Wilson Audio Haters

Thank you Dave,
Regards
John

This is my own particular sense of it certainly, but I'd say that if you're the kind of customer that does not have a lot of specialized experience or detailed working knowledge or familiarity of the audio market (and perhaps speaker market especially) - the kind that can take many years or decades to cultivate anyway - IOW you are **not** what we'd call a "hobbyist" per se, nor do you have any kind of DIY background as well, but instead are perhaps, say, a young, or middle-aged, professional with a more limited exposure and are possibly looking to employ someone's professional help or input up front in your decision making process, then I'd say that certain companies like Wilson or B&W might have a more intriguing profile for you than some others. They tend to attract such buyers by offering well-reviewed designs (by that I mean In-House reviewed, I'm not really talking about pro or user reviews, but here I mean ee reviewed designs in-house). These guys tend to be more 'careful' in their design approach and they essentially want to "play it safe", so to speak, on behalf of their customers. That is, they don't do things in a splashy sort of way, they don't go in much for design fads or the very latest trends and they don't introduce new models or discontinue older models at anything approaching a dizzying rate...more of a steady-as-you-go, tried-but-true approach that is meant to project, along with good service, support and marketing, the reassurance of a certain measure of authority and professionalism. Say what you want about such companies, and I count myself among those who might say that, for my own tastes anyway, they might be playing things a little *too* safe generally, but they have been around a long time and seem to continue to do some business at a time when the audio market, nationally or worldwide, happens to be deader than 4 o'clock. 

For my own purposes, while I would likely say that Wilson does not do things quite the way I would prefer my kinds of manufacturers to do things, that may really only be because I've been around the audio neighborhood a while (45 yrs) and have since acquired the kind of audiophile background that has allowed me to 'outgrow', if you will, the need for such a company business model and that that may not be necessarily the case for others...but, I certainly don't hate them.

Barfly & Ohlala, thanks for your input here. I suppose though, that my days of enjoying the 'envy of it all' in this hobby are likely behind me really, but I can certainly see your points. I was able to "graduate", if you prefer, past Wilson, et al, if, in my case, for no other reason than the fact that I was convinced that I'd never be able to afford them! And, while I did in fact end up finding my own "nirvana" (with a small "n") by learning to go a completely different sort of route, it only ended up taking me what, a few decades??...LOL! So if I were to begrudge any of it (which I don't), it would probly be that it just took me so darn long (ha,ha!), so I don't really mind other folks having more money to throw at it than me, that's just the way life is and I have certainly learned to take that sort of stuff in stride, I suppose...after all, what I've gotten from the experience in return, I have to say, has made me a happy man.

Cheers!
John

+1 on Blackfly being on the right track.

Welcome indeed and Happy New year all!

Wow...have only loosely followed Bo's confused ramblings in the past and with mild amusement. Also have occasionally seen some accuse others in these pages of folks posting under false user ID's...can't recollect ever feeling like they might have been anything more than 'witch hunts' (a we-accuse-you-of-that because-we-can, personal feud kind of thing)...but This... IMO, I'm afraid Clearthink is revealing himself to be, in fact, Bo. Dunno if Bo has ever done anything like this before, and it doesn't matter here really, since the evidence here in my opinion is apparent, blatant I might say for anyone who has eyes to see it (and yes, I know that's just my opinion). Normally I don't resort to accusing people of things I know I can't "prove", but this IS a public forum and I think Bo, for me, has just crossed a line...used to think of him as deranged but harmless - not anymore. I now believe he's revealing himself to be a liar, someone of questionable ethics and someone that is not to be trusted.

I think this is the kind of thing the community should not necessarily turn a blind eye toward. Wherever suspicion is evident it should at least be pointed out and recognized and not willingly hidden under the the guise of the fact (and it indeed is a fact at the moment) that this accusation cannot be directly proven...otherwise we are not policing ourselves, despite Bo's implied right (on our soil) to be assumed innocent until proven guilty. But, rightly or wrongly (maybe time will tell) I'm just going on record here and saying that I think that it appears that Bo is being intentionally deceitful here. Like I say, it may not be something that I can prove, but that does not mean that this event, topic or my opinion should not be discussed and I'm willing to do so. This has nothing IMO to do with audio. I know this threatens to hijack the thread for which I apologize in advance, but this may be something of an exceptional circumstance.