WILSON AUDIO/ cost vs. value

profit margin on a 50,000 dollar speaker should be less than the profit margin on a 1000 dollar speaker. its just the way business is, audio and otherwise. people think that wilson audio speakers are over-priced and over-hyped, so? the care and pride they put into building a speaker is top notch. if there are issues with build quality, they handle them. i havent read where someone has bought a wilson speaker and been left holding the bag if the item was damaged. If there is such an issue, perhaps it is due to the poor service of the audio store and not wilson themselves. Maybe that is why wilson is dropping dealers. these dealers are not selling enough to warrant their wilson dealership. it is easy to take shots at the guy sitting up top.

i have heard every wilson speaker from the cub to a apir of x-2's. the experience i have had was awesome, but i didnt buy them because I cant afford them. so when i read all this negative comments it makes me feel one of two things about the author.

1. they cant afford them, so they consider them overpriced
2. they dont know what they are talking about and just like to hear themselves ramble on.

either way, if you dont like wilson audio thats fine, but i guarentee you respect their products and respect the care and effort devoted to every single speaker. thats what the ads are about, letting you know that you are getting a product that is tweaked and produced under the strictest standards. Thats what you are paying for and thats what they deliver.

http://rm-uvsc.uen.org:554/ramgen/webdev/business/ubb/wilson.rm?mode=compact

this should answer some questions

The X-2's take many weeks to build. Lots of man hours and overhead are required for that one pair of speakers. they use the best drivers, their own developed cabinet materials, and the best finish quality of any speaker availible. plus, when you buy the speakers, there is professional setup included. their dealers go to provo for training. it is a speciality speaker, only the wealthiest can afford it and most that do buy them may not be audiophiles. like wilson said, they are buying into the culture not neccisarily the product. wish i had that kinda money.

Nutella,
maybe you didnt read the topic of the post, cost vs value, with a focus on profit margin. the topic of the utah business show delt completely with that. i am sorry you hate wilson and i am sorry you felt it was a waste of your time, i guess you shouldnt have watched the whole thing. but if you didnt watch the whole thing, then maybe it didnt waste your time and you were just looking for something negative to say. it wasnt a documentary, it was a local business show that could have featured farm equipment... the point is it focused on dave wilson and his company. regardless of what you think of the price of the speakers, you must respect him and get a feeling that he is truly doing this for the love of sound. if you dont, you are blinded by your own closed mind.

again, you dont see the purpose of the video, it seems to be a cable access show within the state limits of Utah that Wilson appeared on not to advertise, but to discuss his business. When he spoke technically about his products and his company in general, it was way over the head of any of the three hosts. I doubt a single owner of Wilson speakers saw the broadcast of the show before it leaked on the internet. I believe he did the show to showcase his company to the local public and discuss his business strategy for the future. It is a business show. Wilson is a company based in Utah, they employ local people, yet they sell their speakers in over 40 countries. That is a pretty amazing success story, dont you think? I am sure he never thought for a minute it would be shown on the internet and be discussed by some nuckleheads like us, but it did. Other than that, what else is there left to say?

I agree with you, people will pay 125k for speakers; they also pay that much for a wrist watches.

If you simply go on a cost to cost ratio, sure, the Mercedes makes more sense.

But we are talking about loudspeakers, and I believe there a more speakers over the 100k barrier than the x-2. Why aren’t we talking about them?

S-class Mercedes is to automobiles as Wilson x-2's is to audio?

That comparison isn’t even close!!!! There are cars that cost several times 125k, so Mercedes is actually an average priced luxury car; the x-2 is the king of the hill.

So to say that my argument is illogical is fine, but to look at it the way you are looking at is also illogical.

In the end, despite my argument I will never purchase a pair of x-2's unless a miracle occurs in my bank account, but i still respect Dave Wilson's products and the prices he chooses to sell them.

Not many people know that you can spend 125k on a pair of speakers. Plenty of people know and readly accept spending that kind of money on a car. Buying a 125k car is like buying a Watt Puppy 8 at 25k, buying a pair of x-2's is like buying a ferrari or some other super expensive car i dont know about.

I understand you will again disagree with me, i accept that you will do so, but the x-2 is a specialty speaker, mercedes are an everyday car, even the really expensive ones......

the sophia 2 just maybe the best deal in all of audio, if i ever purchase a wilson product, it will be a pair of those.