Danny Takes a Look at Wilson Audios Duette!

[@jonpatrick66]

This was a cool video. I enjoyed it. Beautifully built speakers. Thanks for sharing.

[@robertdavis5714]

Appreciate this video of my favorite speaker manufacture.

[@BrentLeVasseur]

Having listened to many in room KZbin demos of Wilson speakers from their midrange Sasha to Alexa or whatever all the way up to their top of the line speakers, they all sound very forward and in your face. So I think that’s the Wilson sound. I’m surprised your customer bought these speakers not knowing that in advance.

[@dannyrichie9743]

I think this particular customer bought them used.

[@burliesanford1863]

You know Danny , I bet you make a few manufacturers of these speakers really nervous when they see their speakers on your workbench . You're good Danny and you don't spread bullshit , you just tell it like it is . There needs to be more like you . Keep up the great work .

[@simonp9169]

This was quite fascinating, they've gone about it strangely. Have you ever reviewed the Dynaudio Confidence C1, I'd love to know how they performed.

[@stephenc2738]

Different loudspeakers for different applications but if one compares the response curves to a Genelec or Neumann - Wilson is just audio jewellery, pure bling. Thankfully, recording engineers aren’t using Wilson for monitoring.

[@thomasmleahy6218]

It helped him aquire a high end lifestyle, certainly wasn't driving a Toyota Camry, and just how big and posh was his home?

[@storkfletcher821]

Many recording engineers use monitors that aren't all that flat, or even ones that they would never use to listen to the music outside their work. Of course that doesn't apply to all of them but the point is that the important part is truly knowing the monitor you're using and how it relates to the sound you want to achieve.

[@jeanlephunk]

@@storkfletcher821true, there are many engineers using focal and dynaudio monitors, as long as you know their pros and cons you can do the job.

[@rehn1kri]

Hey Danny. This quote from John Mark’s review in Stereophile mag may help explain the decision to not use Baffle Step Comp: “The Duette was designed to be used in nonoptimal placements, such as on a credenza or mantel, or in a bookcase or built-in cabinet.” I can see it in John’s measurements, and he mentions it also.

[@mcgovernjimmy]

I set the speakers up per the instructions in the manual... "Near Wall" resistors for 24" or less from front wall, etc. The problem is that even setup closer to the wall with boundary reinforcement, I still have to listen to them way off axis - pointed straight ahead. Even 10 degree off axis is fatiguing. If Wilson "intended them to be this way and let's not account for any baffle step compensation"... well, I don't like it. And now Danny has fixed it... The problem "hear" isn't the end user or improper setup. A good buddy of mine has a pair and he's doing the upgrade as well.

[@rehn1kri]

@@mcgovernjimmythanks for the response. I get what you’re saying, just maybe trying to help explain that portion of Wilson’s design choice (not that I necessarily agree with it). Enjoy!

[@dannyrichie9743]

If one were to design a speaker for close wall placement, the step loss still has to be accounted for. Then it is the ranges below 100Hz or so that are softened a little to mirror the gain of the front wall.

[@mcgovernjimmy]

@@rehn1kri Thank you for sharing and I understand what you meant. I think this project is going to turn out great.

[@audiononsense1611]

Why spend $12,000 on any speaker to put in or on a shelf? That is total nonsense...

[@dannyrichie9743]

Just an additional FIY, while the crossovers are potted. There are a lot of binding posts, and internal screws, nuts, and washers connecting everything. All of the binging posts, internal screws, and nuts are either Copper, Brass, or Aluminum. However, there are two resistors above the potted crossovers that are connected using a connecting junction, and the resistors are held down with and twisted around steel screws.

[@stephenyoud6125]

Oh dear. Spoiling the job for a Ha'f penny of tar? Tripping just before the finish line...

[@siarez]

I have watched many of your videos. I still haven't understood why you don't like steel.

[@dannyrichie9743]

@@siarez When you pass electricity through it, it will hold a residual charge that can then cause audible smearing.

[@siarez]

@@dannyrichie9743 Hi Danny, when you say "residual charge", what kind of electromagnetic phenomenon are you referring to? Can you share any references so I can learn more about it.

[@dannyrichie9743]

@@siarez Go back to your Jr. high level science class when you learned that you could wrap a wire around a nail and then by hooking that wire to a battery it would create and electromagnet. You might also remember that when you disconnected that wire from the battery, the nail no longer was a magnet. However, it held some electric charge and still showed some magnetic pull. Ferrous material does that. It hold an electrical charge.

[@diyfullrangehifispeakers]

Kinda wish Danny had tried some budget copper 8 gauge wires to compare with the supplied cables.😂🤣☮️🇦🇺

[@mcgovernjimmy]

My preference is battery cables. Always connect Negative last and remove Negative first. Safety!

[@cyclistman6358]

@@mcgovernjimmyAgree! I like how well the powerful spring loaded terminal clips grip my binding posts with their jagged, nine nines oxygen free copper teeth.

[@joeschmo4170]

Am sure he thought of it maybe even tried but thought it best to not embarrass them too much lol

[@liquidamber]

After more then 40 years audio sick . I now one thing .i gonna buy youre Gear. Thanks Gr research.

