Fancy a bit of high-quality two-channel to offer your customers? one option are these adorable, but powerful additions to the US Wilson Audio brand. The company has announced a new ‘Ecosytem’ called TuneTot birthed by the company’s Audio Special Application Engineering (WSAE) arm and based on the core audio principles that have built the brand’s reputation.
The TuneTot is the latest product from the WSAE and whilst much of the Wilson heritage is on-board, it is described as a is a modern technical tour de force designed to offer the timbral beauty, dynamic nuance, sound-stage resolution, and transparency—all considered hallmarks of Wilson’s design culture. However, the maker is keen to underline this is a real-world product and can cope with whatever the world throws at it and still get great results.
TuneTot is the smallest and least expensive Wilson, but it would be a mistake to see it as an ‘entry-level’ offering. TuneTots are lovingly fabricated and assembled by the same group of craftsmen who build the WAMM Master Chronosonic, using exactly the same processes and techniques. Its cabinet and driver technology are derived directly from Alexx and Sabrina lines.
Finally, each TuneTot is held to the same rigorous manufacturing tolerances as its larger siblings, ensuring each is as technically and musically accurate as the reference prototype.
From the inception of the first Wilson loudspeaker, it always has been understood that the time domain is a critical factor—if musical authenticity is the goal. With Tune-Tot, the challenge was twofold; Isolating the active loudspeaker from its environment and providing adjustable correction in the time domain. Wilson’s engineers combined both needs into a single solution.
TuneTot uses austenitic stainless-steel spike hardware that was designed specifically for the speaker. The spike system also acts as a mechanical diode, draining unwanted energy away. One of the two pairs of spikes is fully adjustable in terms of length.
The adjustable spikes are installed in either the front or the rear of the loudspeaker, depending on the installation height of TuneTot. The adjustability of the spikes changes the rake angle of TuneTot and accurately facilitates time-domain adjustability.
Wilson provides a simple installation setup technique that allows TuneTot to be corrected in the time domain for each installation.
The speakers have been designed to cope with being placed on unforgiving surfaces
Enclosure
Just as is true for all Wilson’s, TuneTot’s enclosure was analysed and reanalysed using its Laser Vibrometry system in order to optimise enclosure-wall thicknesses and the strategic implementation of the proprietary composites used.
With this precision instrument, WSAE engineers are able to detect even the tiniest enclosure vibrations—at the level of billionths of a meter.
The process aides the engineers as in their search for the ideal combination and geometry of the composites for the cabinet. TuneTot is constructed from two Wilson proprietary composites—the proven combination of Wilson’s X- and S-material.
TuneTot’s enclosure is also asymmetrical, ensuring no two internal surfaces are parallel. Inspired by technology from the Alexia Series 2 and the WAMM, the speaker’s cabinet additionally features a complex internal reflection management system.
TuneTot has also been designed specifically to be installed on counter tops, bookshelves, desktops and credenzas (sideboard if you are in the UK).
In the past, the maker argues that placing a loudspeaker in these acoustically challenging locations has meant accepting serious sonic compromises. The ‘Wilson Way’ demanded a new look at the problem.
The Special Applications Engineering team spent several months researching the interactions between TuneTot and the surface upon which it is installed.
It quickly became clear that assumptions surrounding environmental resonance control needed to be re-examined. For these installations, the challenges presented are very different from what exists for a typical floor-standing loudspeaker spiked to the floor—problems that require a different strategy.
A series of accessories were developed specifically to address furniture-born resonances endemic to these types of installations.
When the TuneTot is mounted on a resonant surface, such as a wood desk or sideboard, the ISOBase is ideal.
It is an interim platform which is placed between TuneTot and surface below. In this application, the ISOBase dramatically reduces spurious interaction and mechanical resonances generated by the loudspeaker. It is available in five different paint colours and four metal-hardware choices.
Colour choices do not end there however, Wilson has added five new WilsonGloss colours created specifically for TuneTot: Quartz, Ivory, Crimson, Carbon, and Teak.
In addition to black and clear, Wilson has added two new anodized-colour-finish options for TuneTot’s metal hardware.
Many Wilson owners prefer to listen without the Grille attached. For these installations, Wilson designed the optional TuneTot Ring, which covers the mounting hardware securing the woofer.
Owners are able to custom configure their loudspeakers with just the right combination of performance options, paint colour choice, and hardware and grille colours based on their individual aesthetic desire and installation needs.
The TuneTot is available in the UK from July, priced at £10,998 (inc. VAT) per pair. Accessories are priced at: TuneTot ISOBase: £2,398 per pair; TuneTot Ring: £698 per pair; TuneTot Grille: £335 per pair.
The brand is available from UK distributor Absolute Sounds.
A choice of colour combinations offers a chance to create a cool look for each customer