Wilson Audio Haters


I've always wondered why there are so many people out there, that more than any other speaker manufacturer, really hate the Wilson line. I own Maxx 2's and also a pair of Watt Puppys. They are IMHO quite wonderful.

Why does Wilson get so much thrashing?

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Showing 6 responses by dgarretson

This idea of 2D vs. 3D two-channel listening has baffled me through years of system improvements and visits to shows. 3D is easy to rationalize for an omnidirectional speaker. But with a forward-firing speaker, the 3D effect seems to come from reproducing fine shades of volume through which we perceive precise distance between the microphone and the instrument, or subtle ambient cues at the far walls of the recording space through which we perceive an overall stage.

A system that is unresolving or lacking in dynamics can imply a deep stage by veiling and deadening. Everything sounds more or less recessed in depth. This may endear some listeners who prefer a relaxed system or who reliably take the same seats at concerts and like to feel the 20th row replicated in the living room.

A great system jumps forward by virtue of superior dynamics, while communicating depth cues photographically with the optics of a superior lens. It’s a 2D window to 3D. When an improvement in the system reveals subtle details at the far corners of the recording space, this is perceived as more and better 3D.

The effect is not determined simply by speakers, but by every link in the chain.

@bo1972 I'm not ready to embrace the 2D/3D distinction as a principal taxonomic category for high end audio.  Is 3D inclusive of other key attributes? What other properties are necessary or sufficient within 3D sound? Surely more than 1% of brands get it?  Santa, I'm here with milk and cookies in trade.
+++1 Doug. All we need is yet one more acronym with an unsupported claim to an audio revolution.

That’s the spirit @bo1972-- a takedown of Tannoy super tweeters and an Esoteric K-01X with a rubidium clock and custom Paul Hynes power supply that you cannot have heard in combination, not to mention the silliness of housing that stack in a Starsound Rhythm rack with custom silver PCs and balanced power. All by trial and error, of course.

With respect to Tru-Fi, I was fishing for details on methodology or testing instead of a repetition of exclamations. BTW, I have heard Monitor Platinum 500s and do like their technology and value.

To the OP, I do like Wilson and lived with Watt/Puppies for 10 years before migrating to Merlins VSMs. All decisions are made at a point in time.  For me the Merlins were a better platform for modifications that have kept this model viable over the years, albeit without that last octave of LF extension.   

In the words of Woody Allen, I'm afraid Bo is "one of those guys with saliva dribbling out of his mouth who wanders into a cafeteria with a shopping bag screaming about socialism."  I'm outta this cafeteria.