[@viktorcieslar9776]

Vážím si tvé práce. Postavit se práci konstruktérů Willson Audia chce dovahu. Držím palce ❤️

[@mcgovernjimmy]

Translation: I appreciate your work. It takes courage to stand up to the work of Willson Audio's designers. I'm keeping my fingers crossed ❤

[@koprcord5338]

Hope you pkan on making grills available on your old school series as my 4 legged kiddos would love to see what its like to claw on those drivers.

[@rikardekvall3433]

Danny. Great video and tuning. Please consider a more greyish/beige background. Could hardly see the black speakers that blended with the black background. Thanks. Same with the screenshot of the X-statics.

[@jordanhermant659]

Hi, I know I'm late to this conversation but I just came across your channel so I'm catching up! Are you doing listening impressions as well? There is always more than just measurements. Great work, I'm really enjoying what I've watched so far. Especially the Maggie upgrades :)

[@glmaughan]

One reason the original x-over is boosted in the mid-band is so Wilson could increase their efficiency rating over the choice of a smoother fq response. Also rigid port tubes are resonant by nature. Why pipe organs use rigid pipes. I always roll my own port tubes using cork. That way the port tube is a rigid pipe at low frequencies but as the frequency increases, the cork is a great media for reducing resonances.

[@quant2011]

so you wrap cork around the port tube interior? will felt also work?

[@glmaughan]

No, it is pure cork. I use 1/8 to 3/16" cork sheet applying masking tape where the seam is on the inside with half the tapes width exposed so when the cork rolled around the former, the other edge is held in place with the inner masking tape. Then wood glue completes the bond. Then a second layer of masking tape is applied to the outside to cover the seam. I use PVC pipe for the former making sure that the cork is not too tight so once glue is cured, I can slip the cork cylinder off from the form. This compliant/flexible tube virtually eliminates most pipe resonances, yet at low frequencies the tube acts as a rigid structure. I first saw this cork port tube in Goldmund Dialgue speakers many years ago. I immediately understood the advantage of this design. Maybe Goldmund has a patent on this, I don't know. Since I only build custom designs, it doesn't effect me.

[@stephenyoud6125]

Cool idea. But rigidity at low frequency would be dependant on their resonan frequency. Once excited they will oscillate and wobble around at their resonant frequency.

[@thomasmleahy6218]

​ Affect.

[@keithgregson9573]

>Slightly brave careful which words are chosen on this one - this will be fun.. :) *this is what's all about! *ultimately a consumer is paying not just for a specific design but also 'iteration' within a range is why designers/manufactures can call their price, look at Magico when you thought no more re-design could ever happen to a baffle one man does something entirely new to compliment their own or OEM spec drivers with semi-exotic materials, nothing better than this fabulous & infinite subject.

[@hiresaudiocosta873]

Wilson Audio uses proprietary composite material X material, V material etc.

[@willmac5642]

Types of solid surface, probably rebranded

[@smaudi]

The duette is designed to stand close to the wall, that is why they didn't provide it with a baffle step correction the roomgain would/ should balance this out.

[@anthonyjackson7097]

Close to the wall with a rear port? I learned that was not the way to place rear ported speakers.

[@Mark-rw3kw]

@@anthonyjackson7097 I don't know if the Duette was in fact designed to be close to a rear wall, but typically the mid-size and larger Wilson speakers are designed to be at least 4-6 feet from the rear wall, so "close to the wall" may be a relative term.

[@edjackson4389]

@@anthonyjackson7097 Totally depends on the speaker. If a speaker is weak in the low end or midbass, placing it 6" or so from the wall or corner will typically make it better just like @smaudi said. If a rear ported speaker is already fat in the low end it's best to keep it a couple feet away from the wall and avoid corners.

[@dannyrichie9743]

Even if that were the goal, they would have still had to adjust for the baffle step loss and create a more gradual decrease in output across the lower end to balance out boundary reinforcement. I might add that they also include a cable and a resistor for the tweeter designed for free standing use, on their stands, that the customer also owns.

[@anthonyjackson7097]

@edjackson4389 Yeah, I understand your point. I feel that using walls to correct baffle step is not the way to go about it. Minus 3+dB at frequencies right in the Fletcher Munson curve will not go unnoticed. For speakers approaching $15,000.00 a pair, what is another cap, coil, and resistor going to matter to the profit margin? While nice-looking speakers, there is nowhere near with stand included $15,000.00 worth of parts. Any manufacturer charging this kind of money should have baffle step compensation, Period! You shouldn't have to use the walls, like you own a pair of Bose 901's.

[@Neil-Aspinall]

It's one thing to have good speakers to listen to Steely Dan's Aja etc but it's another when your focus is autistcally on listening to the 'speakers?

[@alexw890]

Good job Danny. Whenever anyone accuses you of selling snake oil I I compare GR research to companies like Wilson and PS Audio. You offer quality products at a fair price and they sell insanely overpriced products that don’t perform well. It’s clear who is really peddling snake oil.

[@abboberg]

Detractors are clueless - it's like throwing pearls to swine. The upgrade I did to my B&Ws was fantastic!

[@terrycain1811]

It is all snake oil salesmanship

[@keithgregson9573]

>Noticed on APC site a tech-note indicates "dB & damping factor loss due to cable resistance" they indicate certain cable gauge with added length appears to change 'damping-factor' a strange measurement not often mentioned or understood when it is - myself included.

