I don’t know what the bad rap is for Wilson as they sell a lot of speakers and I believe more than any other high end brand.
The “bad rap” is they are not a plug and play product . I have said this many times that the results lie in the room and the ability of the set up.
These people are rare and most can’t do it other than read a set up manual. This is the reasons for the widest variety of listening opinions coupled with their sonic signature which of course no speaker pleases everyone.
The fact that they have a limited and precise place to sit doesnt help this either .
If you need to readjust many parameters everytime you move the speaker this is a very complicated, time consuming and difficult process.
I don’t think that most clients or demos at dealers or shows have gone through this very precise process.
For example I heard the XVX set up at Robert Harley’s room set up by Wilson with asssist from Stirling Trayle and at Jays Audio Labs room set up by Wilson staff.
The results very very very different.
I can’t tell you why they sounded nothing alike but they did.
i agree with your point and my post said as much about Wilson "needing proper set-up and a mature curated system to be tamed".
then you expanded on that issue.
the bad rap is a combination of the set-up issue and just it's market position as the target for other brands. which is a different thing than personal preferences and brand loyalty.
Wilson is not my personal preference; there are a number of other competing brands i prefer for one reason or another. but i respect them and could build a great system with them. i'm not anti any brand.