WILSON AUDIO.....BIG NAME, BIG PRICE........ARE THEY THAT GOOD?


Are Wilsons the best? are they worth the money? Looking at used watt puppy 8 or Sophia 3. 
jeffvegas
Bone headed questions will always be responded to with zero useful information!
 
You need something....’now’

  JG Wentworth- their your speakers, and you want them NOW!



  Patience may bring about something better?

     
Can’t wait for some the posters to begin comparing the circumference of the tailpipe on their Hyundai’s. 
Good speakers....I think they are. 
And there are a lot of great speakers out there.  I’d see if you can have a home demo or trial of the speakers you are considering. 
very familiar with that concept.  Now if it was the way to go, why don't all the others do it? because it sucks!!! I have heard the Adante. The Bass is a joke. it doesn't have any bass. unless of course you are used to a Andrew Jones designed loudspeaker. 
Oh wait!!! LOL, ROFL, LMFAO
Our Klipschieflipshie ruffrider ruffriding (Heeee Hawwww) with a 100 dollar receiver all the way to the Ted Nugent/Kid Rock hall of fame doesn’t sound like he’s heard or had the Adante. I guess he also doesn’t quite understand the intricacies of the coupled cavity design variant.

Let us try to educate him a li’l bit with this crutchfield/AJones interview.
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-XodbhbDr3YW/learn/the-story-behind-elac-adante-speakers.html

LOL, ROFL, LMFAO

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Ever heard the bass of the ELAC ADANTE? Pure crap. That engineer is nearly as stupid as Andrew Jones. Let's put small drivers INSIDE the cabinet and have 3 passive radiators. lmao!! Sure way to have ZERO bass power and articulation. Andrew Jones likes to do the same thing as well as taking a legendary British company down the drain only for the Chinese to take them over.  KEF sure deserved better. 
@mofojo , If you’ve got the S-1EX, you should try to get your hands on his Elac Adante as well. It is God like when you pair it with some Pass, Luxman, etc. It retailed for 5k and can be had for much cheaper (steal of the century). The S-1EX was my intro to Andrew’s sound. I still curse the day i let it go when i picked up the TAD E1TXK and have been looking to buy it back for a while.

There’s a guy out here who thinks Andrew Overlord Jones is stupid!!! What chance do mortals have anymore... I guess he also doesn’t realize that Andrew has been out of TAD for a while and it is the Japanese engineers (who Andrew himself continues to praise as the best engineers on planet Earth) who're heading the newer ones.

Guy must be ruff riding a Klipschieflipshie ("Heee Hawww" LOL )

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Wow,
I'm listening to my Pioneer S-1EX (TAD light) right now. I'm glad I now  know they suck! All this time I was thinking they were phenomenal. I feel so stupid now. lol. 
Yeah TAD is designed by Andrew Jones. He basically ruined KEF. Guy hasn't a clue how to design a loudspeaker.  Von Schweikert? They sell about 3 pairs of speakers a year. There is a reason why. 
@inna , Kharma eh? LOL, i rest my case. Why don’t slap your Klipsch instead? Hee Haw  LOL
My Kharma and Sonus Faber are light years ahead of that TAD and Von junk.
First and foremost, Wilsons are a ugly Godforsaken eyesore. I have had them when i didn't know any better and have been glad to be rid of them. If you can get over the hospital machine look/ butt ugliness of them, they are really not that special and very clicky with electronics. If you had a keen ear, you will need to go through a lot of work to make them sound just ok! They are very dynamic, but, that alone simply doesn't cut it for me. There are a handful of other attributes they lack.  

I never missed them for a second after i got into engineering masterpieces such as TADs and Von Schweikerts that punch a Wilson down the drain anyday. 