[@johnpeschke7723]

a lot of issues for a 12k pair of speakers.

[@carmelovillena6174]

Dont trust all you see on social medias

[@jeffsloane8628]

I bet the GR version of this is going to look and sound fantastic! Nice Danny.

[@glenncurry3041]

If he is not already, sounds like he needs to start a KZbin channel. Would love to watch some of the setup and comparisons.

[@mcgovernjimmy]

Feel free to hang out at AudioCircle. If you want to click my name here, you'll be seeing stuff about driving cars on racetracks.

[@ianz28]

I was lucky to listen to a pair of Alexx V on mono blocks and a great front end. Probably the most precise and balanced speakers that I’ve listened to. B&W 801’s on McIntosh are beautiful. I’ve heard Magico M3 and a lot of really high end stuff like Focal’s Utopia EVO. I have a few favourites for different reasons. The Alexx V were remarkable. Their Sophia left me very underwhelmed though. I imagine that I’d feel the same about these little 2 ways.

[@Mark-rw3kw]

Is this speaker the original Wilson Duette Series I made from about 2005-2013 or the Wilson Duette Series II made from about 2013-2020 (both versions are now retired)? I think the date of manufacture and exact model should be disclosed. Since no mention of Series II was made, I assume it is the original model first released about 2005. I remember when Danny reviewed one of the very first Eggleston speakers which was made about 1997 and a lot of people just assumed it was a current, or fairly recent model (which obviously it was not).

[@ragu168]

Big fan of what you do watch alot as for this one all I can say is nice to have money 💰 thanks again keep it going 👍

[@gebreeze]

very interesting, thanks! But a flat frequency response without phase control is easy, why do you not care about phase? do you like pink noise so much? ;-) Please reverse the HT cable +- plugs and show us the FR (dip).

[@Skyshakerrrr]

Most big renowned speaker manufacturers build they're speakers by ear not Measurements. I wonder who is right. The ones that do it by Measurements or the one's that do it primarily by ear. Lol

[@barrymiller3385]

I may have missed it but I don't think you said anything about how it sounded before and after your modifications.

[@dannyrichie9743]

Ask the customer: www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=187454.0

[@danashay]

Brutal. Yikes. You all but said 'snake oil'. You handled everything about that video way better than I would have. The phone call made me laugh, you managed far better. Excellent production all around. Very informative, as usual. Don't ever change, this is just too good! Please carry on!

[@derrickthomas4603]

I've been building speakers for over 30 years and I went and demoed some Sasha. V's a few weeks ago. The Wilson Audio guy asked me how they sounded, and I told him a few issues on what was some problems. He instantly got pissed at me. It wasn't even about the speakers but the room that they were in.

[@Artcore103]

If their speakers don't sound sublime to you YOU'RE the problem. The emperor is wearing a beautiful robe, trust me... that's not his taint you're seeing.

[@hom2fu]

sound like you're trashing their $100,000 usd speakers. :) even on YT video, i'm confused how Wilson sound

[@derrickthomas4603]

@@Artcore103 fanboy

[@derrickthomas4603]

@@hom2fu did you not read what I said

[@mcgovernjimmy]

@@derrickthomas4603 I think @artcore103 was being sarcastic and actually agrees with you.

[@welshrarebit9238]

If someone has a pair of Silverline Prelude please send them in .TX

[@mcgovernjimmy]

I have a pair of Silverline Minuet Supreme. I like the Silverline stuff. The one I'd really like to hear is the Silverline Prelude Plus. 👍

[@armstrongphysiotherapy5099]

What frequency do 8" drivers usually start to beam and ruin the off axis response? And do you need a big tweeter that goes lower to fix that?

[@dannyrichie9743]

Rule of thumb has been 1,500 to 1,900Hz.

[@haycrossaudio5474]

You can work that out by taking the speed of sound in meters per second (343) and diving it by the cone diameter in meters (0.2mt for 200mm). 343 divided by 0.2 = 1715Hz (1.715kHz)

[@armstrongphysiotherapy5099]

Thank you for that handy formula.@@haycrossaudio5474

[@ahnenpost5237]

a bigger tweeter is not needed - a bigger one only makes sense at very high listening levels. This can be fixed with the same driver by rising the crossover frequency. Downfall then is a downgrade in clarity and more beaming coming from the woofer.

[@jaakkolehto1487]

@@ahnenpost5237but still the directivity will be different for a non waveguided small tweeter

[@BS513]

I was hoping to see the crossover! 😞

[@peterpixo]

ou yeah, this got me...

[@ericjensen9091]

It would have been funny to find Bennic or Solan caps in a $12,500 pair of speakers.

[@FOH3663]

They weren't making them back when this Duette was made, but today Wilson makes their own caps in house.

[@RowanP100]

If somebody offered me a wilson speaker i would swap it for a 'Bully' 😮

[@ChicagoRob2]

Now you’re talking.

[@mcgovernjimmy]

I have not heard The Bully; however, I'm certain it is a superior value compared to this speaker - even at used Wilson pricing. I like this speaker and wanted to make it better. It is special and different than the Bully. I like owning nice and special things.

