Have you heard the new WAMM? Any good?

caesar

Well-Known Member
May 30, 2010
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Any normal people other than "audio journalists" hear this speaker?

Any good, or hype?
 

audioguy

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Near Atlanta, GA but not too near!
Any normal people other than "audio journalists" hear this speaker?

Any good, or hype?

I have not heard it and have no dreams of being able to. That said, I have no doubt it is an incredible speaker. I can only assume it is better than anything else he as built, so how can it NOT be good. Hype? That only comes into play if one compares the price/performance of the Wamm to, for example, the Wilson $200,000 speaker. It is 3.5 times "better"? I seriously doubt it but that is true of virtually ever assault on the high end. For the person that loves the Wilson sound and has the financial wherewithal to purchase such an item, it is not hype and good.

I am a big believer in any business making lots of money legitimately. I hope he sells all of them as fast as possible and then goes after one that is better than the Wamm.
 

C.A.P

Well-Known Member
Apr 23, 2010
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Don't know if we will ever have the availability to hear them as they will be private demos.. Id imagine at Dave's place.. No dealer will have one on display to sell outright.. That being said I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR them and spend an afternoon with Dave getting the skinny !
 
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metaphacts

Industry Expert
Feb 1, 2011
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Any normal people other than "audio journalists" hear this speaker?

Any good, or hype?

If by normal, you mean any non-reviewer the answer is yes. Significantly more non-reviewers have heard it than have reviewers, including dealers, distributors, customers, and the entirety of the Wilson staff.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
If by normal, you mean any non-reviewer the answer is yes. Significantly more non-reviewers have heard it than have reviewers, including dealers, distributors, customers, and the entirety of the Wilson staff.

How do we normal non reviewer types get to hear it Bill
 

GaryProtein

VIP/Donor
Jul 25, 2012
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For that kind of timing (2 microseconds stated in the video), by definition and by virtue of the exact placements for timing of all the drivers, you must have your head in a vise.
 

metaphacts

Industry Expert
Feb 1, 2011
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For that kind of timing (2 microseconds stated in the video), by definition and by virtue of the exact placements for timing of all the drivers, you must have your head in a vise.

Pretty much what everyone says until they actually hear it and move their head and then move around the room.
 

Folsom

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Oct 25, 2015
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I would assume it has nothing to do with time alignment and everything to do with driver interaction, baffle step, diffraction, etc, because it makes no sense that only Wilson has discovered this paramount thing no physcist would ever agree with. So I am sure there are wrong and right adjustmets, but the whole "time alignment" reason is probably fluff.
 

C.A.P

Well-Known Member
Apr 23, 2010
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I would assume it has nothing to do with time alignment and everything to do with driver interaction, baffle step, diffraction, etc, because it makes no sense that only Wilson has discovered this paramount thing no physcist would ever agree with. So I am sure there are wrong and right adjustmets, but the whole "time alignment" reason is probably fluff.

I can agree more with driver interaction, and step baffles helping each driver produce TIME arrivals at the exact second to the ear when seated and set up right.. I did chat with the Wilson rep about this when he was here and it made perfect sense to me ! Calling fluff I 100% disagree with! I was not a Wilson owner until recently.. Having been a ESL panel guy as to Vandersteen which are 1rst order phase timed speakers. I can say this Wilson has it down better than most ! Are Wilson's for everyone? Maybe not! However ; what Dave has done is remarkable and we all benefit from trickle down effect into little brethren lines..
 

GaryProtein

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Jul 25, 2012
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Pretty much what everyone says until they actually hear it and move their head and then move around the room.

If that is the case, it isn't the timing they like, it's something else.

You can't have perfect timing everywhere if you have to tilt and telescope the drivers for the 2 microseconds in the sweet spot, otherwise you wouldn't have to have modular, movable driver bins.

I don't doubt that the speaker sounds great, but I doubt it is the 2 microsecond timing.

Come to think of it, since when do all the instruments in the orchestra have perfect unified timing and phase?
 
