Daryl Wilson On Growing Up In High-End Audio

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[@3dimensionsofmusic3D]

I was fortunate to find a pair of pre-owned Sabrinas that were close enough to audition and pu from a private owner. I'm blessed my spouse understands my passion and I sold my wheels to get them. Many thanks to this gentleman and his team that made this product and experience possible.

[@CarlVanDoren61]

Home needs great audio 😊

[@JRVick]

The replay and connection with all music happens in your head and body ultimately. Great to see equipement get out of the way completely for music (sound energy fractals) and faking our brain into thinking we're right there. Great times to be in the hobby. Great brand, great interview and great people. ❤

[@iborrada]

I think the new Watt Puppy is also Daryl’s tribute to his dad, very cool indeed.

[@ronpi1293]

Great interview, Steve. Daryl exudes gratefulness; a true gentleman.

[@xilebat]

Given the nostalgia/love for the old Watt Puppy Steve has communicated over the years on this channel, he deserves at least a long-term Watt Puppy loan. Make it happen, Daryl!

[@TrevorRuby]

I own a pair of tune tots. The thought of buying a watt puppy makes me smile.

[@alaincayer8999]

My first audition of the Watt Puppy was in 1998, I still recall the emotion. For the next 25 years, I was saying to people, one day I listened to....I never forgot.

[@johanaluna7385]

This was 🤯🤯 an incredible interview! I loved it! Thank you , Mr Steve. Your videos are soooooooo good!

[@michaelvaladez6570]

Some day I would like to listen to these iconic speakers !

[@johnconstantinou8755]

I remember reading about the Watt Puppy in Stereophile years ago. Always wanted them. When I got them, it fulfilled a dream. Found a pair of Watt 2.s recently and added them in the garage. I would love to audition their new gear. Thank you to all involved who make this great equipment possible.

[@johnthornton3863]

Every time I have heard Wilson speakers I am in wonder of the sound. Goes way back.

[@georgemartin4354]

If you really love music, Wilsons are a great choice.

[@vincentrenaud7249]

Great interview Steve 👍 And to Daryl, great stories

[@cremersalex]

What a relaxing voice!

[@wa2368]

Huh?? Are you the bearded guy's girlfriend?

[@armanddimeo6575]

50 percent off for the 50th anniversary might attract more Wilson buyers.😅

[@mitchparker7652]

Daryl’s a nice guy. Great interview.

[@ur1225]

What a wonderful interview. Thank you for bringing the persons and the history of the company into the foreground. Makes me appreciate Wilson audio even more.

[@FelixtheMetalcat]

Good insightful interview...thanks for doing this one Steve, an interesting and laid back look at things.

[@ML-rm3vk]

Great interview Steve fun stuff thank .

[@brandonburr4900]

My first informal experience with a watt puppy speaker was at dealer checking out other gear in the showroom at the time and hearing those in the background as someone was demoing them. They were so loud, dynamic and clear and this was from another room ! I was there to hear some lowly big NHT 2.9, and 3.3 in a home theater/music setup. It was still a memorable 5.1 demo of The Fith Element movie !

[@marksironi3324]

My first Watt/Puppy experience was at CES, I think 99 maybe 2000. I was pretty much set on buying a pair of Dunlavy SC-IV's at the time but wanted to hear the W/P 6's first. The only room that had them was Audio Research, they were in a ballroom. Huge room maybe 30' x 50' and in the middle of the room was whatever Reference preamp was current at the time, Ref 300 mono amps, and the W/P 6's. They had a vinyl front end with the system and I brought some vinyl with me; I asked them to play The Three Wonders from the Decca Tales of the Tsar Sultan. The ending of that piece gets quite large and I was sure the system was going to fall flat on its face in that huge room. Instead it pinned me to the back of the chair like a Memorex commercial. I was completely blown away by the dynamics of that system; its ability to pressurize the huge room and make you feel the music as well as hear it was incredible. Six months later I had a pair in my room which I kept until October 2023 when they finally got traded in for a pair of Alexia 2's.

[@rentabomb]

You should have bought the Dunlavy's. You'll never know what you missed in a properly designed speaker ;)

[@jos5067]

Great story to hear from Daryl, thanks a lot the both of you🙏! I wish I have the money 💰 to buy a pair of Wilson speakers.

[@dennissmith1772]

Excellent! Thank you.

[@bretspangler8717]

Great interview!

[@hamidrezahabibi8111]

Magnificent interview. I think KEF 105 and KEF 107/2 have separated midrange and tweeter enclosures.

