was 'putting together' as he said, and fine-tuning for review at StereoTimes. I hastily agreed. We headed for the studio where he does his work, the size of a four-car garage.

There I was introduced to a pair of tiny monitors, the 'Grand Teton', I later learned, in rich, exotic Russian birchwood that one can tell of top-notch quality, carefully and meticulously put together. We spent the next two hours listen to tracks after tracks of acoustic, instrumentals and vocals music. The monitors fill the huge studio with music as if a pair of 5-foot tall floor standing were in used. Soundstage were ceiling high and 6-foot deep. Vocals were in-your-face with each instrument precisely positioned as if we had attented a jazz rehearsal in a garage. I immidiately inquired about a pair for home audition. This could be the Wilson replacement, I said to myself with reservation. May be Alex had the room treated or using special equipments. But his gear is very mediocre.

Two week past and Alex deliver the monitors for audition. The same pair but has now been finely tuned. Personally position the monitors in my living room, Alex going over some adjustments tips, give me a week to test the monitors and head back to LA. Two day of comparison between the Grand Teton and the Sophia side-by-side, guitar, piano, vocals and everything in between. I contacted Alex and convinced him to leave the sample, don't come back for it and it was purchased with proceed from the Sophia sale. The Grand Teton is now in my living room replacing the giant Wilson for 1/10 the cost, 1/10 the size and not a note missing.

Quite a task for its size. Highly recommended and a must to audiition if you can arrange for one. It will be time well spent just to listen to it.

Music Fanatic,
Irvine, CA
connect400

Showing 15 responses by wolf_garcia

Yeah...there's some shifty biz in this thread, and it should be nixed pronto. I've noted previously that the "yoon tone" baloney on the Wavetouch Audio site is one of the purest piles of sonic psuedo science crap I've yet to see anywhere...and I've been at this stuff for a long time. Seriously...if these speakers are actually worth anything somebody should take control of this outfit and fire the nutjob who wrote the website nonesense. If this weirdness is from the designer there's no excuse for it unless he was hallucinating.
Still a bit of weirdness in even the last post...can't be trusted...strange...who says "kind gentlemen?"...hmmm...
If you actually read my post you can see exactly what my point is...that regardless of whether or not these speakers are well designed and sound fabulous, some around here might resent the preachy nonsense regarding patents (really? exactly what ARE the patented technologies used in the design?), plywood (except in guitar amp speaker boxes I'm not sure what this is about), reflected sound being automatically considered an unwelcome distortion (more like what music played in a room other than one stuffed with mattresses might sound like...natural maybe?), and a high school teacher (!) writing with broken English inviting strangers over for beer. Frequently mentioning the cost of the components is silly and comes off as sort of desperate, and I suggest you stay out of the field when voicing electrostats as there could be poison ivy and unwelcome insects. When you come into this forum and assume people will buy into a badly disguised sales pitch, you show very little respect for the perhaps more sophisticated among us (not necessarily myself, I'm merely old), and it makes you look like an insecure weirdo. Maybe, once they've sobered up, have one of your high school students help with your sales copy. All of these little promotion tips are given free of charge, as, of course, I'm a giver.
I put a lot of thought into my post and what thanks do I get? I just try to help...*sigh*...
I heard some Teton monitors and they made me feel nauseous and caused a small fire in the listening room. I also think Wavetouch promoters are part of an insidious cult that suggests people contact them for home auditions and once the unsuspecting strangers arrive they're processed into goo by aliens. Otherwise, great speakers man...really great...
My goal as an audio forum bully is to see weakness and POUNCE. I hope this
provides the answer to the question "I don't know what Wolf is trying to
do." I don't enjoy this (or I really do enjoy it), but hey...it's the law of the
jungle. By the way, very few of my specific (or a simply self indulgent lack of
mirth control) points of criticism have been actually addressed in this thread
including the ridiculous patent and other claims on the Wavetouch website,
so...uh...bite me.
I think somehow my post was not well understood by After_hrs, but grabbing any opportunity to become hysterical may have health benefits...so it's a "win win."
Do the "negative" posts regard the speakers themselves or the inane
and seemingly desperate promotion and silly technology claims? I still claim that
a sensible website with less magical nonsense, rational promotion through the
normal channels (shows, reviews form respected pros) would help the case here,
but the persistent shilling by people claiming no connection with the hapless
designer still seems suspicious and really doesn't help the brand.
The "negative posts" comment was a sort of rhetorical question regarding MY posts in response to comments by others...I suggest you read things and try to understand what the words actually mean (!), except for the obvious satirical bits which I don't expect you to get. I have said repeatedly that although the speakers themselves might sound OK, you lack the ability to respond to my questioning specific ridiculous claims on your website, and now you somehow feel the weirdly scripted praise for your $3000 plywood speakers with rubber dixi cups glued to the drivers is justified because of the "history" of the posters. Forums aren't necessarily meant to provide you with crass free advertising for your product, but if you drop into a discussion forum I suggest you sharpen your discussion skills or at least attempt to understand what's presented for possible response or you will still seem like a desperate weirdo.
I refuse to respond to such harassing, belittling, and disrespectful language. Or maybe I don't, in any case...what's wrong with dixie cups? Don't you realize the TREMENDOUS skill involved in making dixie cups? Are plywood assemblers really "premier craftsmen?" Wouldn't "premier wood gluers" be a more skill specific description? I think After_hrs is simply not getting enough sleep or the much needed anger management therapy, hence the apt moniker...also the weird threats of my becoming ostracized by "the people who read this"...I think this is an entertaining thread, but then I WOULD think that since I'm handicapped by having such a low IQ. It's simply unfair to pick on the disabled...*sniff*...
I have never, except when joking around, disputed the potential sound quality or
value of these speakers, but the inability of others to understand what I AM
bugging about sort of makes my case in general. I know about plywood (and
Dixie cups) as I have Baltic Birch plywood in some guitar amp cabs, but
hey...fodder for satire is a finite quantity in audio. I'm all for praising your fave
piece of gear and I do that all the time, although in my case I feel the
manufacturer SHOULD reward me (hear that Jolida?...Silverline?) but they don't
because they're MEAN BASTARDS. My ACTUAL issues with patent claims and
other nonsense on the Wavetouch site have been conveniently and utterly
ignored, and clearly there are others around here who feel a manufacturer (or the
clearly planted shill) using a discussion forum to START a free publicity thread is
lame...especially one as desperate and pathetic as this one. Assuming the
readers around here are stupid is a big mistake.