Wilson Audio Unveils Stunning New Flagship Speaker

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MontanaJoe

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As some of you know, I’m not a fan of “hyperbole” when it pertains to audio.

I’m no fan of blows the doors off, blows it away, by far the best, I had 10 audiophiles and they unanimously agreed, not even close, etc etc

The reality of high end audio these days, is most equipment is so good, that you could enjoy just about any thing.

The headline of my post comes from an email I got from The Absolute Sound. The article reads like a sycophantic overzealous advertisement, that would be over the top if Wilson released it but it’s from Harley, who will tell you he has no bias, no financial interest and uses his editorial soapbox of his magazine to claim as much DESPITE the obvious.

Look, Wilson is a great product, I’ve owned their products in the past, really enjoyed them but, “Stunning”, breaking new ground, etc etc when he hasn’t spent any legitimate time with it BUT has no qualms about singing all their praise hardly supports his inane and unsubstantiated perspective of no bias.

Back to the “stunning”. I understand beauty is in the eye of the beholder and many would probably think my system, speakers, choice of rug, chair etc aren’t “Stunning” and I get it, and why I would never be so dense to use the term in describing what I own, BUT,
ANYONE who has seen this new Wilson in pictures, almost unanimously would never describe it as “Stunning”. More like The Alien, popping out of Harley’s belly would be more appropriate.
 
I'm not a good judge on looks, on paper it looks like it could be stunning. Wilson typically is not to my taste. I've heard it sound good with Doshi, whichusually sounds good anyway, I also heard them with Audio Research that was good.

I get what you are saying though.
 
I saw some pictures over on audiophile style. It does look scary. Huge, and curving forward as it gets tall. I’m sure it will sound stunning in the right room, with the right amplification, and tuned appropriately. Lots of adjustments.

I’m definitely a “meh” on the looks, but it is striking, and definitely a Wilson.
 
I’ve owned Wilson speakers before. When properly setup and with a good set of components can be very enjoyable.

This new flagship appears to have quite a few levels of innovation and development. The ability to adjust drivers to maximize timing synchronization beyond prior Wilson’s is a big plus. Also, it appears more attention to driver development including a new structure for the tweeter could also be big pluses. But, we’ll have to wait to hear it.

As for the looks, not my cup of tea. Looks a bit raw and not quite finished.
 
Ritmo said:
I’ve owned Wilson speakers before. When properly setup and with a good set of components can be very enjoyable.

This new flagship appears to have quite a few levels of innovation and development. The ability to adjust drivers to maximize timing synchronization beyond prior Wilson’s is a big plus. Also, it appears more attention to driver development including a new structure for the tweeter could also be big pluses. But, we’ll have to wait to hear it.

As for the looks, not my cup of tea. Looks a bit raw and not quite finished.
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I am not debating their ability. I too had Wilson in the past, including the then wonderful WATT/PUPPY/WAMM system and replaced by the then top of the line X1; I learned a great lesson with that upgrade. The X1 overpowered my room and was a big downgrade, at least for my room capability.

The main point of my OP was the over the top hyperbole by Harley, just couple of weeks after he basically used the exact same hyperbole and “best” for the AlsyVox; for a speaker that he barely spent any time with, yet claims no bias or manufacturer inducement. Color me skeptical.
 
brodricj said:
Not mine either. Dog ugly comes to mind, but I'm sure it sounds great.
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Sounds great? I am sure, under the right circumstances, just like any other speaker. However, one thing about these huge speakers (and others like it), despite the knee jerk response to sing their praises, they are probably the hardest to get what they are capable of doing.

As I said elsewhere, I once "upgraded" from a Wilson WATT/PUPPY/WAMM to the then very expensive X1. The former were amazing; the latter didn't sound "great" in my environment. Unfortunately, too many make the mistake that "bigger, more tech, more $" leads to the knee jerk response of "great".

More than any other variable in an end-user's system, size of the room and proper set up will determine if that OR any other large speaker with multip9le drivers will sound great.

But yes, properly setup, in the right size room to handle them, like just about any other marquis product of Wilson, Magico, Clarisys, MBL, AlsyVox, Gobel, etc. etc. they better sound great at those $$.

The real point of my post, was the absurd claims being made by Harley who claims to have no economic bias.
 
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