[@TasmanGuitarsAmps]

wonder does they have some production error going on. I don't think that this eq fault is intentionally.

[@JR-ho5qm]

Good video. Can’t wait to hear about this customers reviews in the forum. Is it me or is the felt ring around the tweeter off center? I’m asking because I was planning on putting some felt around my tweeter and I was also going to put it off center

[@bakeone4406]

I've never heard Duette speakers, but it's obvious that the design of them is very different from most other Wilson speakers. As a result it's probably not possible to make a valid generalization from this video about most of their other products. I recently traded a pair of Spatial M-4 speakers for a pair of WATT 7 speakers and was surprised that the imaging and soundstage when going to a non open baffle design didn't change a lot. For sure the WATT 7 speakers delivered more low frequency impact. In my set up the Wilsons were on balance an upgrade. Not sure that would be the case if I had a pair of Spatial X-4 speakers.

[@rezakhyabani725]

Hi Danny, thank you for your kind reply. I understand it but I thought maybe in the past years you might have modified the crossover for these speakers and I was interested to buy the components from you in a kit form.

[@quant2011]

So these cost one grand more than Wolf von langa SON, with 11 inch Field Coil woofer with passive radiator and high end mundorf AMT in open baffle. 70% of Wilson prices is marketing.

[@bruceandt]

I would really be interested about your thoughts for improvement on the Musician Night one speaker. Does it have good bones or not worth the 2000.00 Canadian.

[@simonirvine0000]

Your Southwest Track Club Sprinters top could do with a matching cape and skull cap. You should do it and wear it on one of your next videos.

[@nancright1352]

wow ! ESP! I was thinking about how well the wilson"s behave. eye opener ! thanks !

[@hadleybroom6456]

before and after video please. Great work.

[@willbrink]

There's a lot of high end gear that often does not measure all that great. Do people even bother to measure WA speakers costing 200-300+ k? As he said, it's more audio jewelry and a "house sound" at that point it appears.

[@Mark-rw3kw]

It appears that this is the original Wilson Duette Series I made from about 2005-2013, so that should be taken into account if considering a new speaker model from any company. Plus, even though Wilson is a high-end speaker manufacturer, not many would have considered this as one of their mid-range or high-end models.

[@mcgovernjimmy]

@@Mark-rw3kw Nonsense. When I was in touch with Wilson about this speaker, the person I spoke to spoke glowingly of them. In fact, he mentioned "one of our main guys" still uses them in his office. Your point in this thread seems to be to put strawmen into the conversation and make moot points about when the speaker was made. It's a high quality speaker that now has had the hands of a professional crossover designer on them. It's going to be a great speaker when it's all done. Stop making excuses for Wilson Audio. It is what it is.

[@Mark-rw3kw]

@@mcgovernjimmy I am not making excuses for anyone. I personally would not buy a Wilson speaker for a number of reasons, as I have explained several times. But it is worth noting that Series 1 speaker Danny tested dates back to 2006, was upgraded in 2013 (Series 2), and was replaced by the Tune Tot in 2020, so obviously they know there are improvements that can could be made to the original. Making the 2006 Series 1 Duette a representation of the entire Wilson brand is the ultimate strawman fallacy since everyone knows that the other models made them well known in audio circles. Nevertheless, even with the improvements made by Wilson (and Danny), I am sure they sound pretty good anyway, especially when used as "office" speakers (what a joke).

[@willbrink]

It's a 10k + speaker, it should sound great and measure great, period. As you say, making excuses for WA is silly. It is also a fact that it's common that uber high end gear does not measure well as that's not usually why people purchase it. Big $ stuff usually has a "house sound" you either like or you don't, and due to its costs, pretty looks, and bragging rights, people convince themselves it sounds great... @@mcgovernjimmy

[@mcgovernjimmy]

@@willbrink Agreed... it should measure and sound great, "no ifs ands or buts"... Now, it will.

[@Billy123bobzzz]

Excellent, thank you!

[@richardsmith2721]

Thanks for this. I always wonder about the really high end stuff.

[@Kowinaida]

This isn't "really high end".

[@richardsmith2721]

@@Kowinaida Wilson isn't high end?

[@mcgovernjimmy]

@@Kowinaida This isn't a high end 2-way speaker?

[@Kowinaida]

​@richardsmith2721 Yes but you said "really high end" so I construed that as Chronosonic XVX, Estelon Extreme etc.

[@richardsmith2721]

@@Kowinaida Danny called it really high end.. I considered the brand and not the model. You'd think that a high end company would get the basics right before adding all the jewelry.

[@cjg6364]

The lack of baffle step compensation is simply Wilson's way of making a strong unspoken sales pitch for a subwoofer. They don't want to make it sound too close to their $100k speakers. If they did that, they would never sell the expensive stuff.

[@mcgovernjimmy]

Yes. This speaker with dual subs makes their floorstanding speakers a much more difficult sale... if people are actually buying based on performance, and not Look / Bling.

[@dannyrichie9743]

Actually the step loss is much higher in frequency than you'd ever want your subwoofer to play.

[@iamraymon]

Is it possible that lack of baffle step is to compensate for possible near wall or bookshelf mounting?

