Very exciting for you, those great discovery moments are the reward for years of learning and searching - enjoy! Checked the website, their floor-standing and on-wall models look similar to Martin Logan SLM, Definitive Mythos, GoldenEar SuperSat, B&W FPM, etc.
Finally found THE SPEAKER!!!
I have been a HiFi guy starting at 12 years old with my father passing along the love. We would spend almost every weekend auditioning speakers looking to find the perfect system. We purchased many speakers over the years and they all had their pros and cons, but the trade off always seemed to be nuanced and delicate vs. dynamic and punchy. When auditioning speakers people would always ask what kind of music do you like to listen to? Rock, female vocals, classical, etc... We had/have eclectic taste and would listen to it all. Why could't a speaker just play all of it?!?! Anyway my love for music, sound, etc... became my profession as I am now an Oscar nominated Supervising Sound Editor with well over 150 movies under my belt.
For the last 5 years I have been looking for speakers that can play films at reference levels with all the detail and punch, yet when I want to listen to music can give that nuanced and detailed imaging, space, air, articulation without being harsh and fatiguing. I have listened to SO MANY speakers and spent hundreds of hours auditioning everything I could find. I would fall in love with something for music and then try play one of my films at reference level and it just never gave me the impact I was looking for. I get it - hard to move a lot of air and still be nuanced and articulate. There are some excellent compression drivers/horns that can do the impact stuff, but for me they always have that harsh edge when it comes to music. The flip side with dome type tweeters I have found things have to be pushed to the edge to try to give that theatrical impact. Looking for the quick transient response of an electrostatic, with the punch of compression driver type of system.
Then a dealer recommend I listen to some speakers from Wisdom Audio. I have to admit I was pretty skeptical at first. I read about these and it all sounded like marketing to me, but the dealer I was talking with said he was blown away by them. So I reached out to the company and setup a demo. They use planar magnetics which is not exactly new, but is very difficult to manufacture. I asked them to have one of my films available to listen to. I chose one that I knew extremely well that has a LOT of dynamic punch as well as subtle nuance. I live in Los Angeles and the company is in Carson City, Nevada. I bought an airplane ticket and I was off. I was treated to a tour of the factory and shown how the speakers were made. USA manufactured!! Then we spent a few hours listening to all types of music on different ranges of speakers. I LOVED what I was hearing with the music part of the audition. Then I asked to hear my film in their theater. I expected to be disappointed based on what I had experienced in the past. Then it happened... I heard the film play and it sounded AMAZING! These speakers could do it all!!! No compression, no fatigue, HiFi sound and still able to play theatrical film tracks as they are meant to be heard. In fact - better! I called my wife in disbelief that my search for "The Speakers" was finally over! I even called my father to tell him what I had just heard. It was the impressive! I remind you - I do this for a living!
Since we are undergoing a major remodel at our home, my wife expected that the family room was going to be filled with big speakers as she has become accustomed to living with me. With some of these Wisdom Audio speakers, they are actually designed to be flush mounted in the wall. I thought there is no way a wall mounted speaker could ever sound as good as a traditional speaker. I was so wrong!! So not only did I find the perfect speaker, but not big boxes in the room 3 feet away from any walls! My wife was thrilled.
If you have never heard speakers by Wisdom Audio you need to find a dealer where you can audition them, or fly to the factory for a private demo!
Best,
Andrew
For the last 5 years I have been looking for speakers that can play films at reference levels with all the detail and punch, yet when I want to listen to music can give that nuanced and detailed imaging, space, air, articulation without being harsh and fatiguing. I have listened to SO MANY speakers and spent hundreds of hours auditioning everything I could find. I would fall in love with something for music and then try play one of my films at reference level and it just never gave me the impact I was looking for. I get it - hard to move a lot of air and still be nuanced and articulate. There are some excellent compression drivers/horns that can do the impact stuff, but for me they always have that harsh edge when it comes to music. The flip side with dome type tweeters I have found things have to be pushed to the edge to try to give that theatrical impact. Looking for the quick transient response of an electrostatic, with the punch of compression driver type of system.
