What Speakers That Cost $370,000 Sound Like | WIRED

What Speakers That Cost $370,000 Sound Like | WIRED

What does it sound like when you listen to a speaker that’s roughly the price of the home you put it in? The Wilson Chronosonic XVX is a $370,000 audio supertower of seven drivers stacked atop one another producing a spectrum of sound beyond the range of human hearing—literally providing more realistic detail than you could possibly hear. WIRED Luxury Gear Editor Jeremy White breaks down what that leap in price actually produces in audio quality, and the surprisingly intricate and impressive technology housed in both.

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Director: Anna O’Donohue
Director of Photography: Mateo Akira Notsuke
Editor: Louis Lalire
Host: Jeremy White
Senior Producer: Efrat Kashai
Creative Producer: Christie Garcia
Line Producer: Joe Buscemi
Associate Producer: Amy Haskour
Production Manager: Peter Brunette
Camera Operator: Sasha Novitskiy
Sound Mixer: Tom Morley
Production Assistant: Samuel Herbaut
Editorial Consultant: Chris Haslam
Photographer: Mitch Payne
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen
Assistant Editor: Fynn Lithgow
Animation: Sam Fuller
Location: KJ West One hi-fi store, London https://www.kjwestone.co.uk
Wilson Audio’s UK distributor: Absolute Sounds https://www.absolutesounds.com

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50 Comments

  1. @djdacdb on November 13, 2024 at 12:29 pm

    The room acoustics is the most important when you seek hi-end fidelity, start with hire an good room-acustic proffesional and build a good room, then you buy good speakers and amps.

  2. @one-rv2bx on November 13, 2024 at 12:29 pm

    Could have made them bigger, should have

  3. @Jack-Australia on November 13, 2024 at 12:29 pm

    Sensational video, thanks!

  4. @normloo1590 on November 13, 2024 at 12:30 pm

    Sorry, I totally missed the point of this video. Why are we comparing a system north of $1m to something cost a meal for 4 at McDonalds?

  5. @svtcontour on November 13, 2024 at 12:30 pm

    massive law of diminished returns. You can likely spend 50K for an entire system that would get you 98% there of something that is 500K

  6. @NewLife-qj9mx on November 13, 2024 at 12:31 pm

    Good to see the stack speaker coming back 🤘😎

  7. @remisbrazauskas8428 on November 13, 2024 at 12:31 pm

    TDL RTL 3 best speakers for the money. Lots of fun, and you can have a family.

  8. @ErwinHayen on November 13, 2024 at 12:32 pm

    Simple question; what is the profit margin on the 370k speakers and the Sonos speakers? It should explain some questions… and yes, I do love music.

  9. @andymwes on November 13, 2024 at 12:33 pm

    Spending 1 million dollars on a speaker i have to sit in one place to enjoy sounds worth it to me

  10. @marckirsch on November 13, 2024 at 12:34 pm

    Great video, but also a missed opportunity: You should have added a sub to the Sonos.

  11. @duprie37 on November 13, 2024 at 12:38 pm

    Nice but doesn’t take into account psychoacoustics…the fact that your brain adjusts to and optimises whatever you’re listening to "just so". Whether it’s a decent $200 portable BT speaker or a $200,000 speaker array, or even a $20 AM radio if the apocalypse has come & that’s all that’s left, in the end you get used to it and it’s all just sounds okay lol.

  12. @davidtomsett on November 13, 2024 at 12:38 pm

    The dCS, CH Precision, D’Agostino, Dartzeel and Transparent cable set up is ultra fi

  13. @NishathKhan on November 13, 2024 at 12:38 pm

    Serious snake oil detected

  14. @arunkumarvikram on November 13, 2024 at 12:38 pm

    Heart says Chronosonic, head says Sonos, the wallet says stick with the current $10 headphones.

  15. @Hot_Cold_Blue on November 13, 2024 at 12:39 pm

    Don t expect to hear any better sound quality than what the recording engineer heard when mixing through whatever equipment was used in the studio or mastering room.

  16. @issacasimov on November 13, 2024 at 12:43 pm

    ultimately music source will be the biggest problem. All those bad recordings sound horrible on high end setup, especially you can hear every flaw.

  17. @JohannesGalansson on November 13, 2024 at 12:46 pm

    Today we are going to compare iPhone with the James Webb space telescope.

  18. @Martin-Teufel on November 13, 2024 at 12:47 pm

    These loudspeakers seem to be the Ferrari for the living room. I like the design. Just put a tv between and have fun. 😉

  19. @Warrantti on November 13, 2024 at 12:47 pm

    These $370,000 speakers sounds worse than normal studio speakers. These do not have flat frequency like good studio speakers have.

  20. @d.n.a5415 on November 13, 2024 at 12:49 pm

    You don’t need a $400,000 speakers if you love music, not unless you love gears and an audiophile.

  21. @SnakeEye65 on November 13, 2024 at 12:49 pm

    The number of people able to discern those frequencies is rather small. Many more will actually convince themselves of their own hearing prowess (the rustling of bills must be soothing though).

  22. @khaledakbar2125 on November 13, 2024 at 12:50 pm

    Precision hardware equipment only for floyd Mayweather Jeff bezos etc etc

  23. @videotosse on November 13, 2024 at 12:51 pm

    How can you describe the Sonos as "perfectly fine"? Are you being paid to say so? If you have any interest in music, it’s horrible.

  24. @bobbg9041 on November 13, 2024 at 12:53 pm

    I kinda think symbols are hardee to get accurate playback more then what you were told but it has more range with all its strings and keys.