Good advice steakster. I’ve settled on MIT Matrix 60 bi-wire speaker cables - that are a match made in heaven with the W/Ps. And although I like tube amplification, I would like to find some Mark Levinson monos as a possible next step. Hard to believe the W/P and ML 33 monos were making beautiful music - over 20 years ago(!!).
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Do a little decision tree/chart analysis.
1. Sound - most important - weighting 2X all of the below
2. Budget - very important
3. Looks (to me and others) - important
4. Compatability/cost of upstream gear/cables - important
5. Age - somewhat important
6. Location of used pair/shipping - somewhat less important
7. Care and maintenance over time - less important
I’ve done this quick analysis, usually with vehicles for me/children. Example - 1.establish a $7K budget; 2. determine the desired ’style’ (sedan, coupe, SUV); 3. find the best enjoyment+low maintenance cost vehicle in that range. I would usually end up shopping for mint condition low-mileage 10 year old Lexus or Toyota sedans.... So, what would I purchase? I would have to ignore all of the above, and just buy what the 3 daughters want[ed]. LOL Audio gear is a little like that - find out what makes sense to your right brain, then keep that in mind, but ignore that and shoot the moon and buy gear that knocks out your left brain emotionally. :)
Jeff,
If you’ve found some WP8s at the $6K mark, that seems like a semi-no-brainer. Unless one is a significantly different color than the other. LOL Nothing better than getting the sound you want - at a really affordable price. Win-win. They will give you many miles of smiles.
They are also an understated ’statement’ to friends and family and visitors.
When people see them, they say ’very nice!’ And when they hear them, they say ’holy shiite!’
I understand some people have poo-poo’d the Focal inverted dome tweeter, but I personally think it’s great. Wilson modifies it so much - and designs the crossover so well - that it performs almost perfectly in the W/P system. And I think if it weren’t quite so VISUALLY metallic, most people would not say it was too sharp, brittle, ’metallic’.. Wilson’s overall application really is that good.
Keep us posted.
that's what I was considering keithtexas. I can get a pair of Watt puppy 8's for 6 grand. Sasha DAW used is still beyond my budget as well as Sasha 1 or 2. Sophia 3 if I stretch maybe.  Really would like to get their newer models with the silk dome tweeter. Don't care for the Focal metal dome. 
Sounds like if you were able to demo the Sasha DAW and really liked them, then that should be conclusive.. I’m sure you understand they do prefer/require nice upstream components and cabling.
But if you liked the strengths and presentation, you should look for pairs within your budget. You can get W/Ps in the $5-7K range, Sophias in the $7-9K range, and Sashas 1-2 in the $10-12K range. Only Wilsons I would stay away from are the much older Witt and the Cub. And some folks seem to think the Alexia 1 had some coherence issues.
I have a pair of W/Ps, and the small form factor (as long as there are dynamite dynamics), while not totally determinative, IS important. Big horns, or Maggies, or other obscure shaped speakers - while they may sound more immediate, or live, or ’real’ - are more visually problematic over the long term. Wilsons can get you pretty close sonically, in a much more real-world package that’s a lot easier to live with.

I really like Wilson, the dynamics are incredible which makes a huge difference in sounding real,  there are many other great qualities as well which I won’t go into since so many have already said in these forums. . I haven’t heard the Watt Puppy 8 in a long time but remember thinking  they were one of the better Watt Puppies I’d heard. I also really like the current stuff they have. I’ve owned the DAW and the Alexx 2, moving up once again soon.
for a number of years i did rely on reviews and feedback from others for guidance. and it got me to a dead end of Mark Levinson electronics and Wilson speakers. 


There you have it. Wilson are a dead end.
Love that quote. Green with envy.
Absolute conclusions made by hearing different systems in different rooms are marginally helpful. The only way to make such preferential statements with accuracy is to hear the speakers head to head, in the same room, preferably with the same equipment. All other declarations are fairly worthless.

