Wilson Audio
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Consumer electronics |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Founders |
David A. Wilson Sheryl Lee Wilson |
| Headquarters | Provo, Utah, United States |
Area served | Internationally |
Key people |
Daryl C. Wilson (CEO) Korbin Vaughn (COO) |
| Products | High-end loudspeakers |
Number of employees | 48 |
| Website |
www |
Wilson Audio is an American high-end audio loudspeaker manufacturing company, located in Provo, Utah. Wilson Audio was founded by the late David A. Wilson (1944–2018) and Sheryl Lee Wilson in 1974. Until his death, David Wilson was Wilson Audio's Chairman of the Board and Sheryl Lee Wilson served as Vice Chair.
Daily operations at Wilson Audio are currently directed and managed by Dave Wilson's son and successor, Daryl C. Wilson, CEO and Korbin Vaughn, COO. David Wilson continued to work closely with Wilson Audio's R&D and Engineering team in product development until his last days.
Overview
Wilson Audio is known in the audiophile community as offering some of the most expensive speaker designs in existence.[1] Prior to manufacturing loudspeakers, David Wilson was a staff writer at The Absolute Sound magazine.[2] When Wilson Audio first began offering its products in the early 1980s, the highest priced small "monitor" speaker on the US market was $1,600 per pair; Wilson's small WATT speaker was introduced at $4,400 per pair.[3]
As of 2016, the most inexpensive stereo speaker from Wilson Audio, the bookshelf-sized Duette 2, is offered for about $20,000 US per pair (without stands),[4] while home theater "Watch" center and rear channel speakers cost over $5,500. Their most expensive stereo speakers, the Alexandria X-2 Series 2, sell for $158,000 MSRP per pair and up, depending on finish. According to Stereophile in 2015, the average price of Wilson's product range is $69,325 per pair, in standard colors and finishing, and not considering potential extras.[5]
Wilson Audio is known for building highly rigid speaker cabinets. They construct their loudspeaker enclosures from non-wood materials such as phenolic resin composites and epoxy laminates. The cabinets are painted using a high-gloss automotive process in a variety of colors.
The company's record label was called Wilson Audiophile Definitive Recordings and was known for its releases (31 in total) that were issued on LP and CD between 1977 and 1995. Wilson Audio is currently reissuing high resolution downloads of select titles.[6]
Despite its name, there are no relations between Wilson Audio and the UK audio company Wilson Benesch, also a manufacturer of expensive loudspeakers.
Products
Current lineup
- WATCH Dog (Wilson Audio Theater Comes Home)
- Passive (Released: 2006)
- Thor's Hammer
- Series 1 (Released: 2008)
- Polaris
- Series 1 (Released: 2010)
- C/S (Released: 2014)
- WATCH Center Channel (Wilson Audio Theater Comes Home)
- Series 3 (Released: 2011)
- Mezzo
- Series 1 (Released: 2011)
- C/S (Released: 2013)
- Alexandria XLF (Cross Load Firing)
- Series 1 (Released: 2012)
- Duette
- Series 2 (Released: 2013)
- Alida (2-channel, 5.1, 7.1, and Atmos compatible)
- Titanium Dome (Released: 2014)
- C/S (Released: 2014)
- Sasha W/P (WATT/Puppy)
- Series 2 (Released: 2014)
- Sabrina
- Series 1 (Released: 2015)
- Yvette
- Series 1 (Released: 2016)
- Alexx
- Series 1 (Released: 2016)
- WAMM Master Chronosonic
- Series 1 (Released: 2017)
