Wilson and the KEF B139 ad - reminiscing a little bit

[ack]

Small world... I saw their new ad the other day, about obtaining a large cache of these very old drivers for their WAMM customers... and this hit home... my home theater, which is really unassuming, is based on DIY sub/satellites using the B139 in the sub, the B110 for midrange and the T27 tweeter - very fine sound too, I must admit. Am I the only one out there???

 

[microstrip]

Am I the only one out there???

No! About thirty years ago I built several pairs of speakers using the same speakers configuration.
The last one was the famous Bailey transmission line model. They looked like big refrigerators and the transmission line was stuffed with long haired wool. I think I still keep a pair of spare B110 and T27 tweeters hidden somewhere ...

 

[ack]

After about 25 years or so, I still haven't had a need to replace their surrounds or otherwise repair them... This is great stuff.

 

[mauidan]

Nice to know that Wilson puts such a high importance on customer service. Here's the video that talks about finding the 120 B139s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf1-5cGVs8g

 

[JackD201]

One of the best sounding DIY speaker systems I heard were made with B110s, some soft domes I don't recall and a passive down firing sub powered by a really big vintage Marantz receiver. I thought someone hired a sax player for their party. I recall the guy who built them telling me they were used in the LS3/5as. This was 20 years ago at least.

 

[mullard88]

Many years ago, I got a call from the Wilson Audio dealer in Hong Kong asking me if I could help source some of these drivers for the WAMM speaker systems. Wilson Audio has excellent after sales service. I had already replaced the tweeter of my WATT (original version) about three times and each time, I was sent the perfectly matched tweeter. I was told they keep records of the measurements of the parts in each speaker that they make and then send you the closest match on the parts they have on stock.

 

[vinylphilemag]

Wilson Audio has excellent after sales service. I had already replaced the tweeter of my WATT (original version) about three times and each time, I was sent the perfectly matched tweeter. I was told they keep records of the measurements of the parts in each speaker that they make and then send you the closest match on the parts they have on stock.

I've heard about the match driver thing from Wilson too. In my mind, it's this level of customer service that helps justify their prices, and serves as a role model for the rest of the industry (Audio Research are similar in this regard).