I love that there is a Wilson Audio section here!

[Lildebs888]

Hello everyone! I have been told by many friends about this site, and I thought I would pop in and check it out

I know this is basically the same info I posted on the "Introduce Yourself" portion of the forum, frankly - it sums me up pretty well (and if you didn’t see the other post, then it’s all new anyway!). My name is Debby (Wilson) Beaman, and the proud daughter of David and Sheryl Wilson of Wilson Audio. I literally have seen Wilson grow from when it was in our garage with WATT enclosures that seems to take over our house - to what it is today: an employer of 50+ employee's with an efficient system of building, painting, assembling, and shipping some of the world's finest Hi End Loudspeakers (which is of course my own personal opinion - and yes, it is safe to say I am a wee bit bias! )

It brought me great pleasure build Wilson speakers for many years in all different areas of the factory. Everything from getting dirty in the Fabrication shop and polishing in the Paint Shop, to being (at one point) the supervisor over the Production/Assembly dept, and dabbled here and there in Inventory, Shipping, etc.

I took a few years off to be a stay at home mom to my 4 wonderful children. I am so grateful to now have the best of both worlds finally - be with my children at home AND help Wilson Audio out various social sites that I monitor (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) all while taking classes and working towards my degree (keeps me very busy!). The best part about what I do for Wilson Audio is meeting such wonderful people who share a love and appreciation in a company that is so close and dear to me personally!

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me either here or at debby@wilsonaudio.com - I am always happy to help where I can! I look forward to meeting and chatting with you all!

Warm regards,
-Debby

 

[Bruce B]

Welcome Debby... from another satisfied Wilson owner!

 

[Steve Williams]

I love that there is a Wilson Audio section here!

Indeed there is

Welcome Debby-from one of your father's biggest fans

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Member Chizzap (Matt) just purchased some Sophias in a wonderfully bright red finish! I don't want to copy any of his pics, but you can see them here.

 

[audioguy]

While I am not an owner of any Wilson speakers at the moment (was in the past), I have a HUGE amount of respect for this company. Any high end audio company that builds and sells products at the price point of the Wilson products and has survived (and flourished) as long as Dave Wilson has, deserves to be admired. They must be doing a lot of things right.

 

[Lildebs888]

Thank you all!

Thank you all for the warm welcome! Whether or not you are a Wilson owner or not, we all have a couple (at least) things in common: the love for music, and appreciation for high end equipment to reproduce that music. I have always admired my parents and my father's drive to work towards that ultimate goal of the perfect reproduction of the recording one is listening to.

I personally understand that everyone's idea of this goal varies, and that is OK! What matters most is that people find that (sometimes illusive) system combination that is their own personal "perfect". It is interesting to me the comments, and sometimes arguments, people have between one another over what is "the best". If only more people would understand and accept that everyone's tastes are different - forums just might be a more "peaceful" place to mingle with others that share the same hobby (and this goes for any hobby - cars, horses, music, computers, you name it). For some, though, maybe forums would lose a little of their "entertainment value" if this happened! I am just happy to find places where the people are friendly and helpful. I hope that I continue to find that here.

After working in the manufacturing portion of Wilson Audio for so many years (in the Production Department, I was the "Puppy builder" for years beginning with the Puppy 5 in 1996, and went on to learn how to build every product in Wilson's line up until 2003), I have always loved and had a deeper appreciation of seeing photos of the products that I helped build from Wilson's customers. I have researched a few customers systems in the hope that one day a pair of the speakers I built would resurface. No such luck yet, but I am sure that it will happen someday

Thank you again for the welcome, and I look forward to many more conversations with all of you!

 

[LL21]

Hi Lildebs888,

Your family produces the only speaker i said i would upgrade to from my old SF STrads, the big X speakers. One day, the dealer here in the UK came across a mint condition first generation X-1/Grand Slamm...bought in 1994, played for a year...and subsequently put into storage for 16 years in NYC! The clear plastic laminate covering had not been removed, the cover caps and feet not put on. the lacquer finish is mint. Serial No 22 (1&2). It came out of storage after 16 years to be shipped here in Sept last year when i agreed to trade in my Strads, and i have been enjoying them tremendously every day since.

I am aware that tweeter technology, etc has advanced (as have your subsequent X-1s and X2s)...but i will say when someone builds a no holds barred design in 1994 with minimal regard to cost as Wilson did, it is tremendous how great it sounds. Some people i spoke to in the industry were concerned about age...but Martin Colloms said it categorically. If the SF Strad is a Yamaha Grand...the X-1 is a concert grade Bosendorfer Grand...and then some! He also said he still was not sure that electronics today would fully test the measure of the speaker, and that the music it produces would continue to improve as electronics did. I think he was spot on.

I was fortunate to have Pedro from Absolute Sounds and Arif from KJ West One in London come in to install...8 hours! They went above and beyond the call of duty and were perfectionists...they resoldered resistors (twice!) in the tweeters to really perfect sound dispersion in my living room...and i cannot say enough good things about these speakers.

Originally, i thought i would be tempted to look at upgrades to x5. And someday i might...but instead, i found that i went out and bought over 300 CDs within a period of 2 months and have simply been enjoying MUSIC every day. i am far from a serial upgrader (my last 2 systems averaged 10 years)...but i have stopped thinking about the future "this or that" upgrade. Many thanks to you and your family for all your hard work, dedication and immense attention to quality.

