Chronosonic XVX.

[Mike Lavigne]

...marketing, if done correctly, can be your friend; especially, with a potentially superior product.

Mike, where do you think the MM7 guys missed the boat?

Cheers!

Evolution Acoustics is the hifi speaker company they intended to be (from my customer perspective). you would have to ask them about how they view that question. i certainly love the value equation i've enjoyed with that brand. brick and mortar brands would have churned me a few times at considerable additional hurt to my wallet. and i get all the performance from how it looks from my seat.

as far as marketing and high end speakers, there is Wilson, Magico a distant second, and everybody else in the far distance.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I get this, but then why have a static display at RMAF? Just do the marketing via audio forums and then encourage auditioning at local dealerships. Haven't some other Wilson speakers been debuted at RMAF? I agree with you that it is all very carefully planned. Wilson is not alone with this approach.

this model is for the whales, and the dealers need to be close to the action to manage those opportunities.

 

[Joe P]

 

[PeterA]

Evolution Acoustics is the hifi speaker company they intended to be (from my customer perspective). you would have to ask them about how they view that question. i certainly love the value equation i've enjoyed with that brand. brick and mortar brands would have churned me a few times at considerable additional hurt to my wallet. and i get all the performance from how it looks from my seat.

as far as marketing and high end speakers, there is Wilson, Magico a distant second, and everybody else in the far distance.

Mike, I get your respect for EA speakers. It seems well deserved.

I don't think Magico is that far behind Wilson when it comes to marketing. They came out of nowhere about 13 years ago and now they are perhaps the most bashed brand. Someone has noticed them. Wilson has been around a whole lot longer. I respect both brands for what they have achieved in the industry, and for how they support the remaining few brick and mortar dealerships. It must be a brutal business and rewarding at this level.

These marketing photos are simply gorgeously done.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Mike, I get your respect for EA speakers. It seems well deserved.

I don't think Magico is that far behind Wilson when it comes to marketing. They came out of nowhere about 13 years ago and now they are perhaps the most bashed brand. Someone has noticed them. Wilson has been around a whole lot longer. I respect both brands for what they have achieved in the industry, and for how they support the remaining few brick and mortar dealerships. It must be a brutal business and rewarding at this level.

These marketing photos are simply gorgeously done.

maybe someone can share actual sales numbers between Wilson and Magico?

i'd be guessing. i had heard that Wilson's actual sales revenue dwarfs other high end companies....a fair percentage of the whole high end sales (all products) world wide. i have tons of respect for Wilson, and Magico too, both have done so much for our hobby.

i know becoming a Wilson Dealer is a big deal for a brick and mortar store. might be the same for Magico, don't really know.

 

[steve williams]

Mike

I get what you’re saying and I can’t disagree. I understand the marketing. I’ve been a faithful Wilson owner for 26 years and have owned every model from WP 5.1 through my present X2 series ll

I’ve been to Dave’s house to hear the a/b between the X1 series lll and the X2 series 1 and now with photos of a speaker I can easily see in my room that has the Chronosonic technology I was disappointed. that it will be a static display. I also wonder (but it is mere speculation) that perhaps Daryl is still working on minor things and it is still a work in progress soon to be finished. but having said that I’ve been to countless auto shows Mike where every car is on static display and some I absolutely lust over. So I understand the marketing as well. Now if Daryl can only make it in that C08 with the light blue or bronze color, well......

 

[the sound of Tao]

View attachment 56551

Chronosonic, I am your father.

Just not sure about the lighting on the Chonosonic here... a shade Darth Vader! Perhaps not using the red gel on the side slash in the lighting gobo could bring this speaker back from sounding on the dark side.

 

[steve williams]

I agree about the lighting as well but the color looks identical to the color of my X2's which is Black Almondine

 

[the sound of Tao]

Wilson have always used nice photography in their promotional videos that I’ve seen and the use of modelling lighting to bring out form in commercial photography is all fine... but yes, the red gel is OTT. I wonder if the bass cabinet actually flares out down low in that curving shape as well or is it more flat and just the way the side light is angled. The effect does make the Chronsonic look quite curvaceous at any rate.

 

[Joe P]

XVX with black hardware:

 

[Ron Resnick]

Evolution Acoustics is the hifi speaker company they intended to be (from my customer perspective). you would have to ask them about how they view that question. i certainly love the value equation i've enjoyed with that brand. brick and mortar brands would have churned me a few times at considerable additional hurt to my wallet. and i get all the performance from how it looks from my seat.

as far as marketing and high end speakers, there is Wilson, Magico a distant second, and everybody else in the far distance.

Mike, where do you think Rockport falls on this spectrum? Andy seems to sell all the speakers he chooses to* with, I think, literally zero advertising.

*This might be the answer right here.