Then a dealer recommend I listen to some speakers from Wisdom Audio. I have to admit I was pretty skeptical at first. I read about these and it all sounded like marketing to me, but the dealer I was talking with said he was blown away by them. So I reached out to the company and setup a demo. They use planar magnetics which is not exactly new, but is very difficult to manufacture. I asked them to have one of my films available to listen to. I chose one that I knew extremely well that has a LOT of dynamic punch as well as subtle nuance. I live in Los Angeles and the company is in Carson City, Nevada. I bought an airplane ticket and I was off. I was treated to a tour of the factory and shown how the speakers were made. USA manufactured!! Then we spent a few hours listening to all types of music on different ranges of speakers. I LOVED what I was hearing with the music part of the audition. Then I asked to hear my film in their theater. I expected to be disappointed based on what I had experienced in the past. Then it happened... I heard the film play and it sounded AMAZING! These speakers could do it all!!! No compression, no fatigue, HiFi sound and still able to play theatrical film tracks as they are meant to be heard. In fact - better! I called my wife in disbelief that my search for "The Speakers" was finally over! I even called my father to tell him what I had just heard. It was the impressive! I remind you - I do this for a living!
Since we are undergoing a major remodel at our home, my wife expected that the family room was going to be filled with big speakers as she has become accustomed to living with me. With some of these Wisdom Audio speakers, they are actually designed to be flush mounted in the wall. I thought there is no way a wall mounted speaker could ever sound as good as a traditional speaker. I was so wrong!! So not only did I find the perfect speaker, but not big boxes in the room 3 feet away from any walls! My wife was thrilled.
If you have never heard speakers by Wisdom Audio you need to find a dealer where you can audition them, or fly to the factory for a private demo!
Best,
Andrew
135 responses Add your response
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Soix - In my design room I am using JBL 708 series speakers that have been tuned to match the sound characteristic of the main speakers on the dub stages in Hollywood. All of us in the business are very accustomed to the "JBL sound." It is what it is. When we are editing and designing our sound - we want to know how it will sound on the dub stage where the director will hear the film. Keep in mind we have maybe 75 plus editing rooms so economy is also a key player. Also with that many rooms, we are dealing with relatively small rooms so are in a "near field" situation. There is still a translation issue due to how the big / main theater speakers react vs. the quicker transient response of small diaphragm speakers. Especially when it comes to the compression driver/horns that tend to "sing" around the 2k range in the big speakers. That being said, when the score is recorded and mastered - it is always with a more HiFi type of speaker. Something we would want in our home to listen to music. It is very common to see the big B&W in the scoring room. ATC is another common one used. |
I had not planned on sharing my life, but... we are in the middle of a massive remodel of our home. We have been planning and saving for a long time. We unfortunately do NOT have a dedicated theater, but do a have a large family room that will serve as our theater and music listening area... as well as the... um family room. Anyway. I have not yet installed the Wisdom Audio speakers in the room, but they will absolutely be the speakers I will use! I have made a few trips to Wisdom Audio now to audition and chose what will be the best fit for my needs and budget. Due to my position and connections in my work I have been offered many other speakers at cost or for free! I am choosing to buy these Wisdom speakers because they are that good. |
tvad - The 80" planar magnetics are amazing, but also out of my price range. They have many smaller speakers and I am looking at something along the lines of the Sage Line 2 to be installed in the front wall. My wife loves the idea of not having speakers on the floor. That being said... the sage L75 is what I initially thought I would be getting, but the Sage Line 3 is what is installed in the demo theater and gives me the extra punch for films, plus the detail of the L75. |
Soix - Headphones. For work I have been using BT 990, 770 etc... for a while. The last couple of years I have been helping Sony develop some technology for editing/mixing with headphones which was recently announced: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/virtual-ces-sony-highlights-new-headphone-tech-for-r... I am currently beta testing new headphones for Sony that will give the best experience with this new technology. The headphones are just stereo headphones. My personal headphones are Focal Utopias. |
