A brutal review of the Wilson Maxx

I for one have to agree with the review. I heard the Watt Puppy 6 and the Max and was not impressed at all. For that kind of money, the performance is a joke in my opinion. I am not saying its a bad speaker in general, but for the money its horrible. Of course, if you can afford it and the matching electronics then it is properbly not much for you. I had to bribe 2 reviewers here just to get them to listen to "the products". You invite them to dinner, then chat some more and ask what they want and give them something nice. And see there a nice glowing review is coming. Very sad! For us small fish in the see, the industr. sucks.

Rcprince, what is your opinion of Jarvi's work as new musical director of the NJSO? Have you attended any recent concerts? I agree that NJSO is an excellent orchestra. The hall at NJPAC is first rate, with an incredibly low noise floor, detailed with just enough warmth. Superior to Fisher Hall indeed.

Samuel
I'm starting to suspect this is some sort of an elaborate publicity stunt hatched to get this "review" site some free exposure and cook up some controversy. I don't know about you but I'd never heard of them previously up until this surreptitious link was posted! I've also never seen so many flatlanders, or flatliners or whatever you want to call these measurement objectivists crawling out of the woodwork in such vociferous quantities. Man, either Wilson must have pissed off an awful lot of folks or these guys want some attention! Just go listen to the speakers, people THEN form an opinion. Pathetic, methinks as most of the pogromers are speaking from ignorance and dictum not hands (ears) on experience.

Not only do I think you're right, Grant, and understand and appreciate that Mike Fremer should be defending his integrity, I know this guy who did this review did not listen to speakers he is debunking from the (very) few comments he actually did make pertaining to what approximates (?) listening comments to the actual speakers SOUND. They just flat out contradict my own experience and, I'm sure many of the above posters actual experiences of listening to them diametrically.

What i also find fascinating is that he doesn't reference Maxx2 but rather goes on and on about the Maxx. Perhaps this "perfectionist" had an older pair of the admittedly much improved versions? What a joke! This guy claims to be a perfectionist yet doesn't give context, gear he used, room,can't even write the model name correctly etc etc etc?

What would be really funny and perhaps even of interest and value is if every poster here described the context and partnering equipment, setting and time spent that they had in front of an actual pair of Maxx2's so we can actually develop some relevant discussions based on actual experience and not just what other people have written or some ridonculous objectivist dogma Repeat after me - any speaker that is not ruler flat, time and phase coherent ain't no speaker at all. It amazes me also that people can form opinions on a speaker or brand based on partnering with certain solid state amps that are known to be sterile, lean and uninvolving. In my opinion the speaker is letting you know what is happening upstream. Its a good sign to me of a great design when that effect is apparent as it demonstrates the opposite as well to a great degree. Anyone that's heard the Maxx's on a great tube amp would think they sound completely differently from someone who's heard them only on Spectral or Halcro. In fact, I've never heard a speaker that has been more chameleonlike demonstrating this effect more than the Maxx2.

I have to laugh out loud at what an easy target it is to attack the most successful high end speaker without actually listening to the product. Hilarious thread!

Oh, my disclaimer? I've actually heard them.

Well i thought i would join in too. I once heard a Wilson Watt Puppy about 5 years ago and it was my first High End experience. While i did remember that i found the sound very cold and dead sounding that the precision and depth really impressed me. I am now currently listening to diva's and wouldnt trade them for any other speaker out there but i am sure that if setup correctly that the Wilsons sound pretty good. For the money i am sure that they are not very good, but who can justify calling a 100K speaker a bargain.

-Flo

What MF has brought to our hobby with his tracking angle and Analog Corner contributions is most commendable. Few reviewers could match this accomplishment for the uplifting of analog and the superior source of the vinyl medium. Yet what strikes me a bit odd is his Don Quixote like quests to right the so called wrongs voiced by folks like Arthur Salvatore or some of the ”IDIOTS” on Audiogon? Mr. Fremer what possible “capital” do you intend on gaining from wrestling with …. As the adage goes, you will only come up covered in mud. I realize it’s not in your nature but sometimes saying less is more powerful.
We all have different ears and differing desires driving what we expect out of our personal Hifi systems. Emotions run high because of the very nature of what the medium invokes in most all of us, otherwise why bother. For me this forum (AudigoN) is a place to question the very ideas of what we are trying to accomplish here. Short of personal slander I find it a healthy exercise to share in this mutual ‘reality check’ experience. Not all that comes from an open forum such as this is fruitful, so it goes.
On the subject of this thread though short of the color of the paint on these (Wilson Audio) speakers I find the colors of the speaker sound itself to clash with my decorum.
If that wasn’t enough Dave Wilson’s interview in TAS (I stand corrected) December 2004 article entitled “The Cutting Edge, Playback systems; What is most important?” IMHO leaves me not appreciating the sounds that come from the man behind the speakers either. His premise (as a speaker producer, of course) is that an ipod and Wilson Sophia loudspeakers represent in the hierarchy of a high-end system a more suitable combination than say Ivor Tiefenbrun’s contribution of a Linn Lp12 and a modest grouping of components further down the chain of reproduction. Then at a CES of the time he duped the masses in what he refers to as an experiment by leaving them to believe that they are listening to a $25,000 dollar CDP through his speakers when in reality they are listening to an ipod. All that this stunt proves to me is that a group of Wilson observers happen to be incapable of hearing the difference. That should serve him well if they also have wallets fat enough to support his livelihood and I find no offense to a person making a good living for them selves. I don’t believe for a minute though that some of us would not have ferreted out this attempt of proving whatever it was that he was trying to prove. Yet I find it to be in a whole different spirit than what Ivor and Linn were out to prove decades ago when they ran double blind comparisons of the early Lp12 against other decks. For me a Wee Dram of Scotch will not quell this affliction, in the words of Ivor Tiefenbrun, “Well, I’m just taking medication after hearing that (laughs).”
Along time ago I let my ears guide me though to assemble my first Hifi system and as I gleaned little pearls of wisdom and listening experience I found that some folks such as Ivor and his principals seemed to give me back the greatest amount of satisfaction. There were and are a lot of ideas out there about Hifi and musical reproduction and we each have to prove out what makes sense and what is just more distortion to be eradicated. This all adds up to the buffoonery that begs for a forum like AudiogoN and demands some not so pleasant discourse in relief to the spectrum of colors being projected by our audiophile rags. For me personally over the years having listened to my share of Hifi equipment I have come to find that much of the choosing of a good reproduction system is about my ears and my personal likes, yet this in no way negates a hierarchy of practical science and coexistence with the laws of basic physics. Let’s keep the “art” (and I’m not referring to Art Dudley in as much as we all need to lighten up and laugh at our selves, which he is the master of) I digress, of it in perspective to the reality of our physical realm. Maybe the flat earthers are on to something. Happy listening and Cheers!