[@dannyrichie9743]

@@iamraymon Not in this case. Bookshelf mounting will only add gain below 200Hz. That doesn't fix this level of loss.

[@iamraymon]

@@dannyrichie9743 Thank you.

[@dunkelheit843]

Would've loved to join in on that A-B listening compare, hope there is improvement.

[@Artcore103]

obviously there is a huge improvement, duh.

[@dunkelheit843]

@@Artcore103 Don't remember asking you.

[@Artcore103]

@@dunkelheit843 comments are asking for comment, period. To even ask the question shows that you are not even sure that the glaring issues in the original product being fixed, and having a much better and smoother response, may not actually sound better. That tells me you're the perfect Wilson customer, go spend your 30k because the brand name and magazine reviews tell you it's great, and it has prestige... I'll enjoy my 2000 dollar diy speakers that are objectively better in every way besides being fancy furniture. It was a silly statement mate, and I gave my 2c, deal with it. That's KZbin.

[@dunkelheit843]

@@Artcore103 It wasen't a question, just hoping the new filter lets him enjoy the speaker more. Don't see the point of you starting to flame me for that.

[@PATRICEBAUDER]

Bonjour de la France............ avant j'ai possédé BW, KEF, SPENDOR, TRIANGLE, HARBETH........ et maintenant j'ai des enceintes acoustiques bibliothèque avec MarkAudio Pluvia 11 sans filtre, et j'ai aussi un subwoofer REL Acoustics pour la configuration 2.1 avec un amplificateur LYNGDORF TDAI-3400.......... ma vie a complétement changé, je suis un homme heureux, mes oreilles sont très contentes et jamais fatiguées.......... et voilà, merci MarkAudio, car avec l'argent économisé, j'achète encore plus de disques, plus de musique.

[@tomstrum6259]

For the Inductive loaded "Umbilical" cables to have any sonic effect differences, a Measurable Inductance difference should exist between the 2 cables & similar length of standard Normal Inductive speaker cable....There are many Affordable accurate digital LCR meters available....Possibly a missed Opportunity to measure the "Inductive" Umbilical cables was missed ??

[@dmark2639]

Why no step loss compensation? Because they want you to buy their subwoofer, of course...

[@1997inspire]

When you go to Heaven God is going to commission you you to fix his speakers. I noticed that the bass port opening is not flared. It is counter productive to use relatively expensive aluminium without flaring when ironically , cheap flared plastic tubing would have been far better acoustically.

[@dannyrichie9743]

When the port is just big enough for the application then flaring it will help as there is high air velocity. However, if the port is oversized for the job, air velocity is not an issue. So making the port bigger in diameter and longer (keeping the same tuning) reduces port noise as well.

[@audiononsense1611]

This should be interesting.... No surprises, love the jewelry comment (sadly I find this in most speakers I see/hear).

[@stephenyoud6125]

Great job Danny as always. very odd they hide all manner of possible evils like that in a potted crossover rather than spend all that production money on better quality parts. that they're not afraid for you see.

[@steenstube]

Respect! I believe he's right in his modification changing theperformance towards neutrality. Maybe Wilson Audio does not aim for that.

[@markphilpot8734]

As well built as these speakers are, for near the same money I could have the Dynaudio Confidence speakers which are fabulous, but not perfect. This is where Danny comes in and does his thing.

[@sudd3660]

i am still annoyed that that amount of money and you still get ported box. i know that bass is the foundation and reviewers only listen to them alone, you still need a subwoofer to make a complete system, full range reproduction should be the baseline.

[@cajonosaurus]

Hey danny great content as usual, it baffles me that a pair of speakers costing 12 grand, and they still fuck it up it can.t b that they didn.t have enough pennies in the jar to meet the price point, i want to change my speakers at some point, but im lost , u just do not know what ur buying these days.....

[@yuglesstube]

For a speaker that so expensive, id have expected better linearity. Speakers at this level really should not benefit from modification.

[@darrellsandmoen8523]

Do you ever look at powered speakers, as in studio monitors?

[@dannyrichie9743]

We've had some come through. If you think cost is skimped on passive crossovers, you haven't seen anything yet.

[@darrellsandmoen8523]

So…you’re not impressed!? For doing remote recording, they are really handy but of course you have to wonder how they can make the speakers and amps for such low prices. (Read, cheap parts ??) I appreciate your knowledge of speakers and the education that you are providing. Keep up the great work.

[@Expedition18]

Did the changes make the speaker a beast to drive being 4 ohm and sensitivity now in the 80's?

[@dannyrichie9743]

The changes had little to no impact on driving them.

[@mcgovernjimmy]

We'll find out. Should be no worse than the Magnepan 3.7i speakers I owned previously. 🤟

[@dannyrichie9743]

Down low, where these draw the most current from the amplifier, they are at the same SPL level and same impedance level.

[@Expedition18]

@@dannyrichie9743 thanks good to know 👍

[@dabbidaa1547]

nice nice, but how do they actually sound after these changes?

[@Shrebina-kq4cs]

how would he know? He doesn't listen to speakers.

[@terrycain1811]

Bravo. Bravo man for calling him out and others that believe his egocentric BS

[@petersplat6164]

Now I know what happened to Superman.

