The Last Quarter Inch

In our series of ads, we’ve set out to show you the process that underlies the creation of every Wilson Audio loudspeaker. There is one fi nal piece to the story.

Our commitment to the quality of your listening experience doesn’t end when you hand your money to the dealer. That’s because your authorized Wilson dealer will come to your home and set up your new loudspeakers in your listening environment. It’s not something you have to cajole the dealer into doing; every Wilson dealer is trained in a unique set-up procedure devised by Dave Wilson himself.

Every room is different, and nothing will impact the quality of your fi nal listening experience more than how the loudspeaker is positioned in that singular space. But every room has in common, what Dave Wilson has dubbed, zones of acoustic neutrality. These are defi nable spots where room-induced effects like slap echo, standing waves, and comb-fi lter effects are minimal.

A process of vocalization is used to determine the outer boundaries of the zone of neutrality. The resulting space (usually less than two feet square) is taped off into a workable grid.

Using a familiar recording, the installer will systematically move the speakers within the grid until everything coalesces—voices sound timbrely accurate, spatially focused, and coherent. The fi nal placement involves adjusting the speakers in increments as small as ¼ inch! Usually without the need for additional room treatment, the deleterious effects of the listening space have been effectively neutralized.

What awaits you then? Music without the subtle veils of distortion that our brains recognize as the indicators of reproduced— as opposed to live—music. It doesn’t take a pair of “golden ears” to recognize when these veils are removed.

However we try to defi ne it (and the one given is that it will resist language), the revelation of music’s numinous
enchantment becomes the readily available experience of every Wilson Audio loudspeaker owner.