mwatsme - I have listened to all of the speakers you mentioned except for the GoldenEar SuperSat. I did audition the Golden Ear Triton series. Honestly none of these speakers did what I was looking for in terms of fidelity and dynamics. I think you are confusing ribbon speakers with the planar magnetics used in the Wisdom Audio speakers. You need to move a lot of air to get dynamics. They look similar but are MILES apart. Again - my hesitation in making the trip to Wisdom in the first place was based on my past experience with speakers that you mentioned. I too didn't understand the difference between the technology and only made the trip because the local dealer I am working with told me I should make the trip as it might be exactly the speaker I am looking for. He was right. |
I've heard the LS75. They were used as rear surround speakers in a 4.4 system. ALL Ampzilla powered, 6 of those things.. I never noticed what he was using for a preamp. The Ampzillas were stacked like cord wood on either side.. BLUE 6 total.. I saw, heard and bought the mains out of.. it is where I got my last pair of VMPS RMx Elixirs. I75 are close to the BG RD75 Planars.. Actually the BG were quite a bit better.. One of the BG series uses Neos, ones used ferrite. There was also a few 75" that were produced with Rare earth magnets... RARE indeed.. I liked ferrite magnets the best.. just a smoother sounding planar. The real game changer was the type of OX. NOW! Danny Ritchie probably has more knowledge on planar building than any body out there. HANDS DOWN... Builds some good speakers and designs a LOT of OX corrections on pooley designed passive XOs.. The exception being a very well designed active XO, Krell Evo or something like that.. Special made for that application. 20 30 times the cost.. I love Ribbons, and small planars. 30+ years for me.. Electro stats not so much... Have fun.. Regards |
Glad you found the perfect speakers for you, but I have to say in looking at Wisdom's web site, it is rather a mess. A ton of products with little clarity or explanation of the differences between them and what's best for what situations. One could wander around for quite a while trying to figure out which of the many products might be most appropriate for their setup. It is interesting how some companies pass up the chance to make things easy for their potential clients. |
varchard - This is not SPAM. You are right I have not posted before. Never felt I had much to add. I can tell you this is DEFINITELY not spam and/or marketing. Such hate coming from people on here. This is one of the reasons I never posted before. I am sharing my personal experience with a group of what I thought were like minded audio people. I was hesitant to post for just such reactions. I am more than happy to discuss my professional career as well as my give my professional opinions. They are just that. My opinions. If you are so upset by my posts feel free to stop reading them. Thank you. |
mlsstl - I agree with you about the website. Again... these speakers were recommended to my by the person helping me put together a home automation system, A/V system, etc... I did the online research as well and honestly was underwhelmed. I read about the technology and really thought it sounded like snake oil. But I really trust the opinion of my local dealer and made the trip. It was a quick fly in at night (before covid hit) then spent the next day at the factory listening and flew back that night. I have not posted until now because I honestly have not had much free time. In my business the work is crazy busy and my crew and I were very fortunate to have work during the pandemic to keep us busy. We worked from home except for the mixing of the films where strict covid protocols were in place. How busy could I have been you might ask - now that I know my posts are being scrutinized... Well I postponed my honeymoon FIVE times!! A year later than expected due to fluctuating work schedules. If you don't work in the film business this might be hard for you to understand, but that is deal. |
I have not heard about wisdom since harry pearson wrote about them for a review in the absolute sound but i can assure you that many speakers never made it to his room just like they never make it to mine either and for the same reasons that you describe. If the speaker can not do it all and play all types of music what good is it, i totally agree, the fun is finding one that does and wisdom sounds like one of those i know they make some huge systems or at least used to. |
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roxy54 - I had never even heard of these speakers before my dealer suggested I listen to them! I am not sure why they don't do more advertising as well...??? I try to stay up to date on what is current in the market place as well - I love this stuff. |
Congrats, those speakers look fabulous and I’m happy for you that you’ve found something that works so well for you. Not to hijack your thread, but I wonder if you’re ever had a chance to work with Frank Rinella? He engineered some recordings my band did at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley a lifetime ago and I think he ended up having a pretty good run as a foley artist. Just curious. |
In the past the speakers my father and I have owned are: Meridian DSP 8000 B&W 702 B&W 802 Klipschorn 1975 vintage (not subtle but dynamic) M&K satellite speakers circa 1980 (my first speakers for my room) Macintosh - I forget exactly what these were called, but they had the midrange and tweeter mounted to the wall and the bass was a separate box. They sounded lovely. Why so many speakers? Well we loved the hobby, my parents were/are fairly well off and they had a few homes to fill with different systems. I am NOT that well off, but still love the hobby/addiction!!! |
