David A. Wilson, 1944-2018
e at The Audio Beat were saddened to learn today that David Wilson, founder of Wilson Audio and a pillar of the high-end-audio industry, passed away on Friday May 25 after a struggle with bone cancer. Dave was a native Californian who founded his companies -- first a record label, then the speaker manufacturer -- in Northern California, before relocating with his wife and co-founder, Sheryl Lee, to Provo, Utah. Wilson Audio became a speaker manufacturer of real renown, one that would recast the market in significant ways -- first with the groundbreaking WATT/Puppy (which literally became an icon of the audio industry) and then with the X-1 Grand SLAMM, which ushered in the full-range super speaker. In between and following those models, Wilson Audio created significant new speakers, each a must-hear in its respective price range.
A Wilson Audio speaker has always been a manifestation of attention to detail, to ensuring that every conceivable criterion is addressed, but Dave Wilson pioneered and refined two important areas of speaker design. The first was cabinet design and construction, championing the idea that a speaker cabinet should consist of multiple modules, each designed for its particular purpose. Along with this, Wilson investigated cabinet materials, each chosen again for its particular purpose, whether it be a midrange front baffle or the walls of a bass cabinet. The second area of investigation was time alignment, which turned the one-rectangular-speaker-fits-all-rooms model, as well the the focus on the frequency domain, upside down. Wilson Audio speakers are adjustable for listener height and distance; the time alignment of the drivers is ensured no matter the listening space. With his WAMM MC (shown above), Dave Wilson pushed this concept so far as to create an instrument for measuring time misalignment in electronics and even cables, while also being able to correct those anomalies with the speaker. These accomplishments have made Dave Wilson a speaker designer whose influence has been widely felt throughout the audio industry, which I can credibly argue would not have been the same without him. But to those of us who were honored -- the correct word for it -- to have spent time with him on a personal level, casually and infrequently in my case, his story is even more significant. Dave was intrinsically friendly though not extroverted. He always wanted to know what was happening with me and my work as an audio critic (a position he held with distinction during the formative days of the audio press) and my larger life. I made the trip to Wilson Audio numerous times, sometimes on my own, as when I heard the WAMM MC and last saw Dave, and others with a writer who would be reviewing a Wilson speaker in tow. In these instances, Dave wanted to meet the person who would be covering his speakers. He would explain many of the fine points of his method, in addition to hosting a demonstration of whatever speaker was in his listening room. During each of these visits, I came away with a feeling of welcome, Dave's personal warmth and generosity of spirit overwhelming whatever technical subject he was trying to explain. In addition to all of his other gifts, Dave was a remarkable listener who could discern and assess sonic properties better than anyone I've known. It was enlightening (and sometimes humbling) to "talk audio" with him. I remember during my first visit to Wilson Audio, sometime in 2000, that Dave had asked where I lived -- Madison, Wisconsin, at that time. He talked a bit about the Upper Midwest, recalling that during his pre-audio days, while working in the medical industry, he sometimes had to drive between Milwaukee and Madison. Out of the blue, he asked if I remembered a restaurant called The Gobbler. I explained that I knew it -- and that I was surprised he did. We proceeded to talk about it and his reasons for mentioning it: the location (in Johnson Creek, Wisconsin, adjacent to I-94), the name, and the unusual round shape. This was my first lesson in Dave Wilson's unassailable memory, something he would reveal in discussions of reptiles or amplifiers in the years that followed.
Dave and his wife Sheryl Lee always struck me as being an uncommon power couple: both were committed to making their business, not themselves, an unqualified success, as demonstrated by the worldwide reach of Wilson Audio within the audio industry and the contentment of their employees, who come to work for Wilson Audio and stay for decades. And it seems appropriate for their son Daryl, Wilson Audio's current CEO, to not only have taken over the family business but to have thrived in doing so. Recent Wilson Audio speakers such as the Alexx and Alexia 2 prove that Dave Wilson was a gifted teacher and Daryl Wilson a perceptive student. While it will be with no small amount of gratitude that I
listen to my audio system with a Wilson Audio speaker as part of it -- which has been the
case since my first review (and purchase) nearly 20 years ago -- most of all I will
remember just talking with Dave Wilson, whether about the rock formations near his ranch
in Kanab, Utah, or his review of a pair of Denon phono cartridges from the early 1980s. He
was serious about his passions, and that was infectious -- you wanted to approach his
level of understanding when you talked with him. But it was his grace, amiability and
genuineness, especially in light of his immense intellect, that will make him impossible
to forget. |
