How can Wilson Audio speakers sound that good if they are using OEM drivers?

I understand you all. And agree with you. I’m just confused about some companies not pushing boundaries on drivers too.
One thing is to ask another company to develop a driver with a spec. Another is to R&D on drivers, as I understand Wilson Audio does with the their speakers enclosures. Wilson do a kind of crazy R&D with the materials they use on their speaker enclosures. And I love that. But what if they did this also with their drivers?

The ScanSpeak Drivers used in most Wilson Speakers are excellent drivers - they could be somewhat customized too specifications set forth by Wilson.  The 4" midrange driver used in the new Wamm is a beyond excellent midrange driver with a foam surround and a paper cone.

In speaker design its always about how well one makes the drivers, cabinet and the all important crossover design work as a whole.

Here is an example of a 40 year old woofer design integrated with a very recent Midrange/Tweeter Driver on a waveguide - this thing will run circles around any conventional speaker using a 1" dome - what ever its made from, and yes I made it :-)

http://pbnaudio.com/speakers/m2-5-loudspeaker


Good Listening

Peter

 

Out of phase junk

maybe we need out of phase spell check....

Depends on what you like
vs
what might be in the recording
some very nice laser analyzers pointed at those paper, silk, etc drivers reveal about 5-10 dB of of of phase junk.....in a non pistonic driver...
junk that is NOT in the signal coming off that 300B
depends if ya want to move things forward
or luxuriate in ?????

Well, I am listening to Wilson speakers now - Sophia 2's.  They sound wonderful to me.  There have been really great sounding speakers for decades, using all manner of materials. Materials can make a huge difference by easing the inevitable engineering hurdles and trade-offs one must overcome to manufacture a non-resonant cabinet, drivers that don't breakup in their passband and can integrate smoothly, etc., but it's the engineering that makes the difference.

Personally, I've listened to the Wilson WAMM, Maxx 1's and 2's, and every incarnation of the W/P.  Never was impressed - hyper detailed is one good way to describe it - until the Sasha. Still a bit analytical, but I like it a lot nonetheless.  But I'll stick with my Sophia's; as one person described them, "The Wilson speaker for people to don't like Wilson speakers".

It is the engineering ,and No they are not stock at all custom matched drivers to a low tolerence ,and cabinets that have a lot of vibration isolation  materials and cabinet ,and Crossovers are 
very optimized for the drivers parameters .that is what you are paying for. They have not been that successful just stuffing boxes.

I can't but agree. My ca 1975 Tannoy 12" dual concentric loudspeakers, with paper woofer and 2" aluminum tweeter, still surprise visiting audiophiles with their quality of sound. Great soundstage depth, imaging that seems to exceed the room barriers, great clarity, bass, and detail. I never tire of them, and they are listened to for three to six hours daily.

The Wilson Maxx 2's I  listened to were, to me, hyper-detailed and tiring to listen to. This was at a dealer, so I didn't necessarily hear them at their best, but my old Tannoys never disappoint.

Regards,
Dan

@grannyring dude you are just so........last century! :-p

I think you make a mistake by saying Wilsons use OEM drivers. Sure, they are sourced by OEM companies, but they are also built to very detailed manufacture's specifications.  It's like saying "how can Honda's Formula 1 race cars be all that great when they have the same basic engine as a Honda Accord?"  And many Indy cars are just Fords and GMs, right?   Um...... yes and no..

Listening to a set of speakers made of cheap particle board, silk dome tweeters and paper woofers. They sound amazing! No need for those fancy materials 😉

Then again, some ask why tubes manufactured in the 1940s can sound better than Russian or Chinese tubes made in modern factories in 2018.

Exotic and new obviously doesn't equate to better sound. Vintage speakers from Altec and JBL etc. are proof of that. Besides, a loudspeaker is a system whose performance depends on a balance of driver, crossover and enclosure design considerations. You must already know that.

I'm no Wilson fan but in my opinion the exotic materials used by some companies are about talk rather than performance.  I had B&W for a long time and when I moved on I was kind of angry that the aluminum drivers of my new speakers sounded so unmistakably better than the fun to talk about but not very good sounding Kevlar. 

"Last century materials", sitting here listing to a pair of speakers, not Wilson Audio, made of plywood with paper and silk drivers. So last century but damn they sound good. What sounds best is not always what's newest, sometimes it's what's oldest or somewhere in between.