I was a former dealer for Wisdom Audio for over 10 years as good as they were - there is a technologically superior planar speaker by GT Audio Works- they utilize a proprietary membrane that unlike all other speakers do not produce any resonance or distortion. To much technology to list Please watch the below video https://youtu.be/U3WhzM8krww |
zm - I do not know Frank. I know quite a few people who worked up at Fantasy studios and they speak fondly of those times. I will ask a few of them if they know him. Thanks for asking. I am based in LA / Hollywood, but I do work with my friends at Skywalker on a fairly regular basis. |
faxer - Thanks for the info! I will check them out. |
gone - Don't know what to tell you. Not marketing. Sorry my first posts had to be something I was excited to share with the community. Yes My travel was before the pandemic. Lost a friend to Covid. A few other friends of mine lost family members as well. Please don't judge others so harshly as you never know the bag of rocks we are all carrying. I have been busy with work, life, family and helping take care of my now elderly parents. I came across this site a while back and get the weekly posts sent to my email and click on the topics that interest me. I didn't post earlier as I was really looking for other components and just didn't have the time. I still am looking other speaker options for the whole house system, smaller TV rooms, amplifiers - probably need class-d to drive the planar magnetics, Trying to figure out the best surround processor for the main room, etc... Anyways... glad to answer any questions if you have them. Best, Andrew |
audioman58 - Interesting... That worries me a bit for sure. I have heard them playing louder than is safe for hearing safety. Because they don't distort and don't have speaker compression at high levels like we/I am used to with traditional drivers I found it easy to keep cranking them up to a dangerous level and not even know it was that loud until I used my sound meter on my phone. Crazy! How much power was your amp capable of outputting. I believe the planar drivers stay at a 4 Ohm resistance across all frequencies which should make them amp friendly. I will need to ask my dealer if they have reliability issues that he is aware of. I will let you know what I find out. Thanks for the heads up!!! |
tvad - Thanks for feedback! Yes it is a crazy lifestyle for sure. When I met my wife I was already working in the business, but I was just starting out so my hours were even worse!!! Luckily she was getting her PhD from UCLA and so she would come by the studio to study while I was working all hours of the night! She knew what she was getting into when she married me!!!! |
A facility with 75+ editing rooms is a pretty serious operation. So I looked you up based simply on the information in this thread and found you at Pixar, which would make sense. As to whether your are "real" or a shill, I would think you could work out an endorsement deal (with your company's blessing) if your aim was simply to hock this company's product. I've always found home theatre and "purist audio" (for lack of a better word) to be two completely different things. Ideally, in theory, one system should be able to do both, but my experience, at least in the home has been contrariwise. I grew up and learned to listen on electrostats (Quad 57's) which I still own and use in a second system (having been refurbished a couple years ago). And, use horns with quite a few woofers in the main system to accomplish what the Quads cannot-- deep bass as well as that dynamic "jump" factor, but understand the drawbacks of both types of design pretty well. What kind of amplifier are you going to use with these, and out of curiosity, is there dead space requirement beyond normal construction for in wall use of these? Planars, like stats, have a bi-polar characteristic, do they not? And require some distance from the wall behind them? I sometimes post here, and sometimes I don't. But, welcome in any case. I spent a fair amount of time in studios back in the day---not sound for film but some pretty big facilities, and man, that "thwack" that you could achieve with those big-assed JBL or Westlake type monitors was impressive if not a little fatiguing. Good luck with your construction and enjoy your new speakers. Bill Hart |
Your characterization of these speakers certainly sounds plausible. My Apogees are magnetostatic ribbon speakers (all magnets and ribbons) and they too can do it all. There truly are few full range ribbon speakers producers. Typically they are pretty expensive and they are quite sensitive in regard to component matching. It’s also difficult for a speaker designer to get their designs just right. An example was the Carver Amazings. Check out their Stereophile review. Its a good teaching in the complexity and pitfalls of speaker design (and they were actually hybrid ribbons speakers). My Duetta Signature IIs are as picky as it get when it comes to speaker cables and they want a lot of current to really shine across the frequency spectrum. I’ve got a beast of a single ended, dual monoblock in a single chassis BAT (Balanced Audio Technology) VK-600 with bat pack that produces a huge amount of current. Cheers! |
