Wilson Audio Specialties Chronosonic XVX loudspeaker!! only $300,000.oo

$300,000 buys a lot of concerts....you know...live music? Reality? For years....Probably decades...

I constantly see this type of comment pop up on threads about very expensive audio gear. But all one has to do, is give it a modicum of thought and apply a bit of rational thinking to it, to see it just doesn't hold up.

Think about the kind of income level one would have to be at to afford these speakers (and all the other gear to match them).

Now, do you really think an owner of a pair of  Chronosonic XVX really has to worry about forgoing going to see live music in order to own them?

I am a member of the largest audiophile club in the world, the Los Angeles, Orange County Audio Society. Quite a few members have extreme high end systems. Funny thing is, (pre covid), I would see them at jazz clubs, local rock shows, and classical concerts at Disney Hall on a regular basis. 

simonmoon102 posts04-30-2021 1:27pm

$300,000 buys a lot of concerts....you know...live music? Reality? For years....Probably decades...

I constantly see this type of comment pop up on threads about very expensive audio gear. But all one has to do, is give it a modicum of thought and apply a bit of rational thinking to it, to see it just doesn’t hold up.

Think about the kind of income level one would have to be at to afford these speakers (and all the other gear to match them).

Now, do you really think an owner of a pair of Chronosonic XVX really has to worry about forgoing going to see live music in order to own them?

I am a member of the largest audiophile club in the world, the Los Angeles, Orange County Audio Society. Quite a few members have extreme high end systems. Funny thing is, (pre covid), I would see them at jazz clubs, local rock shows, and classical concerts at Disney Hall on a regular basis.

One does not need to spend six or seven figures to get spectacular sound in a home. At that level, it simply becomes an exercise in ego, excess, and pretentiousness. Not my thing. I’m more of a performance/value kind of guy. If spending $1,000,000 for a system is your thing, more power to you. I’m also allowed to say I think it’s absurd. The sheer snobbery of extreme high end hifi is extremely off-putting, especially when one asks about specs. My 30 years of attendance at CES has reinforced that opinion. If someone has made a fortune managing other people’s money, or in the stock market, silicon valley, venture capital...whatever...Spend it however you want. Some of these people have ruined the market for musicians by driving late 50s sunburst Les Paul prices to the moon...and they can’t even play guitar, but they have billions of dollars to spend on anything they want. AND...manufacturers TARGET buyers like this, regardless if anything can be proven WHY this stuff justifies the stratospheric pricing...other than ego gratification. 

I've seen too many rich guys that buy the best equipment thinking it makes them a better musician. It doesn't. It takes actual practice...and some natural talent. Money simply can't buy everything.

I think, most of very expensive audio equipment goes to Asia these days.
What some say about how it is here applies even more there.
Few hard working people will spend million dollars on a "stupid stereo'. Some will but those will be more of exceptions.

I think the speakers are terrific. I would love to hear them. All of the carping is from people rationalizing why they don’t need them - based mostly on "I can't afford them" which is really the reason they're whining. I’m especially taken by that attitude from people who have no problem spending absurd amounts of money on cables and power cords because "they make a difference" - as if the speakers themselves don’t.

The speakers are in the "if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford them," yacht category which is fine. I have no problem with people who can afford them buying them, and refuse to buy into the caricature painted of ego-stroking, deaf idiots who don’t know what "Real Value" (tm) in audio equipment is. I have no idea who would buy them, I just hope they like the way the speakers reproduce music.

I think it’s wonderful that some manufacturers want to build a price is no object product. Hopefully, some of the technology developed will trickle down to lower-priced products.

I applaud Wilson for building them.

@edgewound I always laugh when I see an example of what you posted about with guitar ’collectors’. I have a friend who cannot play a lick and who recently was more than happy to show me his newest Gibson LP Gold Top...which he just paid over $40K for! It will hang on the wall in his study, along with 10-20 other dried out ’collector’ pieces. Sometimes it makes me question why this guy has these very nice guitars and an ex-pro studio musician, like myself, has to do with their lowly Tele...then i play my beloved Tele and I wouldn’t swap for all the 'collector' guitars in the world...there is no fun in having guitars on a wall and not being able to play them, IMHO.