- WAMM Master Subsonic
- Series 1 (Released: 2017)
- Alexia
- Series 2 (Released: 2017)
- TuneTot
- Series 1 (Released: 2018)
Retired products
- SMART Turntable
- (Released: 1974) (Retired: 1976)
- WAMM (Wilson Audio Modular Monitor)
- Series 1 (Released: 1981) (Retired: 1982)
- Series 2 (Released: 1982) (Retired: 1983)
- Series A3 (Released: 1983) (Retired: 1987)
- Series 6 (Released: 1988) (Retired: 1991)
- Series 7 (Released: 1992) (Retired: 1993)
- Series 7A (Released: 1993) (Retired: 2003)
- WATT (Wilson Audio Tiny Tot)
- Series 1 (Released: 1986) (Retired: 1989)
- Series 2 (Released: 1989) (Retired: 1991)
- Series 3 (Released: 1991) (Retired: 1995)
- Series 5 (Released: 1994) (Retired: 2001)
- Series 6 (Released: 1999) (Retired: 2004)
- Series 7 (Released: 2002) (Retired: 2006)
- Series 8 (Released: 2006) (Retired: 2011)
- WHOW (Wilson High Output Woofer)
- Series 1 (Released: 1989) (Retired: 1991)
- Series 2 (Released: 1991) (Retired: 1993)
- Series 3 (Released: 1993) (Retired: 2002)
- Puppy
- Series 1 (Released: 1989) (Retired: 1991)
- Series 2 (Released: 1991) (Retired: 1995)
- Series 5 & 5.1 (Released: 1994) (Retired: 2001)
- Series 6 (Released: 1999) (Retired: 2004)
- Series 7 (Released: 2002) (Retired: 2006)
- Series 8 (Released: 2006) (Retired: 2011)
- X-1 Grand SLAMM
- Series 1 (Released: 1993) (Retired: 1997)
- Series 2 (Released: 1997) (Retired: 1999)
- Series 3 (Released: 2000) (Retired: 2003)
- Level 5 (Released: 2006)
- WITT (Wilson Integrated Transducer Technology)
- Series 1 (Released: 1995) (Retired: 1997)
- Series 2 (Released: 1997) (Retired: 2000)
- XS Subwoofer
- Series 1 (Released: 1996) (Retired: 2005)
- CUB
- Series 1 (Released: 1997) (Retired: 2000)
- Series 2 (Released: 2000) (Retired: 2005)
- MAXX
- Series 1 (Released: 1998) (Retired: 2004)
- Series 2 (Released: 2004) (Retired: 2008)
- Series 3 (Released: 2008) (Retired: 2015)
- WATCH Center Channel
- Series 1 (Released: 2000) (Retired: 2010)
- Series 2 (Released: 2007) (Retired: 2011)
- WATCH Dog
- Series 1 (Powered) (Released: 2001) (Retired: 2003)
- Series 2 (Powered) (Released: 2003) (Retired: 2008)
- Surround Speaker
- Series 1 (Released: 2000) (Retired: 2009)
- Series 2 (Released: 2007) (Retired: 2014)
- Sophia
- Series 1 (Released: 2001) (Retired: 2009)
- Series 2 (Released: 2005) (Retired: 2012)
- Series 3 (Released: 2010) (Retired: 2016)
- Duette
- Series 1 (Released: 2006) (Retired: 2014)
- Sasha W/P
- Series 1 (Released: 2009) (Retired: 2014)
- Alexandria X-2
- Series 1 (Released: 2003) (Retired: 2007)
- Series 2 (Released: 2007) (Retired: 2014)
- Alexia
- Series 1 (Released: 2012) (Retired: 2017)
References
- ↑ Guttenberg, Steve (April 27, 2010). "The $1,350 'earbud': Is it worth it?". CNET. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
- ↑ "David Wilson: WAMM!! WATT?!? WHOW!!! (& the Puppies!)". Stereophile.com. 2007-06-17. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
- ↑ "Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy System 5 loudspeaker". 1995-11-23. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
- ↑ "Wilson Audio Specialties Duette Series 2 loudspeaker". 2015-03-06. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
- ↑ "Wilson Audio Specialties Duette Series 2 loudspeaker". 2015-03-06. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
- ↑ "Wilson Audiophile Recordings Return". Stereophile.com. 2013-07-31. Retrieved 2016-06-08.