[@pataldorr]

Hi have you ever tested the Legacy Focus SE stock speaker . thanks

[@dannyrichie9743]

No, but I do have photos of some of their crossovers.

[@nancright1352]

Are these a version of scan speak drivers. I know that in the past they used Vifa long time ago.

[@Mark-rw3kw]

These are the Wilson Duette Series I made from about 2005-2013. The Wilson Duette Series II was made from about 2013-2020 (both versions are now retired).

[@ericjensen9091]

Yes, Danny said they were Scanspeak drivers.

[@erics.4113]

Arent these the speakers that Wilson said they wished they never made?

[@DannyRichie-uc8sw]

No, that was the Wilson Witt

[@robertt7238]

Even though they have a port, the Duette is designed to be placed against a wall. That will have a significant effect on the FR w.r.t. the baffle step.

[@dannyrichie9743]

No, the room gain will only pick it up well below the step loss.

[@ahnenpost5237]

placing against a wall with the port firing backwards? Contadiction!

[@willmac5642]

​@@dannyrichie9743exactly. Room gain is below around 150hz?

[@vicentvanmole]

like your reference 'Audio jewellery ' .That's audio to jewellery becomes disproportion ,sadly lower down their value . Thank for your great revise .

[@IliyaOsnovikov]

I guess those cables may have somewhat different resistance in order to adjust Qes and Qts of a midbass driver. So at a port tunning frequency woofer could be more "loose" or more "tight".

[@jaakkolehto1487]

Not really unless they have really high resistance like several hundred milliohms. That short of a cable it would be really thin copper.

[@maciejvrees4423]

Any amp recommendation for those duets?

[@mcgovernjimmy]

I'm using an Ayre VX-5 Twenty with the Duette. I love my Ayre equipment.

[@Justwantahover]

11:00 My conspiracy theory is that they do it on purpose so you might buy more expensive speakers. So they can get more difference in their price range. And this explains why some really cheap speakers can sound amazing for such low price (for example the famous SONY cheapies). Maybe some cheap manufacturers don't make them sound "bad" on purpose (it seems). I have some B&W 706 speakers and they suck! The voice sound is muffly and brass sounds are foofy. But there is plenty of top end. There seens to be a gap at around 4 khz (just guessing). They are my referece speakers for my speaker builing hobby and my made speakers absolutely smash the B&Ws...cos my made speakers actually have texture in the voice sound. 😅 So why do my made speakers sound more like the Nautilus speakers, than the 706s (if this Schiit isn't done on purpose)? 😅😅😅😅

[@bhupendrapatel9686]

Nice to see speaker that are HiEnd

[@n.lyndley.9889]

Finally, someone that knows their topic and doesn’t just blow smoke up a manufacturer’s tail.

[@infn]

I'm pretty sure that Danny has panned Wilson Audio for having crap parts before in one of the old videos.

[@512bb]

The great dilemma when it comes to Wilson, value is subjective. The build quality is superb, great pride of ownership without question but being convinced that they sound like real music, not so convincing. Tn the early days before the crossovers were potted there was a big AD who modified the crossovers to really improve the sound. even built custom active crossover s for multi amping. The Wisons always had that happy face eq, boomy base, sucked out mids & that ear bleeding Focal inverted doom tweeter that Dave must have bought by the truck loads back in the day, so the currant drivers at least look like a big improvement. I don't know if Daryle has changed the voicing since taking control of the company since Daves passing but as I think they're fairly priced as super speakers go. The real head scratcher is so many so called reviewers own them...which begs the question, how much trust should you place on the reviewers???

[@mcgovernjimmy]

Reviewers need advertising $$$ to buy groceries. There is an inherent conflict of interest in the entire industry.

[@512bb]

Ah yes, I've been involved in the audio game for 45 years now, know many in the business & could tell you stories that are simply unbelievable. I can say that Michael Bremer is one that isn't one that is bought & paid for. Interestingly he now has the big Wilson's so I'm assuming Daryle has really taken the company in the right direction...let's just say that Dave best asset was his salesmanship skills.@@mcgovernjimmy

[@ronpi1293]

Have you ever thought of offering your services to speaker manufacturers like Wilson to help them with their designs? Maybe as a consultant to analyze their final design ideas. You would probably in very high demand! And Amir also found what he called "engineering errors" in Wilson Tune Tots. You guys could be a huge asset to us consumers!

[@Mark-rw3kw]

The speaker reviewed here is the Wilson Duette Series I made from about 2005-2013. The Wilson Duette Series II was made from about 2013-2020 (both versions are now retired). So they obviously made some changes in 2013 with the Series II, and they don't make either model anymore.

[@fonkenful]

Can’t really imagine any prestige brand availing themselves of such design/engineering services, or if they did, almost certainly NDAs would be involved.

[@Mark-rw3kw]

@@fonkenful Danny has done design work for some companies that he has mentioned in his videos. There "may" be other companies he has not mentioned because of a NDA.

[@fonkenful]

@@Mark-rw3kw I should possibly have added air quotes around the word prestige - a term that in my own experience in the hobby can be interchanged with hubris.

[@ronpi1293]

@@fonkenful For them to get this level of expertise, I'm certain they would be thrilled to sign NDAs. Just imagine the positive impact on Wilson's sound quality and therefore sales volume if they had Danny on board to both oversee their designs and also educate them. Probably the same with Magico, etc.