  25. @djloomy on November 13, 2024 at 12:53 pm

    Enhorabuena! por el video de la comparación más absurda de la historia…. 😠
    Ahora podéis hacer otro comparando el sonos con el altavoz de un teléfono móvil….

  26. @underwaterireland on November 13, 2024 at 12:54 pm

    Sorry, but tests like this one are pointless because WE ARE LISTENING TO THE SOUND OF THE RECORDER THAT WAS USED TO RECORD THE SOUND. Good recorder – good sound. Bad recorder – 👎

  27. @KeithHeinrich on November 13, 2024 at 12:56 pm

    These cost aud $600k. I doubt there is any justification other than bragging rights.

  28. @pfkellogg on November 13, 2024 at 12:57 pm

    Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of when Edward Kellogg co-invented the dynamic loudspeaker (the one with a coil that needs current to run through it). No one other than me appears to be too excited by it but I am. I have 10 speakers. I will plan a celebration.

  29. @DanielNunes-p3j on November 13, 2024 at 1:00 pm

    For my whole life, I’been listening music in the wrong way and I never knew it. I’m poor, I only could afford a lousy Sony set of speakers for cheap.

  30. @richardgrumbine4867 on November 13, 2024 at 1:00 pm

    I listened to the Wilson WATT Puppies way back when… they put Yo Yo Ma right into my lap… one of the top 3 speaker experiences of my life… the other top contenders were top of the line Martin Logans, and Klipsch KHorns… all VERY different but VERY good… the Wilsons had tremendous imaging and depth, the ML had AMAZING detail, and the KHorns had amazing realism… mind you all were in different room with different gear and different music… I would have been happy with any of them…

  31. @Paul-D-Hoff on November 13, 2024 at 1:00 pm

    Millionth of a second…………. HAHAHHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, no one can hear that. Do a double blind test and that all goes away.

  32. @Dimian7 on November 13, 2024 at 1:02 pm

    Why did you use a crap Sonos speaker? 😂 compare it to like KEF active stereo instead

  33. @NotDayWalker on November 13, 2024 at 1:05 pm

    bro what you trying to sell?? the small speaker or the million dollar sertup.. get to your point man

  34. @jorgeneriksson3144 on November 13, 2024 at 1:05 pm

    I love the Wilson Audio sound. But it isn´t cheap. Still You can get a better sound than the Sonos for the same amount of money.

  35. @NextCarEV on November 13, 2024 at 1:05 pm

    Jesus, at least do a stereo pair of Sonos speakers. What a stupid review.

  36. @artyfhartie2269 on November 13, 2024 at 1:06 pm

    You cannot compare a tiny loudspeaker with a giant one that cost a ridiculous amount of money.Klipsch heritage loudspeakers , preferably vintage ones, powered by vintage American, UK or Japanese amps and preamps or receivers , will destroy the Wilsons for value, sheer emotion and realism.

  37. @colourbasscolourbassweapon2135 on November 13, 2024 at 1:07 pm

    my Audio Technica ATH M50x Headphones get put up that 20hz aka my headphones go down 15hz and up to 28khz tbh

  38. @emilylowe-o5u on November 13, 2024 at 1:11 pm

    ‘The more drivers the more details you can hear’ wtf…
    ‘Tweeters need to be directed at you’ that’s also false, some tweeters perform better slightly off-center.

    Can’t think of a worse genre than piano to test speakers with. You want something with ALL the frequencies. High and low. And at a high volume, that’s where cheap speakers fail to deliver.

  39. @gaming4days78 on November 13, 2024 at 1:11 pm

    These vs focal grand utopia

  40. @David-ik8wj on November 13, 2024 at 1:14 pm

    most recording studio equipment used to capture sound falls way short of the level of expense and quality of equipment someone obtains to play it.

  41. @BruceW.-hs9qq on November 13, 2024 at 1:16 pm

    You can get an amazing lifelike set of speakers second hand for $ 2,500 or even less. That would eat the SONOS for lunch. FYI Wilson makes amazing speakers for over 90% less than these too.

  42. @crodoc69 on November 13, 2024 at 1:18 pm

    Not fair comparison at all! Compare $10K setup with this over $1mil. setup. Then you will (maybe) see absurdity of such purchase. This is like $300K watch that has nothing to do with showing the time. In the same way, this is just super rich BS!

  43. @Granny_Smith on November 13, 2024 at 1:19 pm

    I have a $500 audio setup with an av receiver, cd player, subwoofer, and 4 speakers. It’s ten times better then the sonos, and It doesn’t cost a house.

  44. @nithinvarghese4737 on November 13, 2024 at 1:20 pm

    What is the name Track used a begin of video ?

  45. @xaviertan7408 on November 13, 2024 at 1:21 pm

    I still think PSB Alpha IQ is a good start better than Sonos without breaking the bank, do try them all everyones different

  46. @paolo61hifi on November 13, 2024 at 1:24 pm

    Se qualcuno e’ idiota peggio per lui..😂😂😂
    Con dieci volte meno acquisto speakers professionali che suonano meglio 😂😂😂😂😂

  47. @MisterNoRng1 on November 13, 2024 at 1:24 pm

    bruh this is the dumbest comparison ever

  48. @CNKayutube on November 13, 2024 at 1:28 pm

    Im off to radio shack to get these wilson ! 😅

  49. @RambleStorm on November 13, 2024 at 1:28 pm

    bringing up frequency range is a stupid argument…the story is much more complex than just frequency range …there have been cheap speakers/setups with a bigger range than that.

  50. @Slimecrazy234 on November 13, 2024 at 1:28 pm

    At least use two Era 300s in stereo pair, come on this is basic stuff here.

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