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marty

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Apr 20, 2010
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For that kind of timing (2 microseconds stated in the video), by definition and by virtue of the exact placements for timing of all the drivers, you must have your head in a vise.

I use a special audiophile vice that has 3 adjustment settings:

Step 0- baseline. Head position is comfortable. Things sound pretty good
Step +1- Vice tightened just a bit. OMG. This sounds like crap. I paid how much for this?
Step +2- Vice overtightened. Lobotomy setting. Things now sound wonderful again. All cares and worries gone. Can't remember my gear or my name.
 

RogerD

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May 23, 2010
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I have a time domain circuit in my system and it does make a difference. I describe it as cupping your hands behind your ears,as everything is intensified and the soundstage can be listened to completely off axis. Have not heard the Wilson's but if my experience is different maybe my circuit is not time domain correcting.
 

metaphacts

Industry Expert
Feb 1, 2011
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If that is the case, it isn't the timing they like, it's something else.

You can't have perfect timing everywhere if you have to tilt and telescope the drivers for the 2 microseconds in the sweet spot, otherwise you wouldn't have to have modular, movable driver bins.

I don't doubt that the speaker sounds great, but I doubt it is the 2 microsecond timing.

Come to think of it, since when do all the instruments in the orchestra have perfect unified timing and phase?

The timing can be (and is) measured at the listening position.

The relational timing of the various /instruments/sections of the orchestra on an absolute basis is not relevant to the speaker alignment. It's the point in time/place at which all of that is is captured (microphone) that determines the timing used to align. In fact, if properly rendered by the speaker alignment, all of the timing vagaries you suggest should be preserved and as easily apparent in playback as they were in the hall.
 

metaphacts

Industry Expert
Feb 1, 2011
305
205
950
Lower Provo River
I have a time domain circuit in my system and it does make a difference. I describe it as cupping your hands behind your ears,as everything is intensified and the soundstage can be listened to completely off axis. Have not heard the Wilson's but if my experience is different maybe my circuit is not time domain correcting.

Not sure what your circuit is or what it is doing. It is easy to listen to WAMM off axis however I'm not sure what exactly you mean by intensified so I can't comment on that.
 

GaryProtein

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Jul 25, 2012
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The timing can be (and is) measured at the listening position.

The relational timing of the various /instruments/sections of the orchestra on an absolute basis is not relevant to the speaker alignment. It's the point in time/place at which all of that is is captured (microphone) that determines the timing used to align. In fact, if properly rendered by the speaker alignment, all of the timing vagaries you suggest should be preserved and as easily apparent in playback as they were in the hall.

You cannot set up the speaker, tilt and telescope the driver bins for the sweet spot center chair position and then say you can walk around the room and it will all be time aligned where ever you are. That's playing both sides of the fence.

An orchestra is going to sound different in different parts of a hall and likewise a speaker will sound different as you walk around the room.
 

RogerD

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May 23, 2010
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Not sure what your circuit is or what it is doing. It is easy to listen to WAMM off axis however I'm not sure what exactly you mean by intensified so I can't comment on that.

Intensified as in all the information captured in the recording is more readily heard as in micro and ambient info. If that ambient info is present you will hear it,if not you won't. A live recording is a more suitable example. The microphone perspective is the correct one.
 

metaphacts

Industry Expert
Feb 1, 2011
305
205
950
Lower Provo River
You cannot set up the speaker, tilt and telescope the driver bins for the sweet spot center chair position and then say you can walk around the room and it will all be time aligned where ever you are. That's playing both sides of the fence.

An orchestra is going to sound different in different parts of a hall and likewise a speaker will sound different as you walk around the room.

I believe you are making claims for the WAMM that Wilson is not.

The speaker is aligned at the listening position.

When you walk around the room, of course the sound changes, though it is much more like walking around a hall than in front of a pair of stereo speakers.

But head in a vice? Not remotely.

And if you break the alignment, the sonic quality of a WAMM is lost at the listening position and that ability to emulate walking around a hall is destroyed.
 

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