[@ron101346]

My rule about high-end audio: the more expensive the equipment is, the less informative about technical details is their marketing. Wilson is exhibit #1 on that score.

[@rentabomb]

That's because it is designed to appeal to non critical thinkers :(

[@aceofspades6667]

Interesting guy… I love Wilson audio and live and work really close to their hq.

[@Undeniable_Logic]

Love Wilson Audio

[@John-Edward]

The “SPICA” speaker of that era had the same overall profile minus the back handle part.

[@carlitomelon4610]

Cool interview Steve 😊 I had no idea that digital has "gaps" in the sound?😮 Does this show up after the DAC?? Or is the output actually analogue? Is vinyl the only analogue you guys are discussing? There was no mention of all of the mechanical distortions that vinyl replay introduces. Or those distortions RIAA EQd in for the cutting lathe then EQd out for replay.....(click) You guys were probably meaning analogue master tapes, no? But then they're deteriorating...😮 No wonder digital was developed. It's too early for me to calculate the accuracy of Wilson's time alignment Vs the alleged "gaps" in digital. (Maybe Amir's friends will help out here?) Honestly, it's amazing that what we hear from our stereos can still be recognised by our awesome brains as music! Hallelu-JAH!!! 🎵🎶🤩🎶🎵

[@rentabomb]

There are no gaps. Someone is having a lend of you :(

[@20CycleMonger]

DAC= Digital to *Analog* converter. (It glues the gaps back together;-) Which is a great idea! See? 😅

[@bobwoodvoiceovers4796]

I had WP 5.1s then 6s then Sasha 2s, now Alexia Vs. What an improvement!

[@pietromanno8916]

NICE!!!!

[@christopherviers8302]

Great review/interview...!!! Most excellent...!!! You brought up the subject of magneplanar speakers... I'm curious as to what his opinion on open baffle speakers is...?

[@williamsill5106]

Daryl said the Watt and then Watt/Puppies were not the original truncated pyramid speakers. The original truncated pyramid speakers were: Dick Sequerra’s Pyramid Metronome 2+2. These came on the market 1977. Dick Sequerra’s like Dave Wilson was way ahead of his time in speaker design.

[@revolutronic]

my first experience with the watt puppy was when i watched this video. never heard of them in my past 40 something hifi years. never could have bought these and still cant buy these. so in a sense this is my first and last experience with the watt puppy.

[@richardwhite2344]

Very Enjoyable Steve and Daryl. I appreciate both formats Vinyl and CD's, But the fact is Vinyl sounds more lifelike more realistic. But it depends on so many factors. How the CD or record was mastertered ETC. If you buy and listen to records recorded on the PHase 4 Stereo London label. You will think you are playing a CD. They are some of the best and incredible sounding records you can buy

[@billappleton3986]

Best episode ever entrepreneurship meets audiophiles experience

[@louisperlman8030]

My limited WATT Puppy experiences are the WP6 with Spectral electronics, WP7 driven by BAT REXX both at the New York shows. Also the WP8 with Naim electronics at Innovative Audio. They actually had to open the door because the Puppies were pressurizing the room. Closer to my budget, I got hear all three versions of the Sophia. My dream is to find a pair of CPO Sabrina X or Yvette’s, after I get the rest of my system at least close to that level.

[@marcus1970]

Enthralling episode.

[@downumop]

3:17 Papa Doo Run Run shirt! Great album!

[@Audiorevue]

Great company, obviously great products however I think where he really needs to take the company is in more of a budget space or at least offer products that get the price down under five grand. I mean imagine what it would be if you could take the performance of something like the tunetot which currently resells for around $11,000 and bring that down to around 3 or 4 Grand, obviously sacrifices would have to be made but it would open up their products to a whole new audience. I mean because there's a lot of people who have heard their speakers like myself and who absolutely adore the sound and the build quality, but cannot stomach spending $20,000 or more on a pair.

[@georgemartin4354]

They're the Ferrari of speakers. There's a lot of proud Ford owners that wish they could buy one, but can't. It is what it is.

[@aceofspades6667]

Nope the budget space is flooded you don’t ask Bugatti or Pagani to make a civic. They make top tier art.

[@SAGNI0971]

Great interview! Seems like a nice guy but he doesn’t quite go as deep or have the breadth of knowledge of somebody like Richard Vandersteen or others. However, I could see him being a good salesman; he certainly dresses the part.

