Is Wilson losing their marketing edge?
- Thread starter caesar
- Start date
As far as I know, it actually started in post 206 when caesar, who is not exactly a Magico fanboy, posted three successive photos of David Wilson and Alon Wolf standing together.
lee wtf? alon is a super cool guy. try just for a moment to imagine yourself in his shoes. how would you react if you had every googly eyed audiophile on the planet coming up to you asking you this and that and the other? would you always be mr rogers? would you ever think to yourself ... wow, im tired or wow, my wife is sleeping with the lawn guy (i dont know if she is or even if he is married) or wow, this guy is boring and makes me wanna start drinking? are you always a peach? i doubt it! if he left you cold then go buy another speaker. if you buy a speaker based on the niceties of the design rather then his or her intellect then you my friend are in the wrong thread. nuff said!
People seem to forget that the Wilson people are a team, all of them very social and friendly. When we refer to Wilson people, I can immediately think about David, Daryl , Debby, Peter McGraph, John Giolas or Jerron - those are just the people I have contacted or met, being an overseas Wilson overseas customer.
Just my personnel feeling, but IMHO the Wilson marketing is as strong and solid as ever. Their comprehensive site is an example to any brand, and coverage by magazines is as positive as ever - just see the wave created by the Sabrina. As some distributors say, the Sabrina does not need more marketing, otherwise they would not sell the other brands ...
Just my personnel feeling, but IMHO the Wilson marketing is as strong and solid as ever. Their comprehensive site is an example to any brand, and coverage by magazines is as positive as ever - just see the wave created by the Sabrina. As some distributors say, the Sabrina does not need more marketing, otherwise they would not sell the other brands ...
Gentlemen, new clarifying brand message from Wilson in their Wamm ad: "...Wamm define(s) the Platonic Ideal for believable music reproduction..." [my emphasis, their capitalization]
Note: no claims for their speakers sounding like "real, live" music, only for people to subjectively interpret it this way
Note: no claims for their speakers sounding like "real, live" music, only for people to subjectively interpret it this way
Gentlemen, so with Daryl taking over, has WA changed their sonic signature?
According to "Sterile" Jon Valin, the newish Alexx has the classic Wilson sound of "...beauty, tonal weight, and smoothness, it was too thick and warmly colored for my taste. It just never sounded real..." But Valin has always hated Wilson..
Yet many others claim the recent crop of speakers are much more musically transparent (let's not confuse musical transparency with analytical transparency to source guys like "Sterile" Jon love so much!).
In fact, many claim the Sabrina, which just won Stereophile Speaker of the Year award is the greatest speaker Wilson ever made...
According to "Sterile" Jon Valin, the newish Alexx has the classic Wilson sound of "...beauty, tonal weight, and smoothness, it was too thick and warmly colored for my taste. It just never sounded real..." But Valin has always hated Wilson..
Yet many others claim the recent crop of speakers are much more musically transparent (let's not confuse musical transparency with analytical transparency to source guys like "Sterile" Jon love so much!).
In fact, many claim the Sabrina, which just won Stereophile Speaker of the Year award is the greatest speaker Wilson ever made...
Caesar, what do you mean by "musically transparent"? That the speaker or component or system does not get in the way of the music? Does this have a practical difference from "analytical transparency" to the source? By source, do you mean the original musical event, the master recording, tape or file, or the source component, ie. turntable, tape deck or digital player?
Hi
If anyone had any doubt about Wilson, the company, as a marketing juggernaut, one nees to look at the thread about a speaker no one has ever heard about which there is no specs, that even the most ardent nouveau Wilson fan may not be able to own and to crown it all: No one discussing about it has ever heard ... For many it is already a masterpiece , the Opus Magnus of the Living Legend: DAW...
Wilson Audio marketing and business acumen have no peers in the industry. One can only sit and be amazed at how they operate: Masterfully!
Actually looking at his thread alone is proof they haven't lost a step ... I doubt you would find so many posts if it were about Balaboo or Technical Brains
If anyone had any doubt about Wilson, the company, as a marketing juggernaut, one nees to look at the thread about a speaker no one has ever heard about which there is no specs, that even the most ardent nouveau Wilson fan may not be able to own and to crown it all: No one discussing about it has ever heard ... For many it is already a masterpiece , the Opus Magnus of the Living Legend: DAW...
Wilson Audio marketing and business acumen have no peers in the industry. One can only sit and be amazed at how they operate: Masterfully!
Actually looking at his thread alone is proof they haven't lost a step ... I doubt you would find so many posts if it were about Balaboo or Technical Brains
Hi
If anyone had any doubt about Wilson, the company, as a marketing juggernaut, one nees to look at the thread about a speaker no one has ever heard about which there is no specs, that even the most ardent nouveau Wilson fan may not be able to own and to crown it all: No one discussing about it has ever heard ... For many it is already a masterpiece , the Opus Magnus of the Living Legend: DAW...
Wilson Audio marketing and business acumen have no peers in the industry. One can only sit and be amazed at how they operate: Masterfully!