 

[fishnchips]

I look forward to many more conversations with all of you!

This is very nice. I always wondered what the chosen bass reflex alignments of the current Wilson products were. Can you enlighten us?

 

[mullard88]

Hi Lildebs888,

Thirty years ago, I had an unforgettable visit to your home in Novato.

I am still using the original tiny tots with serial numbers 0064 and 0066. Would you by any chance have helped build these units?

Sam

 

[Lildebs888]

Hi Lildebs888,

Thirty years ago, I had an unforgettable visit to your home in Novato.

I am still using the original tiny tots with serial numbers 0064 and 0066. Would you by any chance have helped build these units?

Sam

Hello Sam, and nice to meet you!

What a neat story! I do miss Novato (the climate at least - I am not a fan of snow, even if it is the "worlds greatest snow" here in Utah!). I am sorry if I don't remember your visit - 30 years ago I would have been just a baby or a toddler at that point (since I am 31 now).

That is odd that you have 2 even numbered serial numbered WATT's. We looked them up, it shows that there is a 63/64 and also a 65/66. Both pair were shipped in 1987 and sent to Sound Chamber in Hong Kong. In 1989, 65/66 were upgraded to WATT series 2 (no upgrade for 63/64 was found).

Also, in 1987 I would have been 7 years old. Back in those days I helped in cutting wires to be twisted. So there is a good chance I helped in little ways with them, but I didn't actually "build" any products from start to finish in production (after they are painted) until late 1995ish.

I would love to see photo(s) of your WATTs! If you have a chance, would you mind sending me a photo(s) of them to debby@wilsonaudio.com (and also let me know if it is OK with you to post them to the various sites I manage - I never post names with the systems just so you know)

Warm regards,
Debby

 

[Lildebs888]

Hi Lildebs888,

Your family produces the only speaker i said i would upgrade to from my old SF STrads, the big X speakers. One day, the dealer here in the UK came across a mint condition first generation X-1/Grand Slamm...bought in 1994, played for a year...and subsequently put into storage for 16 years in NYC! The clear plastic laminate covering had not been removed, the cover caps and feet not put on. the lacquer finish is mint. Serial No 22 (1&2). It came out of storage after 16 years to be shipped here in Sept last year when i agreed to trade in my Strads, and i have been enjoying them tremendously every day since.

I am aware that tweeter technology, etc has advanced (as have your subsequent X-1s and X2s)...but i will say when someone builds a no holds barred design in 1994 with minimal regard to cost as Wilson did, it is tremendous how great it sounds. Some people i spoke to in the industry were concerned about age...but Martin Colloms said it categorically. If the SF Strad is a Yamaha Grand...the X-1 is a concert grade Bosendorfer Grand...and then some! He also said he still was not sure that electronics today would fully test the measure of the speaker, and that the music it produces would continue to improve as electronics did. I think he was spot on.

I was fortunate to have Pedro from Absolute Sounds and Arif from KJ West One in London come in to install...8 hours! They went above and beyond the call of duty and were perfectionists...they resoldered resistors (twice!) in the tweeters to really perfect sound dispersion in my living room...and i cannot say enough good things about these speakers.

Originally, i thought i would be tempted to look at upgrades to x5. And someday i might...but instead, i found that i went out and bought over 300 CDs within a period of 2 months and have simply been enjoying MUSIC every day. i am far from a serial upgrader (my last 2 systems averaged 10 years)...but i have stopped thinking about the future "this or that" upgrade. Many thanks to you and your family for all your hard work, dedication and immense attention to quality.

What a wonderful story! Thank you for sharing it with all of us! I am pleased to hear (as am know my parents are as well) that you find so much enjoyment in your Wilson's! I will make sure to pass this note on to my parents for them to enjoy reading as I have

Warm regards,
Debby

 

[LL21]

By any chance, did you work on Serial 22 (1&2)?

 

[microstrip]

(...) After working in the manufacturing portion of Wilson Audio for so many years (in the Production Department, I was the "Puppy builder" for years beginning with the Puppy 5 in 1996, and went on to learn how to build every product in Wilson's line up until 2003) (...)

Hi Debby,

Nice to meet you at this forum. May be you built part of my first "expensive" speakers - a pair of piano black Wilson Vs with Puppies. At the time I was a Quad ESL63 and conrad johnson owner, but an afternoon talk with Lew Johnson during a an impressive X1 demo in Portugal convinced me that I needed a pair of Wilson Vs. After Lew said that "in a typical listening room the V's are 95% of the X1 - we have the X1 at the factory and I have the Vs at home", I could not resist and I immediately ordered the first pair of V's to come in my country.

 

[mullard88]

Hi Debby,

I checked the serial numbers again after reading your reply. They are indeed 0064 and 0066. I bought them from The Sound Chamber in Hong Kong.

I didn't see you when I visited in Novato. I saw Kevin who was just a boy then. The next time I met Kevin was in Manila where he was doing missionary work, all grown up with such a mastery of Pilipino that he put me to shame.

I'll ask one of my friends here who is more technically up to the times to send you a picture of my pair of tiny tots. I have to warn you though that it looks differrent now. I have replaced the grills and rubbery stuff behind it so many times that I had my own grill fabricated.

Sam

 

[mullard88]

Hi Debby,

My friend has sent the pictures of my WATT to your e mail address in Wilson Audio last May 25.

Sam