[@FOH3663]

To be fair Darryl is plenty smart, he's at the helm of a titan, ... whereas Vandersteen is a titan.

[@scottstrang1583]

The American dream

[@tonykazz2779]

I was a Wilson Dealer , way back in their early days. They have the best dynamic Drivers money can buy ( and should have considering purchase prices ) Magnapans deliver significantly more music value for $$$$ Klipsch delivers greatness with super cheap amplification. Wilson spends on Advertisements and Exclusivity for the High-End "Look at me" buyer . Compare any Wilson with an Abyss headphone system to realize actual Sound Quality . Tony in Sarasota Florida

[@skrub8718]

Are you able to review cabasse rialto?

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

I wasn't thinking about that speaker, why would I want to review it? More importantly, do you already own it??

[@rentabomb]

He couldn't answer the obvious question regarding re-radiation back through the driver cones. You should have gone the next step and ask him about port resonances ?? I've seen him stumped before on other technical questions. That's what happens when you are just a marketing person and used to regugitation the same marketing blurb all of the time without actually thinking about it.

[@StanThePigeon]

This wasn’t a technical interview. Can’t fault him for trying to quickly address the question. The question wasn’t framed for a technical answer.

[@TrueAudio]

viewer system of the day??

[@stevenkoski228]

Today’s HiFi market is way overpriced, especially for new components, the best & only way of getting a sensible bargain is to buy it either as demos or used😎.

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Well sure you can buy an earlier generation Wilson speaker for not insane amounts of money. And better yet it will hold its value in ways that more affordable Audio rarely does.

[@freekwo7772]

Very normal person that explains what is asked in very loose manner. Every claim that he does stands from my viewpoint. Unfortunately, Wilson and follwoing electronics is out od my reach. But even He says that the setup is the most important. Thank you Steve as always very very much that provides a deep insight otherwise we would be deprived off.

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Nice to hear from you thank you for watching.

[@saint6563]

1

[@charleslawson1671]

Nice interview except for that "...Are you an audiophile?" open. Cringeworthy.

[@JamesJoyce12]

I am more impressed by individuals who come to design audio products via their technical training - ie. engineers - than nepo-babies.

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

There's lots of different ways of winding up with a great design. But I find at least as many highly trained engineers making boring sounding speakers than guys who are just making stuff up who can really listen. Richard Vandersteen, by the way started life as a truck driver who had an interest in messing around with speakers. He's stuck around for a long time because even in the early days made fantastic sounding speakers, some at very affordable prices.

[@georgemartin4354]

There's nothing wrong with people using family connections to get into an industry they love. You obviously don't have any. Hence your attitude. Grow up.

[@paulmarr6949]

Great interview, thanks Steve!

[@herosquadlivemusic4815]

What a sour dismissive take. Do you really think that working basically every job within the company from the bottom up for decades didn't provide valid qualifications for his role there?

[@andrewweis5857]

born on third base

[@DQ-su6qf]

Tutored from birth…a bit different …

[@georgemartin4354]

Bitter?

[@ajh2536]

One of the things no one is at fault for in where (or when, or to who) they were born. To me Daryl comes across and dedicated, hardworking, and entirely competent. He also readily admits that there is always a price for every technical decision. Wilson is in the business to make very high end products. They are not a budget product company, rather they build speakers as best they can with as little concern for price as their market will allow. They won’t be for everyone’s ears or for everyone’s wallet but I don’t fault them or any company on that basis. If you don’t like how they sound you have the right to your opinion. And if you cannot justify the price, that’s also fine. But the man has a LOT of fans and to dismiss that out of hand won’t change anything.

[@offtom]

They must sound great but they look absolutely terrible and why the taliban look? Shave

[@t.j.bennett6454]

So fake. On a disgusting level.

[@timothyk8788]

What a goofy looking beard.

[@andrew-xr1de]

I found it really amazing that you discovered the wilson speakers can sound better with analog vs digital. Will future speakers be made for one or the other source? wow, think about that one.....

[@carlitomelon4610]

Don't encourage them.... Then you'd need a set for each medium ! 🎶🙄🎶

[@user-mr9yy3yf9q]

Opening frames - 5 figure amps.

[@derekwilson3366]

With all due respect, Wilson Audio is a world class marketing company. At no point in the last 50 years has any Wilson Audio product even come close to offering music lovers good value for money... Like all ultra high end marketing companies they sell focus on selling "image over performance" to ultra high wealth individuals who's spending power is clearly greater than their intelligence.