Actually looking at his thread alone is proof they haven't lost a step ... I doubt you would find so many posts if it were about Balaboo or Technical Brains
Frantz,
Great points! At the same time, with seemingly so many other brands, I wonder how many people migrated from Wilson to Magico in the last 5 years, especially to the S line of speakers.
Magico is pretty good at marketing too. The company is just ten years old. Yes, perhaps Magico has the reputation of being an "accurate" speaker, true to the source, the recording. But they promote a photograph of Wolf playing his guitar. They don't show a bunch of measurements the way YG does.
From your post, I get the sense that you think a person who owns Magico is not interested in a system which reminds him of a live musical event, but rather wants a speaker that does not stand in the way of the recording. I don't think it is that simple, or black and white. The people I know who own, or what to own, Magico speakers, listen to lots of live music, use it as a reference, and may also want a speaker that does not stand in the way of the recording.
Ok, back to Wilson.
Hi Peter,
Yes, I like your definition of transparency. However, the term transparency has been hijacked, and many, like Jon Valin and Computer Audiophile, mean it have the gear tell the listener exactly how ,and how well, a recording was recorded, including all the distracting details.
This latter definition, is a disaster for someone who just wants to sit down and listen to music. Here's the type of experience, nicely written up by the computer audiophile reviewing the (obviously analytical!) Berkeley Reference DAC, that would force many music lovers quit the hobby:
"....Based on my several hours with the Alpha DAC Reference Series 2, I can say I heard my music like never before. For example, I'm still trying to figure out what is making a certain sound on an album I've heard a hundred times, yet never heard this sound previously. On the Reference Recordings 24 bit / 176.4 kHz HRx release of Nojima Plays Liszt from Minoru Nojima (HR-25), On track one Mephisto Waltz, I hear a clicking sound in the left channel, especially present during the first three minutes of the track. I described this to a colleague as a mouse clicking sound, as if someone was surfing the Internet next to the microphones during the recording. I'm guessing this is a sound made by the piano, but I'd love to know for sure. At any rate, this entire album sounds fantastic through the new RS2....
Then I got on a Miles Davis kick ... How can a 1959 recording sound this good? Miles' trumpet went from smooth to irritatingly brash and back again, with astounding realism. When music sounds this good, I frequently want to know more about the music and musicians. Thus, last night I started wondering if anyone had written a book about the recording of Kind of Blue and the events surrounding the album. Based on the characters involved, such a story has to be amazing..."
Not saying the computer audiophile doesn't get into the state of flow when he starts thinking about sounds and surfing the internet while listening, but personally, when I listen to my system, I want to be so engrossed and captured by the music, my mind and listening to the music become one, and all other stimuli are blocked...
We have talked a lot about Magico marketing.... In a naturally occurring experiment, there were 2 young metal speaker companies trying to break through: Magico and YG. Magico got Valin telling their brand story, while YG doesn't. Both have fans, but which is the more valuable brand?
Magico promotes themselves as "accurate" and high technology speakers, but seem to hate acoustics measurements. The S5 was an exception - it created the myth of the perfectly measuring Magico speaker, but the arrival of the S5 mk2 and their other top speakers created a problem - how do you promote something that should be better than previous perfection?
Magico have great speakers, but I have the feeling they are more critical of matching and room acoustics than most of the competition. IMHO they do not stand stand in the way of the recording, but sometimes stand in the way of the amplifier...
Thanks, Caesar. So, in Magico's case, you think their success is all because of Valin reviews and not Magico marketing or the sound of their speakers? And in Wilson's case, it is all about the Wilson Marketing Machine but not any reviews or the sound of their speakers? I don't think it is that simple. I read Valin, but he has not convinced me to upgrade my Mini IIs. It was hearing MadFloyd's M Pro that got me to think about that. Perhaps other Magico owners hang on Valin's words. He is an excellent writer and does describe things well and clearly, and puts proper context in place. He is one of my favorite reviewers.
Magico promotes themselves as "accurate" and high technology speakers, but seem to hate acoustics measurements. The S5 was an exception - it created the myth of the perfectly measuring Magico speaker, but the arrival of the S5 mk2 and their other top speakers created a problem - how do you promote something that should be better than previous perfection?
Magico have great speakers, but I have the feeling they are more critical of matching and room acoustics than most of the competition. IMHO they do not stand stand in the way of the recording, but sometimes stand in the way of the amplifier...
In That taking a page from the Marketing juggernaut aka Wilson Audio ...
Magico has done good and if anything has elicit even more Marketing prowess from WA. There is no doubt in High End Audio. WA is the king of Marketing. That shouldn't be construed as a slight: The products also stand on their own. Plus the compay is well ran. They're not my cup of tea but good tea nonetheless.
Magico and Wilson both make excellent products.
I've worked with two dealers who sold both lines. One dropped Magico and kept Wilson, and the other dropped both in favor of Rockport.
I've worked with two dealers who sold both lines. One dropped Magico and kept Wilson, and the other dropped both in favor of Rockport.
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