Andrew thanks for your wonderful post. That you found an end game speaker that happily lives in the 2 worlds is wonderful, my old Apogees were pretty happy playing in the 2 worlds when space was restricted but in building a new house I designed a dedicated music/theatre room and had the luxury of putting separate systems in .. as well as a couple of Guitar amps, though I ran out of room to put the PA in as well .. Lol .. like you I have been thru a sh#% load of speakers over 48 years. In the end its just about enjoying your new system, there is always a better system out there somewhere. Take care. Rosco |
whart - I am not at Pixar, but based out of one of the major studios in Hollywood. 75 rooms is counting all of the different editing, design, small QC rooms, etc. It is a guesstimate on my part, but realistic in my opinion. You are exactly spot on with regards to the home theater vs. purist audio comparison. Trying to find speakers that could do it all was my goal. I considered the Meyers Bluehorn speakers. Excellent speakers. However my tastes when I put my "purist audio" hat on is for something other than horn systems. I feel like with what I have demoed with the Wisdom speakers I can be happy with them doing double duty and not feel like I am making a compromise. I am not yet sure what amps I will use. Wisdom sells their own amps, but honestly I don't think I can afford them. I have been looking at the class-D amps from ATI. When I auditioned the speakers at the factory they used their own amps which are rated at 500w/ch @4Ohm. The ATI amps can deliver this as well and are more affordable. The other issue is of course that the particular series of Wisdom speaker I am considering needs bi-amplification. I am interested in the LINE source series, but they also make point source. One of the things I have noticed in the film industry |
Oops!!! Didn't mean to hit send One of the things I have noticed is theaters equipped with Dolby Atmos are moving away from single large diaphragm driver to multiple small drivers. There has always been an issue of comb filtering with this, but somehow they are able to minimize this problem and are getting the quicker transient response of a smaller speaker, but still able to move a lot of air. The better dub stages have been upgrading the main speakers as well. We used to use 2 way speakers and still do in many rooms, but now the move is 4-way speakers that sound significantly better. I have completely digressed away from my original post, but I am really enjoying the feedback. |
What would you all suggest for amplifiers? I am looking for 500 w/ch @4 Ohms. Since I am planning on 7.2.4 atmos setup I will need a fair bit of amplification seeing as most of the speakers will be bi-amped. With that I am leaning towards class-d. Any input / experience would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! |
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au_lait - Of course I know / knew Danetracks. Dane is at WB now right? Formosa took over the old Danetracks building. A few of my colleagues moved into that building when Formosa took over and made that their home base. Yes. This are cool speakers! When I get them setup at home we should connect and you can check them out in person. I was shocked by the technology. I am so used to the "industrial /JBL" sound we deal with everyday. |
tvad - I have heard the Monterey speakers (Excellent) but not the Eurekas. There are so many excellent sounding speakers it is overwhelming. I also really like the sound of the ATC speakers, but there they are not attractive for the family room! I did not hear the Monterey in Burbank - I was at some event, can't remember. Didn't realize they were in Burbank. Sounds like a fun visit. I should stop by and take another listen! |
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Andrew - welcome to Audiogon - I have enjoyed this thread. I would like to expand this discussion with one topic - Price point. I checked out Wisdom Audio’s website along with others and I am amazed at the variety but no mention of cost. I have been been an owner of Maggie’s for over 30 years and it is gratifying to see other people improve on their concept - sturdier frames, better crossovers, the addition of subs for better low end. But I am apparently on a much lower budget for my equipment vs. others - as I always do a cost / benefit analysis prior to making any system changes. Thanks for expanding my knowledge of what is out there. I will still be happy with my two systems here at home - Maggie 1.7i ($2100) with a Krell K300i integrated amp ($7000), biamped to a Maggie DWM pushed by a Son of Ampzilla ($2800) - my source is a LUMIN T2 ($4500). My Theater Room uses a Peter Gunned set of Maggie 1.6qrs( $3500), pushed by a Krell S550i integrated amp, still waiting on my custom built SWARM subwoofers from Duke ($3500) - source is a LUMIN D2 ($2200). if you are ever in South Carolina - let me know and come by for a listen! I always have wine and cheese available and you will get a great view of the Blue Ridge mountains for free! my Dad also introduced me to Audio as I grew up - he built his own speakers by the way. Happy Listening |
