In the late Seventies, Dave's research on the speaker that became his flagship - the WAMM - began. Working in his garage and living room, he constructed a prototype of a state-of-the-art modular loudspeaker (see photo). In 1981, David and Sheryl Lee introduced the WAMM at Garland Audio in northern California, and immediately sold two at $28,000 each. They sold five sets of WAMMs that year. Today, they have sold over 50 WAMM systems despite a price tag that now stands at $225,000.
As the Wilsons continued recording (with Sheryl Lee running the business), they discovered that their on-site monitors did not provide accurate information about the recordings. Sheryl Lee, the realist…who paid the bills…, had been urging David to build a smaller, less expensive speaker for the company. He had resisted. The Wilson passion pushes him toward the outer edges of the art. But when his recordings were undermined by the quality of the monitors, he was convinced. And thus was born the WATT, a design that reshaped the high end speaker market.
He built two pairs of WATTs. One - the "white dwarf" - for recording work (see photo) and another, nicely finished, for home use. The second pair went to the 1986 summer CES where, despite its $4,500 price tag, it wowed the crowds. A classic was launched. The WATT's dedicated woofer, the Puppy, followed in 1988. Suddenly the Wilsons had a major high end audio company. WATT cabinets began to stack up throughout their house and the Wilson children - David III, Kevin, Daryl and Debby became speaker builders.
In 1991 the Wilsons moved their business and family back to Provo, Utah, where Dave and Sheryl Lee first met, and where their success continues. Since then, the business has grown exponentially. Over 12,000 WATTs have been sold. In 1993, they introduced the X-1 Grand SLAMM, a $65,000 state-of-the-art design that took the audio world by storm. Wilson has sold over 400 pairs of the X-1.
Each of these speakers is an exercise in excellence. Within the design parameters of each speaker, Wilson builds the product without compromise. Listening to a Wilson speaker is like reading a score. You will know exactly how the piece was played, and what each instrumental voice has to say. "Revealing," is the pertinent adjective. Each Wilson design is intensely intellectual. It is difficult to disengage your brain because there is so much information demanding your attention. Passion enters the equation in the speakers' abilities to reproduce the dynamic scale of music. Short of a horn, no speaker is as dynamic as a Wilson.
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Working in his garage and living room in the late Seventies, Dave Wilson constructs a prototype of the state-of-the-art modular "white dwarf" WATT loudspeaker.