A brutal review of the Wilson Maxx

I heard some crazy Grand slams or something from them in like a 70,000 dollar system and did not get it at all,,, I have heard 8,000 speakers that would smoke them... but some guys love Super pinpoint accurate flat sound, not necessarily musical sound that we are looking for, so I think that is the market that wilson is in, but again I'm sure someone will argue You need to have 20,000 dollar amps or just the absolute correct system synergy to make them go, but even then I would go about 1/4 the cost with other stuff and be quite happy.

Lets try it this way, No Wilson Slamming here, but fact is anybody can pretty much buy the Scan speak kits, and there are many Clones out there of actual wilson speakers as well, All parts are available, AND no way even in a modest but reasonably built enclosure sound much different, nor do they do anything engineering wise that can not be rivaled for the cost of parts.. So for what its worth Fact is they are overpriced for what you get, but that does not mean they don't sound good in certain situations.

Rcprince, I agree, but again am not defending, just was giving a price comparison as to whats out there is all, so I believe the statement of Overpriced is valid thats all.

Hey if nothing else most speakers are good for firewood in the end :*)

Yeah thats what I get for being smart :) oh well then we found another weakness, maybe watchdog should add that to their review.

Aldavis: Excellent posts, thats all I have to say, and a good number you threw out for the speakers you own, and would say Definatly at 23,000 I could take the Wilson maxx 2 at a much more serious consideration which is in the wheelhouse of what you own and comprable, but double that cost at 45,000? Come on there is a point of Gouging guys, Anybody can justify How to buy anything, I could tell you that buying a 400.00 electric self cleaning super duper Toothbrush is Worth it, but does it really do a bottom line better job than the very efficient 1.99 special from walgreens, thats the point here, not who can spend what, and why they would spend it. Basically I see the Watchdog thing this all started out with a wake up call to find some Common sense back into the audio world is all. Not that I agree with all of the excessive bashing or calling out reviewers but who cares, its simply developed to open your eyes.

Take a look at these!! HA HA HA, just when we thought its possible that wilson could be a questionable value in audio, look at this... You have to be totally kidding me, I have a new respect for wilson after I found out the market would support these. 50,000 a pair!

http://show.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/shm.pl?preatube&1099069721&item&Holm_audio&4&5&6&http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fs_srch.plQQANYAAAApurlsrchAAEXYAAstAAAAAAmanley

Realize a Wilson speaker is just the run of the mill Audiophile design ie. Scan speak, dynaudio, focal kit style drivers which are all great in there own right, but can be had in a million different configurations from 90% of the high end manufactures and Kits... Its a Basic 1-2-3 design, D'appolito, with phase inverted mid-bass drivers, running thru over complex yet not the highest quality filters(crossovers), this approch has more or less dominated audio for the last 15 years and it sells, thats IT!!

Its not that it is a bad speaker, but you are simply paying wilson for an Over-elaborate cabinet with Ferrari finish, and to some this what they feel is high end, and have had this design driven into their heads, 7" drivers, dome tweeter, 24db slope(linkwitz), 6db slope, dome tweeter, 13" multimagnet Focal driver blah, blah... Thats fine, But if you want true inovation and Truly your moneys worth that you can not buy or have designed by "Madisound" for 1/10th the cost check out Zu Cable's Definitions.... They are from the GROUND up a DUAL 10" Full range drive system, covering all the Frequency bands with ZERO crossover in front of them, a Super tweeter, and 4 count'em 4 10" Active woofers in addition to the 2 10" full range drivers, the materials, Drivers and everything are High quality, built to blow you away, Very simple design and all the money is into true inovation of a specific design and quality components, NOW don't get me wrong there are many out there that are great speaker companies, and in NO way am I saying ZU cable is the only one With Full range drive systems, crossoverless covering the Entire Audio range from 16hz to 25,000khz, but they are putting it into a resonable cost and Quality package, Yes I have heard them and Yes they blow away the Congested restricted Feel of the Snobby type audiophile speakers, including the wilsons in my opinion... Get what your money is worth, but if you have it to burn buy all the Krell, Wilson and however else can sell you the most impressive looking package your heart desires..

Zu definition.... 101 db efficient, 6 10" drivers, 2 supertweet's... Cost 4500.00 each, thats worth the pile of parts alone, check them out.. this is not an advertisment but a serious wake up call when I heard and saw the attempt they made with this speaker system...

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/zu2/definition.html

extended review and update :)
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/zu5/definition.html

I really don't think the point was to discredit directly anything accept, that are you being sold 45,000 worth of speaker? Unfortunately, I have learned as many people have that to get attention to any certain subject you may have to show pretty negative forwardness to make a point, crack a couple Eggs if you will... Its a Warning to one that may believe they are really getting a speaker or any equipment near the cost of 50% down payment on an exotic car basically. I totally agree any one is free to spend as much as possible to find the truth and happiness in the audio world no doubt, But I think this article was Harsh but made that way to show some truth about Snake oil being sold, that's it, And I think the point was made, however the attacks on certain individuals are another story, but the fact is do I really care what any reviewer says, they all may have certain motives beyond the music, who is to judge, that point is dead. Believe in a product, but break it down into the real world cost is the whole Real point of that article, even if they sound fabulous. To some extent we are all being sold "Status" do you need a Mercedes equal to a honda accord to get to work?

Well to tell you the truth anyone that spends 45,000 on any speaker especially of Conventional design would be kidding themselves if they do not believe buying 2 or Even 4 of the Top subwoofers built today at 3-5000.00 a piece matched with many pairs of your choice full range tower speakers at 10,000-15,000 a pair or even cheaper could not compete with match or completly beat these wilson speakers or any like this, at least if they were 20 driver line arrays or something I could agree closer on the cost, that is the only real point I see of the whole Watchdog article. I mean truly you could BUILD an entire wing on your house designed as a near perfect acoustic environment and still have your choice of multiples of combinations or straight tower speakers that could rival the limits of standard dynamic drivers at 7" and 13" I'm sorry, but its fact I don't care what they make the cabinet out of. But again maybe the magic these create in a more compact package and Aesthetic features are what some people are looking for.