OK WILSON OWNERS. HERE IS YOUR CHALLENGE

Hmmm, I don't see this thread as a sign of arrogance at all. It sounds like a fair offer to hear a direct comparison of any two speakers (but why only Wilson?) with another local audiophile. I have done similar listening sessions with local audiophiles on a variety of our components and this can be a lot of fun and quite a learning experience.

A little time has to be spent to try and find the optimal position for each speaker, mark the locations and then move one pair into the location at a time. Sounds like an all-day ordeal but might be of some value. And after such an experiment, there should be some ideas as to the major differences to each.

We can talk of a speaker not being full range or rolled-off bass, but unless everything is constant, including the same room, such statements only reflect the results of the full system ..... that we are most likely not familiar with. We tend to make snap judgements on products without knowing the true cause of "problems" that we have identified.

Last night I dropped in a pair of ASC tube traps behind my SoundLab A1 speakers. From my experience, imaging has not been one of the strongest attributes I have experienced with these speakers. But just the one pair of ASC's made me rethink this as I had clarity and placement that I did not know possible with the A1s. In other words, I had a completely different speaker. I can only imagine what more room treatments will bring in this area .... and perhaps other sonic improvements. Only another speaker evaluated in my system would give me any idea as to whether or not I would have any inkling to change to something else.

So I think this is a great idea. But keep an open mind to try this with any other speakers or sources, electronics, cables, etc. Most of the fun is meeting and befriending other people in this hobby.

John

Why not just meet at the local YMCA for the ultimate penis challenge? You know, full exposure of the drivers, measure the bottom end response, the whole kit and kabooty. Face it, unless you're one of these XXX stars with the deluxe-size pumper enhanced with the use of genital steroids, it's gonna be a lot easier on the back to haul your package to the contest than it is your speakers. Why not, it's the same game anyways, so forget about the Wilsons and just put your Jimmy up against their Johnson. And make sure you follow up here with a report on who has the better gear, with appropriate specs, graphs, who gets the 6 Moon award, etc. Will you do that for us, Jimmy?

"So I think this is a great idea. But keep an open mind to try this with any other speakers or sources, electronics, cables, etc. Most of the fun is meeting and befriending other people in this hobby."

I absolutely agree

"Last night I dropped in a pair of ASC tube traps behind my SoundLab A1 speakers. From my experience, imaging has not been one of the strongest attributes I have experienced with these speakers. But just the one pair of ASC's made me rethink this as I had clarity and placement that I did not know possible with the A1s. In other words, I had a completely different speaker. I can only imagine what more room treatments will bring in this area .... and perhaps other sonic improvements."

I also agree. Many people here have used different forms of room modification. The design in my room was done entirely by the people at ASC. I followed their plans and my room is flat at all frequencies other than a small 60 Hz bass hump which has proved to be inconsequential.

Nryrchy, your mean spirited response is exactly what I was referencing in my post re: " personal attack/defences ". There truly is no arrogance felt/intended on MY part. Reread my post and you will see no mention of "idiots". Warrenh : I'm specifically "picking on Wilsons" as this thread was intended as a more thoughtful/ FUN reponse to the endless Wilson hype/bashing posts that contain more hubris than good natured debate. Jafox : You probably read the very long thread on the 'dv 50 anything sig better'. Multiple shootouts on mult dates. It's a great idea and sounds like lots of fun but I'm not sure it works so well with large ,heavy speakers. There are several speakers that on any given day / mood that I myself might prefer ( A-1's for instance) Please everyone , this is meant to be fun AND educational AND I am willing to accept that it might be me who is educated. One last comment to snook2 : Chimeras put out little below 24hz so if home theater, rap,organ music is your thing they will dissapoint. What you hear above this is a flat response without the usual midbase hump. It takes awhile to get used to this. I listen to jazz (real jazz not kenny g jazz), classical, rock, even some country and don't feel more bass energy is necessary although I accept that others may dissagree. My prejudice is for "accurate" not " musical " or 'reproducing the memory of a live experience' although I see these as valid alternatives. I just want what is on the disc and this is probably at the heart of alot of peoples differences reguarding speaker choices. Peace - Jim

Boa2 :Why is it that this subject hastraditionaly devolved into name calling and inuendos about peoples characters. Can you not concieve as possible that I and others might just be interested in learning more about this HOBBY of ours. I don't remember such attacks on the cd player shootouts or any other topic actually. People were really interested in the strong points of the various players. I didn't get the sense that they used there equipment (pun intended) to validate ther masculinity. The subject of value came up several times in discussions of emm,reimyo,esoteric vs. alex's modded units but I don't recall any insinuation that emm owners were "idiots". I think people, rightfully, were looking for high performing, less costly alternatives in DIRECT comparison. Somehow this discussion always devolves because the subject of 'value' in highend audio in general and Wilsons in particular brings out very few THOUGHTFUL inquires. Surely there is someone else who thinks about the subject and wants to have some FUN learning/experiencing something new. Jim