[@EskWIRED]

I would love to hear a subjective comparison of the original and Danny's modified speakers. It should be performed by someone who doesn't own Wilson speakers and doesn't care much about them one way or the other. I would not be surprised if they found Danny's versions to be more accurate, but the originals somehow sounding extra pleasing nevertheless.

[@kenhiett5266]

What's the cutoff between a subjective preference imbalance and an objectively poorly balanced speaker?

[@Mark-rw3kw]

Typically Danny only gets one of the speakers sent to him for measurement and upgrade. So he "may" do a mono listening test, but not a stereo test that should be done for a true listing test. I am not criticizing that he only gets one of the speakers, because shipping costs to him and back to the owner are not cheap, and he is mainly doing measurement tests.

[@kenhiett5266]

@@Mark-rw3kw Danny addressed this in his answer to Jay Lee 5 months ago. The video is titled: Jay's got some good points. Let me clarify a few things. I tried to share a link, but these often don't take on this platform for some reason.

[@Mark-rw3kw]

@@kenhiett5266 You can post a link to other KZbin video's, but not any other links.

[@EskWIRED]

@@kenhiett5266 I think that in many cases, a poorly designed room is what the designer anticipates. But to me, both accuracy and clarity are very important. You can change the room.

[@rb89509]

Throwing extra placebo cables is Wilson trying to justify their bloated pricing.

[@brucermarino]

Are you really making fun of "placebo cables" or boutique components on Danny's channel?! :)

[@brochg]

🤣

[@cafe80s]

It probably affects lower frequencies... His measurements stop at 200Hz and those cables are supposed to affect boundary gain which would be in the lower frequencies.

[@MichelLinschoten]

​@@cafe80sit's nonsense hands down especially if you look at the connectors on a driver level .. And don't even get me started on the amp end. . Open up an amplifier, do tell how the magic cables can just negate the cheap cheesy china terminals,ferrite fasteners and even more fun .. The PCB itself and PCB solder traces..lol

[@mcgovernjimmy]

@@cafe80s Here is what the Wilson Duette Series 1 manual says on page 19... where they threaten to void the warranty if the wrong cable is used. I'll leave it to others to draw their own conclusions about this. As for me, I think it's nonsense: "Place the Novel Crossover into the machined recess on the lower stand plate. Us- ing the appropriate umbilical (See the above table, page 15), attach the Novel to the Duette. The umbilical is configured with a separate woofer cable and tweeter cable. Attach the cable labeled “Tweeter” to the tweeter binding posts on the Duette and the Novel. Attach the woofer cable to the posts labeled “Woofer”. Note: It is very important that you connect the umbilical properly. Failing to do so will greatly compromise the performance of your Duettes. Do not use a non-Wilson wire assembly between your Duette and Novel. This will severely compromise the performance of your Duettes and void your warranty."

[@tupuhumuhumunukunukuapuaa3093]

*Waits for the part where he can't get to the crossover because it's potted* Or did they do that in this model? Guess I'll find out in a bit!

[@tupuhumuhumunukunukuapuaa3093]

3:11 got my answer and surprised they even do it with an external unit! wow

[@BobFrostV]

The main reason to pot in this case is to hide the parts used. If you take a torch to it you can melt the bitnum off. Then brush the pcb with carb cleaner or something. Used to depot RMA power supplies at a previous job.

[@stephenyoud6125]

@@BobFrostV parts and circuit, surely?.. but still a bit of overkill. better to spend all that money on better parts and just do the job right instead of hiding stuff under the carpet.

[@joeclayer5282]

There is clearly a difference in the cable, In technical terms it's called hocus pocus!

[@danaolson2871]

It has always been pretty obvious to me just looking at the Wilson designs that they are in it for the art and look of the speaker and don't have any actually qualified audio engineers in the company. They follow all the magazine article engineering fallacies in these designs and create speakers that look amazing but have very wild swings in response in different directions due to the large distances between drivers, and lots of cabinet corners etc. They produce an entertaining artistic speaker, not as opposed to an accurate high fidelity speaker with an even radiation pattern. As they where the special underwear that's popular in Utah, I expect they are closed minded and likely don't take criticism of their work very well.

[@condostereo]

I would have to listen to both cables for myself. My curiosity would force me to do it. Drawn copper wire has a directional grain and I have personally eliminated room boom by flipping the direction of the ground side of the speaker pair.

[@dannyrichie9743]

Directionality is marked on the cables, and I used them as such.

[@tommyK7282]

Audio science review just did a hatchet job on an old center channel speaker you sell

[@dannyrichie9743]

Yeah, I heard about that. I haven't seen it, and don't care. Amir messaged me wanting to see some of our measured responses and he showed me his measurements on it. Clearly the outer woofers were wired with the wrong polarity. I pointed it out, but I doubt he'll mention it. Everything they do is a hack job to someone.

[@gregvanpaassen]

Scan-speak make great drivers. But they do need a skilled crossover designer.

[@t.j.bennett6454]

Wilson seems like the kind of company that will pull a Ferrari move and try to sue you for doing this to their speaker

[@mcgovernjimmy]

"Bring Friends".... a lot of them.