Selection of a speaker is often a highly subjective process. It helps if you really like it initially. :)
Heard Wilson Sasha DAW yesterday.  The best I've ever heard. blows away Magico, Rockport, B&W . Blows away everything.  Wilson is the best. Now I have to convince myself to spend the money. it's a ridiculous price for a pair of loudspeakers. 
Rolls Royce make a Beautiful car too, and it goes forward and backwards
but would I pay 500 k. NO  But my Toyota does the same thing and the parts are CHEAP TOO!!!! A lot of these HIGH PRICE END speakers make nice LOOKING cabinets,BUT who makes the Drivers and when they get old can you get replacement drivers!!
No worries thecarpathian. I appreciate what you said. At the end of the day, I’m happy with my systems as I’m sure you and others are with yours. Jeffvegas is the one asking for help, and started this thread not you or I. You can lead the horse to the well but you can’t make them drink, lol. At the end of the day, let him figure it out on his own. Based on his comments and supposedly asking for help. He doesn’t need any. Why start a thread when he apparently took positive questions that was design in hopes to give him some good ideas that could help him make a better decision, not tell him what to do (only respectable advice) but instead, It’s basically a washout and we can move on to folks who truly do want advice from people who have had experience with specific products. 
There was zero reason or need for your snide response to a legitimate question.
Take notice, all.
This is what you eventually get when interacting with certain individuals.
decathlon, I plan to run a 400 dollar Denon reciever on the Maxx 2's. I upgraded from the Sony so I can really hear what Wilsons can do. 
Oh, I forgot to ask you. Not sure if anyone had asked. What equipment are you using? Like any other speakers out there, the equipment needs to work well with the speakers. 
Weather Maxx 2 or not, all I’m saying is that you should give a listen that’s all. After you hear them, you will be spoiled. There are a few 1 and 2 out there. The 3 is a completely different animal. It sounds slightly better and I do mean slightly better. I have the 3’s as well. That is a completely different price range. You will find them for $30,000 to $35,000. Both of mine are not for sale. My 1’s are converted to Maxx 2. It was the last year before switching to Maxx 2. The change was the the tweeters and the resistors from 1 to 2. Easy to do. My Maxx 3’s are still 3’s. Best of luck on your choices.
My listening room is 14.5 by 17 leading into a kitchen and dining area which would make it 14.5 by 27. 9 ft ceilings. its a good size room. I prefer MAXX 2's. MAXX 1 is too old. 
I used a 1000sq ft. Apartment in NOLA a few years ago and they sound amazing. Believe it or not, your footprint is almost the same. The Maxx speakers can angle perfectly to the seating position you want VS the others don’t do as well. Why hear some of the visit when you can hear it all. You will always chase around speakers until you realize what you are missing. Also by no means the Wilson Maxx are layback sound by the way. There bass will knock you off of your feet. I’m happy to give you a demonstration if you like. I’m in the LA Area 
1200 sq ft apartment? Exactly how big is the room you plan to put these speakers in?
there were a pair of Maxx 2 in California for sale asking price 13 grand. I thought about them, then realized I live in a 1200 square ft hi rise in Las Vegas and cannot accommodate speakers of that size. I'm looking for sophia or watt puppy sized speakers that pack a punch. I do not like laid back sound. I want a lively bright loudspeaker.  
The Wilson Maxx speakers blow the Sophia and Watt Puppy 8’s away. A completely different league.
Jeffvegas,

where do you live approximately? I have a pair of Wilson Maxx speakers converted to Maxx 2’d and I still have the original tweeters for the Maxx.
Have listened to Wilsons, including most recently the Chronosonic model and never found the magic. With the $680k model I felt like I was hearing 5 different speakers at once. Is that coherence? This dealer powers them with MSB Mono blocks at $160k/pair in a large theatre room. 
On the other hand many reviewers own Wilsons and logic dictates they hear pretty well and have even more choices. Does Wilson offer 1/2 price deals to reviewers or something? 

A friend of mine who is a musician and retailer sells both Wilson and Sonus Faber. He owns Sonus Faber Amatis.

Everybody hears differently.  My ears are old, worn and limited
so I have no idea what the 10k-20K sound is about.

If you can't wait 3 months for a product you may not be very sold
on it. 

Good luck my friend!
I have Wilson Sasha 1.  They are excellent; accurate, natural, coherent from top to bottom. Positioning and powerful amp needed.  I prefer Wilson’s to Sonus Faber , Vivid Audio , B & W , DeVore, Van der Steen , Kef , Monitor Audio , MBL , Focal , and Harbeth.  The above have their strengths but i prefer Wilson’s. 
  
Stereo unlimited in San Diego has some Vandersteen Quatro's coming in on trade for the model 7's hmmmmm.........
I heard some older WPs years ago not sure the model. I thought that older Focal tweeter was not great. I’m sure the new ones with soft dome sound much better but are also magnitudes higher in cost. 
When I was last shopping for speakers, before demonstrating a pair of Magico floor-standing speakers, the salesman asked if I prefered "analytic" or "musical" speakers, an interesting way to put it.  In my case "musical" was my preference.  I found the Magico's were highly resolving and excellent in their own right, but not "my cup of tea".

When I visited my then local Wilson dealership, I found them also not "my cup of tea".  I thought they also were highly resolving and there was something about the highs, with my hearing, that prevented me from being able to listen to them for very long.

I don't think it's a "good" or "bad" issue.  I have friends who really enjoy their Wilson's, I just prefer something different.

My only advice is that prospective buyers take the time to fully audition speakers and listen to the music they like to enjoy at home, not the typical sources the dealer selects to show off the equipment they sell.