Have you heard the new WAMM? Any good?
- Thread starter caesar
- Start date
I just wish his 'search for beauty' encompassed the visual aesthetic.
I want to like Wilson speakers but I consider the physical appearance to be a missed opportunity.
We love the way full range speakers sound. But anything that large sets the visual tone of the space it sits in, as well as being the subject of your gaze whenever you listen.
So speakers need to look as good as they sound. Which at the very least imho, means moving away from squares and right angles to more natural shapes.
To me the WAMM looks like something that wants to do you harm. A malovelent robot that will zap you if you move out of perfect alignment.
This is not the vibe I am looking for at home
I want to like Wilson speakers but I consider the physical appearance to be a missed opportunity.
We love the way full range speakers sound. But anything that large sets the visual tone of the space it sits in, as well as being the subject of your gaze whenever you listen.
So speakers need to look as good as they sound. Which at the very least imho, means moving away from squares and right angles to more natural shapes.
To me the WAMM looks like something that wants to do you harm. A malovelent robot that will zap you if you move out of perfect alignment.
This is not the vibe I am looking for at home
That's an interesting thought and certainly one as a Wilson owner for over 25 years has thought of many times. That's why every version I have ever owned has been in either black piano gloss or presently Black Almondine. I have always listened with lights out because that way I get more involved with the music. Once the lights are off the speaker is not only invisible but so also is it invisible when listeningI never buy gear for bling. If so I would win the award for ugliest everything as I pair my Wilson as I have for 15 years with the most ugly Lamm components
For me it's what the speaker sounds like. If I wanted a piece of furniture I would do that. Mine is in my own little man cave that only I dwell. Once I'm in it's all about the music
Your comment I'm sure is shared by many but if you look at the evolution of speakers in the market you will see countless which have a Wilson look to them
Dave is a very smart designer who stood the course and from him a lot of startups occurred. Even Daryl is continuing that design
I hear what you say but I bet you don't hear what I hear
Speaker aesthetic is even more subjective than sound quality preference, and IMHO can not be separated from decoration preferences and life style.
IMHO any large speaker is not nice looking - it does not fit in a decoration! But in this class I find Wilson's, particularly the XLF as very successful design - in my room they do not look like two sticks or giant shoe boxes in the room. Due to its well though curved lines and subtle change of dimensions they are not aggressive. The quality of the paint and the discrete color also help. Although smaller I consider the Allex less friendly than the XLF, the Alexia seem to need some diet ...
Sacha's, Yvette and Sabrina have excellent design and if the color is properly chosen can be integrated with great success, becoming part of the decoration.
If I was asked for the best globally looking speaker that I had in my room I would say without hesitation the Sonus Faber Amati Futura - proper size, shape and sobriety, looking luxurious and simple. This time more than ever, YMMV!
You are making an assumption that the folks with the cash to buy these beauties actually spend a lot of time listening to them. Might be like one of their Lamborghini's and get a spin a couple of times a year.
That said, after living with Maxx3's for a few years now - I love the Darth Vader death star robot look
You are making an assumption that the folks with the cash to buy these beauties actually spend a lot of time listening to them. Might be like one of their Lamborghini's and get a spin a couple of times a year.
That said, after living with Maxx3's for a few years now - I love the Darth Vader death star robot look
You are making an assumption that folks who buy WAMMs don't listen to or care about music.
Based on the WAMM purchasers so far, nothing could be farther from the truth.
When one sees WAMM in person, the reaction is very different from the reaction to photographs or our 4k videos.
Would seeing it in person change your view? No idea. But it certainly has changed the view of those who had similar views to you before walking into the music room.
I never ever listen to music with the eyes open. Imho, closing the eyes is a free upgrade of sound quality that exceeds many equipment upgrades. And I also guess that WAMM owners usually have a dedicated music room. As long as the finish is what to be expected I dont really care about looks.
That's entirely possible. I remember being surprised the first time I saw a Ferrari Enzo in the flesh....after seeing many photographs I thought I knew what it looked like, but was completely unprepared for the way its actual proportions resemble an insect
Btw I was speaking as someone considering the purchase of a pair of Thor's Hammers.
My installer is training with Dave Wilson this week, sending me back excited mails about how good they sound
You are making an assumption that the folks with the cash to buy these beauties actually spend a lot of time listening to them. Might be like one of their Lamborghini's and get a spin a couple of times a year.
That said, after living with Maxx3's for a few years now - I love the Darth Vader death star robot look
I still hold the theory that there is a scale for high end audio buyers.
At one end are the genuinely wealthy, who as you say might barely even visit the home where their system is installed. At the other are diehard enthusiasts whose system is by far the most expensive thing they own and who really do get their money's worth by spending a significant portion of their free time either listening or in the same room.
(That would cover me)
I would agree with your premise, that broadly the more time you spend with them the more important are the looks of your speakers, and then it becomes a matter of taste.
For the record I consider the best looking speakers to be the Rockport Arrakis. I also like the Vox Olympians and the big Focal Grandes.
and probably many others I will think of as soon as I press 'post reply'
i have heard Thor's are truly one of those audio pieces that really is at an entirely different level. There was a Thor installation at a house already using X2s, and the entire audio dealership was so amazed by the addition of the Thor (they had already set up the X2 the previous year), they all sat and watched (get this) a cartoon dinosaur movie for the entire 3 hours...because they were transfixed by the Thor once it was set up. They said nothing had prepared them for the immense and yet nuanced effortless bass of the Thor, and these were 25-35 year veterans of high end audio who were also Wilson dealers for at least 15 years if not longer.
Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh crickey !
<jiggles from one foot to another in an excited fashion>
Hmm, the aesthetics of speaker design, like that is what kills the WAF! You can build out a spanky room, match paint, etc., but then you still have to deal with CABLES!!! and big (ugly) boxes of electronics, and power cords the size of pythons. While some gear is more visually pleasing than others, it is a hobby where your love of music requires accepting a degree of clutter.
Ever notice Wilson adverts, with their wonderful photography, never include speaker cables!
Ever notice Wilson adverts, with their wonderful photography, never include speaker cables!
Agree...we actually run all cables under the floor through 2" wide electrical conduits and have polished chrome rings around the floor holes where the cables go down under the floor and come back out on the other side of the room behind the equipment.
And the equipment is in a custom shelving with smoked glass doors so you dont really see the equipment (but the remote still works). The shelves are 4" thick 21-layer nordic birch...but with a piano gloss sapele veneer so that it is as much like furniture as possible.
I've been agonising over whether to dig conduits across my room for the purpose of hiding long run xlr's.
Another option is to embrace the snakes and make a statement with Dalby Jundos:
https://goo.gl/images/9w1byg
Do you know if Dave Wilson uses the Thor's with a single or two subwoofer controlers? I remember reading that at some time he used Parasound A21's to drive them.
I like the idea about cables under the floor, and could probably pull it off in my space. http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...amp-ARC-for-me&p=447881&viewfull=1#post447881
Share some pics of your room! (Or link to where you have.)
This is indeed top of the list of questions I have
Reading on this forum about the whole Parasound thing was instrumental in putting the Thors on my radar.
Unless someone else chimes in I will get back to you on that next week, once I've spoken with Struan
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