[@peronnikbeijer213]

Nice one, improved the best 🙂

[@dontcare563]

No guarantee he improved the sound just because of measurements! Wilson has tons more experience in speaker building than Danny ever had!

[@jaimeballester840]

What does $12k gives you? x-over deficiencies ...and a visit to Dr. Danny to get it fixed for an affordable amount with brilliant engineering.

[@mcgovernjimmy]

Yup.

[@hom2fu]

almost $18,000 in 2023 Dollars. you receive wilson speed bump

[@jaimeballester840]

@@hom2fu - ouch! I was using Danny's estimate on the price.

[@raymaksimavicius4902]

I dont like steep 4th order crossovers. They put the drivers out of phase. This doesn't work for me. Only first order work for me.

[@DAVID-io9nj]

My first exposure to this company. Seems like an expensive marketing tactic to appeal to rich hobbyist. Whole lot of complicated designs to let the owner do "stuff". At this point, how the speakers sound seems to be secondary. Why did his customer buy them if he already didn't like the sound? I can't imagine spending so much money for a product that you don't like, but think you can make better by spending more money.

[@dannyrichie9743]

The customer picked them up used for a good price.

[@DAVID-io9nj]

@@dannyrichie9743STILL! I guess he had a lot of faith in you being able to better the sound.

[@mcgovernjimmy]

@@DAVID-io9nj I am the owner. A friend owns a pair and is also doing this upgrade. I like the dynamic aspect of the speaker. Also, the system is supposed to be tunable with the resistors for the tweeter. Although that does impact tweeter output, it does not compensate for baffle step. As I lived with the speaker in MY ROOM, there were things I wanted to address. I've dealt with Danny before and, yes, I have a lot of Faith in him. I knew he could fix them. 🏁🏁🏁

[@dextermorgan1]

Why would you pay $12,000 fora speaker that's not "perfect" to you?

[@crossoverchef]

The reason they didnt put a notch in there is because it takes the life out of the speaker and causes coherence/phase problems right in the center of the midrange, even though it doesnt look good on paper.

[@dannyrichie9743]

If done properly it will not cause any problems like that.

[@audiodemos2579]

Huge disappointment from Wilson Audio. Response looks like Klipsch Chinese speakers. Maybe they feel that making those crappy sounding they could push customers into buying more expensive models

[@davybloggs1564]

One has to wonder, how Wilson Audio, who've been building world class speakers for decades, could get it so wrong!? Could it be that it's all about WHERE the measurements WA and Guy are taken from/how they're taken. Surely WA cannot be THAT bad at designing a crossover for their own speaker, can they? The two cables supplied do seem to be BS I have to admit. Anyone at WA care to comment?

[@mcgovernjimmy]

WA will not bother commenting on this, and many of their owners will not care either. For many WA owners, it's about the image being projected to others, not the sound being projected to your ears. WA has plenty of customers lined up to buy their refrigerator speakers for their Miami Beach condos. The Duette, however, is a cool 2-way with 8" woofer and quality drivers. It is a unique speaker... and conveniently no longer made by WA. I have spoken to a dealer at WA who says WA thought this speaker, paired with subs, was just too close to their big boy speakers... and it certainly changes the value proposition for them. So, they killed it.

[@audiotechguy]

Danny you just come out and defend the X-Voce line as Amire destroyed your speaker this week 😢💔

[@dannyrichie9743]

It is easy to make something sound bad when it is wired wrong, and you don't know what you're doing. He's clueless.

[@newardthelman6871]

No BSC???? Whattt???? Poorly summing, highly non-flat crossover? Box resonances? Port resonances? This's like some crap garage DIY before the advent of computer aided design tools. And, they're charging how much $$$$$ for this rip-off incompetance? I've always always always known Wilson was a major swindle, from when they first crawled out from under a rock back in the late 1970s.

[@pizzaearthpancakesandother2549]

Mr Wilson must be turning in his grave right now! RIP you Audio Warrior! Just for fun imma gonna send Rich my Wilson Alexia Vs and have him slap a sheet of NoRez in them.

[@twochaudiomg2578]

I've never seen a speaker marketing guy Do a review of a Speaker . never will i own Wilson or the Speaker you sell parts for . But I wonder about resale. Who would buy a 2nd hand kit speaker or a used Anything not in kit form. It would be great. If you stood up and pissed on the Wilson. I did hear the DUET It's junk anyway It was being pushed as. A speaker that can be placed near the Wall No it can't go after Martin Logan next

[@Mark-rw3kw]

Wilson pushed it as a speaker that can be placed against a wall, or was it a retailer? This particular speaker is the Wilson Duette Series I made from about 2005-2013 or the Wilson Duette Series II made from about 2013-2020 (both versions are now retired).

[@mcgovernjimmy]

@@Mark-rw3kw Please... do some homework. You keep posting and obviously don't know what you're talking about, and you're not adding anything to this conversation... yet are obsessed with it, and making excuses for Wilson Audio. I like the potential of the speaker, and I think it will be a great one. Here is a link to the manual. Please read it: www.wilsonaudio.com/media/317/manual-duette.pdf

[@scottborenstein8291]

He probably thinks they are junk.