Magnum Opus

In this video, Dave Wilson speaks about his early research on the time domain, and how this poorly understood phenomenon affects the way we hear music. Dave also reveals his inspiration for designing loudspeakers—the passion that has been central to his designs during a career spanning more than thirty-five years. Please celebrate with us this small homage of Dave’s remarkable life work, which, as it relates to loudspeakers, now culminates in his Magnum Opus, the WAMM Master Chronosonic. 

It's About Time

This video previews the long awaited WAMM, Master Chronosonic™, Dave Wilson's Magnum Opus. Nearly five years of research, development, and thought have gone into the new WAMM. Now, as a preface to its launch in a few months, we offer up this small homage to Dave, a visionary who has indelibly changed the way we all think about music and its reproduction.

Drivers

  • Daryl Wilson and Wilson’s team of engineers recently concluded another round of research and development into tweeter technology.
  • Wilson’s MTM configurations, which feature time-domain adjustability, have always been far more sophisticated
  • Unlike the original WAMM, which required a subwoofer to cover the bottom octaves, the Master Chronosonic is a true full-range design.



Enclosure Materials

Most loudspeaker manufacturers are content with building enclosures from medium-density fiberboard—a material originally used in the construction of tract-home sub floors. In contrast, Wilson has spent the last several decades researching and developing cutting-edge composites.


WAMM Master Subsonic

From its inception, the WAMM Master Chronosonic was designed to cover the entire audible spectral bandwidth with an unprecedented time-domain fidelity, ultra-low distortion, and exceptionally well controlled enclosure resonance. It is a laboratory grade instrument on the one hand and an unalloyed conduit to a numinous connection to music on the other. 

The Master Chronosonic is a full range loudspeaker, capable of reproducing the bottom octaves of music with extreme speed and authority, but Wilson’s design team also recognizes the advantages presented by fully active bass management and a dedicated subwoofer.

While most manufacturers of subwoofers attempt to bend the immutable laws of physics with undersized enclosures and drivers, Wilson’s approach to the bottom octave is uncompromising and pure. The WATCH Dog and the state-of-the-art Thor’s Hammer are designed to reproduce the region between 10 and 40hz without the aid of distortion-producing equalization or other Band-Aids to poor or compromised designs.  

The WAMM Master Subsonic subwoofer builds on the strengths of the Thor’s Hammer. The Subsonic employs three dual-spider woofers in an enclosure tuned to reproduce the infra-sonic range below 10 Hz, and, at the same time, seamlessly and coherently mesh with the Master Chronosonic in the lower mid-bass region. Extreme transient speed is not a intuitive characteristic associated with subs; the Subsonic was designed to cover the bottom octaves at the same level of transient fidelity that characterizes the WAMM Master Chronosonic. 

Awards

2025 The Absolute Sound Editors' Choice Award
The Absolute Sound
2025
The Absolute Sound Editors' Choice Awards 2024
The Absolute Sound
2024
2023 The Absolute Sound Editors' Choice Awards
The Absolute Sound
2023
The Absolute Sound Product Listings: "101 loudspeaker manufacturers and cable companies we've chosen as being most worthy of your attention."
The Absolute Sound
2023
The Absolute Sound - Editors’ Choice 2022
The Absolute Sound
2022
2021 TAS Editors' Choice Awards
the absolute sound
2021
2020 Editors' Choice Awards
The Absolute Sound
2020
HiFi Plus 20th Anniversary Awards Top 100
HiFi Plus
2019
Loudspeakers over 100,000 EUR
Rocky Mountain International HiFi Press Awards
2019
TAS 2019 Editors' Choice Awards
the absolute sound
2019
The best 100 products from the best 100 brands of the last 20 years
Hi-Fi+
2019
the absolute sound 2019 High-End Buyer's Guide
the absolute sound
2019
HIGH-END AUDIO BUYERS GUIDE 2019 | ISSUE 288
2018
the absolute sound 2018 High-End Audio Buyer's Guide
the absolute sound
2018
Product of the Year Award
2017
2017 Golden Ear Awards
Jacob Heilbrunn
2017
Buyers Guide 2018
2017
Loudspeakers over 100,000 EUR
2017

Reviews

Wilson Audio WAMM Master Chronosonic - An Audiophile Bucket List Item - Checked
Audiophile Style 08/15/2024
XXL SPECIAL: Presentation of the Wilson Audio WAMM Master Chronosonic - high-end sound converter for EUR 900,000 per pair with a chain of VTL/dCS components
AREA DVD 04/14/2023
Wilson Audio WAMM Master Chronosonic: Hearing Review of the $1M Superbox
Low Beats 09/30/2022
Magnum Opus - Wilson WAMM Master Chronosonic
The Absolute Sound 10/01/2017
The WAMM Master Chronosonic
Hi-Fi+ 01/01/1970
The WAMM Master Chronosonic
Fidelity Magazine
The WAMM Master Chronosonic
The Absolute Sound
The WAMM Master Chronosonic
Analog Planet
HiFi Audio
HiFi Review

WAMM Master Chronosonic Technical Specifications

Released: 2017   
Retired: 2026

Drivers

Woofers
One – 10.5 inches (26.67 cm)
One – 12.5 inches (31.75 cm)
Upper Midrange
Two – 4 inch (10.16 cm)
Lower Midrange
Two – 7 inch (17.78 cm)
Main Tweeter
One – 1 inch silk dome (2.54 cm)
Rear-Firing Tweeter
One – 1 inch silk dome (2.54 cm)

Enclosures & Materials

Woofer
XLF port, adjustable rear or front firing
Midranges
Bottom vent, X-material, S-material baffle
Tweeter
Sealed X-Material
Gantry
Aerospace Aluminum, W-Material Module Interface, X-Material damping

Measurements

Sensitivity
93.5 dB @ 1W @ 1 meter @1 kHz
Nominal Impedance
3 ohms / minimum 1.77 ohms @ 310 Hz
Minimum Amplifier Power
100 watts per channel

Dimensions

Height
84.375 inches (214.31 cm) w/o spikes
Width
21 inches (53.34 cm)
Depth
37.375 inches (94.93 cm)
System Weight Per Channel
900 lbs (408.23 kg)
Total System Shipping Weight (approx.)
2620 lbs (1188.41 kg)

WAMM Master Subsonic - Drivers & Measurements

Enclosure Type
Front Ported
Woofers
Three—12 inch Dual Spider (30.48 cm)
Frequency Response
10 to 150 Hz. +0, – 3dB Room Average Response [RAR]
Nominal Impedance
4 ohms
Sensitivity
87 dB @ 1 watt (2.83v at one meter)

WAMM Master Subsonic - Dimensions

Height
65 1/16 inches (165.25 cm) with spike
Depth
27 3/16 inches (69.09 cm)
Width
18 1/16 inches (45.87 cm)
Weight
515 lbs (233.6 Kg)
Total Shipping Weight (approx)
695 lbs (315.3 kg)