 

[Ron Resnick]

This XVX is a beautiful speaker!

Congratulations to Wilson audio!

 

[tima]

...

I’ve been to Dave’s house to hear the a/b between the X1 series lll and the X2 series 1 and now with photos of a speaker I can easily see in my room that has the Chronosonic technology I was disappointed. that it will be a static display. I also wonder (but it is mere speculation) that perhaps Daryl is still working on minor things and it is still a work in progress soon to be finished. but having said that I’ve been to countless auto shows Mike where every car is on static display and some I absolutely lust over. So I understand the marketing as well. Now if Daryl can only make it in that C08 with the light blue or bronze color, well......

Given what I believe is its place in the Wilson pantheon, they may not want to share its rollout with an audio show.

 

[tima]

Wilson have always used nice photography in their promotional videos that I’ve seen and the use of modelling lighting to bring out form in commercial photography is all fine... but yes, the red gel is OTT. I wonder if the bass cabinet actually flares out down low in that curving shape as well or is it more flat and just the way the side light is angled. The effect does make the Chronsonic look quite curvaceous at any rate.

Wilson's John Giolas is a superb photographer. I don't know if he made those shots, but it would not surprise me.

 

[KeithR]

maybe someone can share actual sales numbers between Wilson and Magico?

i'd be guessing. i had heard that Wilson's actual sales revenue dwarfs other high end companies....a fair percentage of the whole high end sales (all products) world wide. i have tons of respect for Wilson, and Magico too, both have done so much for our hobby.

i know becoming a Wilson Dealer is a big deal for a brick and mortar store. might be the same for Magico, don't really know.

Agree that Wilson’s the top dog in niche, super high echelon brands (ie. as opposed to B&W and the like) but I was still surprised by the revenue #s I’ve heard for Wilson. People don’t understand how small the this hobby/industry is. My guess is Magico is even smaller.

Mac is huge $wise in this hobby. Dwarfs almost everyone.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Mike, where do you think Rockport falls on this spectrum? Andy seems to sell all the speakers he chooses to* with, I think, literally zero advertising.

*This might be the answer right here.

well; recently Andy Payor sold Rockport Technologies to a new owner. (apparently Andy is still involved operationally).

https://www.monoandstereo.com/2019/...ml?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook&m=1

Rockport to me falls in between the zero fixed cost one man band level of hifi companies and the more medium sized hifi companies. more individual customer focused than dealer (they do have dealers) or marketing focused. i think Andy liked a bit of mystery with his products. sort of a mythical image. if you go to their website, they have no email address, only a phone number. and likely they don't have voice mail, you talk to a human. very old school.

sort of the 'anti' Wilson.

we'll have to see how the new owner might re-target the market posture, or not.

 

[jeff1225]

i'm guessing this is dealer politics. and i respect that. their customers are their dealers, not audio show attendees....with all due respect.

the dealers deserve to be able to say that this new product was first heard there. whatever Wilson is doing.....they should keep doing it.

OTOH.....maybe if this was Munich..........

Their customers are and always will be their consumers. Dealers are simply a distribution method to their consumers. Dealers come and go, but without consumers, there is no Wilson Audio.

 

[jeff1225]

CES is a trade show but not RMAF. Hence the show is not restricted to the trade People go to these shows to arrive at some buying decisions as many are in the market and are there to shop equipment To me the speaker is a mini Chronosonic at half the price. Sort of like the Alexx vs the XLF. So yes for me a big disappointment because I bet the speaker is another home run for Daryl and yes it stirs my juices to see the speaker. Having heard it’s big brother several times I’m betting this speaker is going to be a huge seller and for some of us with older Wilson models, this could be the answer

As for the micrometer I would think this is used for time aligning the upper modules.

And this is a key point. RMAF is a consumer show.

 

[wgerman]

Agree that Wilson’s the top dog in niche, super high echelon brands (ie. as opposed to B&W and the like) but I was still surprised by the revenue #s I’ve heard for Wilson. People don’t understand how small the this hobby/industry is. My guess is Magico is even smaller.

Mac is huge $wise in this hobby. Dwarfs almost everyone.

Interesting, McIntosh makes more in revenues than Wilson? You are right, it is very niche though I imagine the Asian market is probably the biggest for all the major high end players.

 

[bonzo75]

Agree that Wilson’s the top dog in niche, super high echelon brands (ie. as opposed to B&W and the like) but I was still surprised by the revenue #s I’ve heard for Wilson. People don’t understand how small the this hobby/industry is. My guess is Magico is even smaller.

Mac is huge $wise in this hobby. Dwarfs almost everyone.

Does anyone know how Devialet compares to these?

I am not surprised mac makes more, looks matter more in this hobby, plus their electronics cam be housed more widely than big speakers