Wilson Audio TuneTot – Official Announcement
Here we are, a week following the teaser announcement of TuneTot and thusly, all systems are a go.
We have lift-off. Full boost. That is, boost your expectations of what the most densely designed Wilson speaker to date has yet to offer. A full, formal review is still forthcoming at a later date, so think of this as a Star Wars-y prequel to the main show. No doubt you are wondering just what sort of loudspeaker, nay, transducer, Wilson Audio is able to scale down to their most effective price point ever, US $8900 ($10500 for upgraded color options). Not merely content with condensing their technologies, Wilson of course, went into overdrive: you see, TuneTot is really the birth of an all new speaker design and ecosystem for Wilson Audio. Whereas designs you see come and go, offering up an actual ecosystem is something genuinely new and genuinely unheard of in HiFi circles. The story goes something like so: In 2018 you are used to accessorizing your iPhone or iPad or Apple Watch, but your HiFi…?
As mentioned in my previous teaser about TuneTot, Wilson realized that our listening habits have changed over the years. The days of enthusiasts owning just one main system have been superseded by days of multiple systems across multiple rooms. Your options for true high-end multi-room setups are somewhat limited: sure, one could easily buy say a Sabrina for your office or den, but what if even svelte Sabrina is too much of a good thing? There are quite few one stop, tek-y sort of options on the market today, but what if you wanted dramatically more? What if someone applied all their material sciences to a package small enough to fit on your desk or library and you wanted to stick with say the same brand of high-end speakers you already own and love? There, the air is suddenly mighty thin and lacking oxygen, perhaps even ripe for genuine disruption.
Wilson Audio approached this conundrum the Wilson way. TuneTot contains all their proprietary sciences scaled to a desktop sized speaker, including the ability to add a properly designed (and quite massive) base, aptly named ISOBase (Installation Surface Optimization, $2100), for your pair of tots. Furthermore, Wilson Audio’s Special Applications Engineering team designed a RING system ($649) for TuneTot which – since most Wilson owners listen to their speaks without grills – offers up an additional accessorizing opportunity (think easily interchangeable Apple Watch bands) that can change based on your preference for the day, month or year. Legit I say. Given your choice of five new Wilson colors specific to TuneTot and your choice of anodizing hardware (in multiple cool new colors) and grill ($299) options, it’s quite easy to see that Wilson Audio went an entirely new route here. If I may say so myself, quite ingenious and potent this little package is and I have no doubt that Wilson are working on expanding the depth and breadth of this ecosystem.
A formal review will be transcribed in the weeks ahead, for now, based on my very limited time spent with TuneTot (I was hustling to Vienna for some R&R prior to Munich’s yearly gala), it’s fair to say that Wilson appears to have hit a home run. For now, then, enjoy my first ever unboxing videos and living room action shots – there will be more, much more to come. This story is just beginning…
