Given that Dave Wilson’s animating passion is the musical truth of his loudspeakers, he could be forgiven if he was less obsessive about how they looked. But for him, the well-made thing allows no division between form and function.
Wilson loudspeakers display a level of fit and finish uncommon in the audio industry. Our WilsonGloss™ paint was inspired by the finishes on the world’s finest automobiles. Every Wilson product comes in a choice of four standard colors: Desert Silver, Mercedes Silver, Dark Titanium, and Diamond Black.
Twelve more colors comprise the Upgrade Palette. Your choices don’t end there. Wilson offers the option of color matched-to-sample custom paint from samples submitted by the customer; the possibilities are therefore nearly limitless. |
 Sasha in Aston Orange |
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Paint technicians first apply a white viscous gel-coat (the same material used to protect boat hulls from seawater) to every exposed surface. This not only adds another layer of damping, it provides a perfectly smooth under-layer for the WilsonGloss paint. The gel-coat is allowed another three days to cure, and then sanded. The enclosure moves to the Paint Room where three color primer coats are added. Subsequently, the cabinet receives eight more coats of WilsonGloss finish. Built to the highest OSHA and “clean room” standards, the Paint Room utilizes positive pressure in custom built “down draft” booths. Special filters keep out any contaminants larger than 2 microns (.00008 of an inch). Wilson cures each painted cabinet in a humidity and temperature-controlled environment for seven days before further finishing. “Time-curing” (as the name implies) takes a lot longer than the “flash-curing” found on auto assembly lines (where the paint is baked on). Our tests have found, however, that flash-curing introduces tiny imperfections into the paint surface. |
The painted enclosure is wet-sanded and buffed to a high sheen. Paint inspection takes place under a magnifier, such as Robert Stiffler is using. The kinds of flaws that would send an enclosure back for repainting aren’t necessarily visible to the naked eye. What one can see—it should be evident by now—is not the measure of what passes muster at Wilson Audio. By the way, the paint standard is uniform across the product line; there isn’t one standard of quality for Duette and another for Alexandria.  Wilson Audio's Paint Booths |
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A Message from Dave Wilson • Passion • A Vision • Teamwork • Materials • Drivers • Crossovers & Cables • The WilsonGloss Finish • From Our Place to Yours |
