JBL Drivers in Wilson Audio Subs?

[svollmer]

An acquaintance who used to own a speaker favorably reviewed by Stereophile some years ago told me that Wilson Audio used to use 18" JBL woofers in their WHOW (Wilson High Output Woofer) subwoofers. Here is an ad in USAudiomart of an original WHOW and the driver certainly does appear to be a JBL. Maybe the 2242? I understand they changed to a 15" Focal in later models.

If someone knows how to grab the pics for posterity, that would be great!

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/...ofer-with-amp/

[jpw retired]

I used to be a Wilson dealer. They did in fact use JBL woofers in at least one subwoofer model, maybe more.

[svollmer]

Cool! Thanks for the verification.

Did you have a favorite Wilson speaker?

[jpw retired]

I did not have a favorite model, but the Watt Puppy was certainly the most popular. I admired Wilson for being among the first, if not the first. to call attention to how important inert cabinet construction was and the special materials and construction techniques they used to that end. Of course the build quality was on a higher plane than virtually anything else at the time.
Their understanding of how to properly tune a bass reflex speaker and network design took awhile longer to reach state of the art. Their speakers, like JBL, have excellent dynamics as well.
David Wilson was a very nice and talented man. It's a shame he is gone.

[svollmer]

Thanks for your insights. Yes, I have read that he was a very nice person. It's great that his son, Darryl, is trained and ready to take over and keep the company going. Too many others (VMPS, Thiel, etc.) don't have a succession plan and just "go away" when the founder passes.