2. speakers
  3. 163523-97867

Finally found THE SPEAKER!!!

I have been a HiFi guy starting at 12 years old with my father passing along the love. We would spend almost every weekend auditioning speakers looking to find the perfect system. We purchased many speakers over the years and they all had their pros and cons, but the trade off always seemed to be nuanced and delicate vs. dynamic and punchy. When auditioning speakers people would always ask what kind of music do you like to listen to? Rock, female vocals, classical, etc... We had/have eclectic taste and would listen to it all. Why could't a speaker just play all of it?!?! Anyway my love for music, sound, etc... became my profession as I am now an Oscar nominated Supervising Sound Editor with well over 150 movies under my belt.

For the last 5 years I have been looking for speakers that can play films at reference levels with all the detail and punch, yet when I want to listen to music can give that nuanced and detailed imaging, space, air, articulation without being harsh and fatiguing. I have listened to SO MANY speakers and spent hundreds of hours auditioning everything I could find. I would fall in love with something for music and then try play one of my films at reference level and it just never gave me the impact I was looking for. I get it - hard to move a lot of air and still be nuanced and articulate. There are some excellent compression drivers/horns that can do the impact stuff, but for me they always have that harsh edge when it comes to music. The flip side with dome type tweeters I have found things have to be pushed to the edge to try to give that theatrical impact. Looking for the quick transient response of an electrostatic, with the punch of compression driver type of system.

Then a dealer recommend I listen to some speakers from Wisdom Audio. I have to admit I was pretty skeptical at first. I read about these and it all sounded like marketing to me, but the dealer I was talking with said he was blown away by them. So I reached out to the company and setup a demo. They use planar magnetics which is not exactly new, but is very difficult to manufacture. I asked them to have one of my films available to listen to. I chose one that I knew extremely well that has a LOT of dynamic punch as well as subtle nuance. I live in Los Angeles and the company is in Carson City, Nevada. I bought an airplane ticket and I was off. I was treated to a tour of the factory and shown how the speakers were made. USA manufactured!! Then we spent a few hours listening to all types of music on different ranges of speakers. I LOVED what I was hearing with the music part of the audition. Then I asked to hear my film in their theater. I expected to be disappointed based on what I had experienced in the past. Then it happened... I heard the film play and it sounded AMAZING! These speakers could do it all!!! No compression, no fatigue, HiFi sound and still able to play theatrical film tracks as they are meant to be heard. In fact - better! I called my wife in disbelief that my search for "The Speakers" was finally over! I even called my father to tell him what I had just heard. It was the impressive! I remind you - I do this for a living!

Since we are undergoing a major remodel at our home, my wife expected that the family room was going to be filled with big speakers as she has become accustomed to living with me. With some of these Wisdom Audio speakers, they are actually designed to be flush mounted in the wall. I thought there is no way a wall mounted speaker could ever sound as good as a traditional speaker. I was so wrong!! So not only did I find the perfect speaker, but not big boxes in the room 3 feet away from any walls! My wife was thrilled.

If you have never heard speakers by Wisdom Audio you need to find a dealer where you can audition them, or fly to the factory for a private demo!

Best,
Andrew
drewde
drewde OP
53 posts
 
@almirante
You are entitled to your own opinions. It is a free country! These are my opinions. Just that.

@wweiss
I understand your feelings about that religious experience. I had that with listening to a pair of Focal Grande Utopias at my dealers shop. He also happens to be a guitar player and so he was listening to a bass solo when I walked in... Detailed, power, weight to each note. Not sure what it is that makes the "special sauce" when everything in a speaker works just right to give you that magical experience.

I have had that with a few speakers in my past. The thing for me now is the fact that I can actually get that with a speaker that is in the wall. In the past, to get the best from my speakers I had to get them at least 3' from the wall.




drewde OP
53 posts
 
I get that everyone has their own opinions on stuff. That doesn't invalidate another's opinion. They are just that.

I had not posted before on this site because of this very belief. Most speaker arguments come down to how you the individual hear the world. how you think it should sound, and what you like to listen to. This last one is where I found problems. I wanted a speaker that didn't care what I was listening to or at what level I was listening to. Once I experienced that with a speaker - I felt it was time to share. I like to listen to classical, rock, EDM, female vocal, country and of course films!

An example of other peoples opinions. I used to read reviews of DVD / Bluray discs. Don't remember the site, but they would evaluate the quality of the video transfer as well as the audio. While I found the site helpful, it was also misguided from my point of view when it came to what they valued in regards to "quality" of the audio. Things like... did they have a lot of information in the surround speakers, good use of the subwoofer, etc... ??? Absurd! We put what is appropriate information into the surrounds, subwoofer, etc... to support the telling of the story and to convey the emotions of the scene. On top of that - we are delivering the director's vision of her/his film. But... the reviewer had their own opinion as to what was good or bad based on a personal belief. For them what made a good soundtrack was not what any of us in the professional audio community would see as important (and in fact we would often laugh at these very reviews) but to this reviewer that was key.

Anyway I digress as usual. 

My intent was to make people aware of my own journey and personal discovery. Like I stated before I have been looking into speakers for so long it was my weekend hobby. I would travel with a handful of CDs and a flash drive with my music demos to audition. That way I was always listening to the same source material no matter where I went. You get to know these tracks intimately.

I like what I have heard with the Wisdom Audio speakers. If you have not heard them well you owe it to yourself to go and listen to them. Who knows... you might like them too! If you don't. No problem. Just enjoy the ride!
nordicnorm
313 posts
 
If you’re looking for that kind of power, consider pro amps (Yamaha, Crown, Soundcraftsmen, etc.).

I have a pair of Soundcraftsmen PM860 monoblocks (from the 70’s) that I’ve recapped. They put out 900W at 4Ω. Fed by a tube preamp, they sound wonderful! My Martin Logan Spires love them!
drewde OP
53 posts
 
@nordicnorm
Thank you. Yes I have been looking at that very option in particular with the Crown amps. I need a lot of power with multiple amps. If I was only doing stereo my amp choice would be much easier. It will be a lot of amps rack mounted and need to be concerned about thermal issues. Hence my thoughts on class-d. I am hoping the HiFi community has some experience with that type of amplification.

Thank you!
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
@drewde, I have heard the in wall line sources. Not sure which model.
They are good. I'm not sure the situation was optimal. If I were putting them in I would go to town reinforcing the wall. I would make a sound wall with 2 X 6 staggered studs' and I would mount the blue board with construction adhesive to prevent buzzing. I still would be inclined to use subwoofers. On a 16 foot wall I space 4 of them 5 feet apart. 
They are very dynamic and like any other line source they cast a large image which I prefer. They are not the last word in detail and transient response but they are better than most dynamic speakers for sure. With the right power they will go crazy loud. At normal loud levels they are effortless .  I assume they are part of a theater system? I would get a Trinnov Theater processor 8, 16 or 32 channels. It will provide your subwoofer crossover and help level things off. There are acoustic advantages of in wall mounting. You prevent early reflections off the front wall but you still have to deal with the side walls. Floor and ceiling are not a problem because they are line sources. So just the side walls need to be treated. 
I prefer line source ESLs but this sure could be the basis for a great system. 
What are some of your Movies?!

Mike
More to discover