Wilson Audio Grand Slam X1 - Clones

[Percy Erasmus]

In the April issue of HI-FI News there's a guy that build his own Wilson Audio X1 Clones. - Check it out ! Amazing !

Does any body know what drivers are used in original X1 as well as the exact dimensions of the variuos enclosures ?

I need to start cloning ...🙂

 

[Samuel Jayaraj]

I believe they are Focal drivers. Only the tweeter is bipolar, ie., a second tweeter is placed on the rear side at an angle that it would typically fire between rear wall and ceiling.

 

[Holger Barske]

Indeed, mostly Focal is used. The bass and upper bass units are 15 and 12 inch "polyglass" drivers, but the are not (and have never been) available for DIYers. Tweeter is an old pure titanium design - a member of the huge T120 family - using a classical rubber surround. BTW this is the worst tweeter Focal has ever done... Well, will be difficult to get, too.
The midrange drivers are classical 7" Seas.

 

[Bas Horneman]

The Focal drive units are very easy to come by. And why do you say it is one of the worst?

 

[Bas Horneman]

Percy...

Ek hoop jy het baie pond want dit gaan ondanks die feit dat jy dit self gaan bou nog steeds baie duur wees.

Sterkte.
Bas

 

[Holger Barske]

The Focal drive units are very easy to come by

No, they are not, believe me. Even in former years, when Focal built classical polyglass drivers for the diy-market, they were not available. There were drivers looking similar, but they had a different motor. The Wilson drivers are NOT those well known monsters with that multi-magnet-motor. Jaques Mahul definitively does them exclusively for David Wilson. I spent some years working for a Focal-distributor.

.

And why do you say it is one of the worst?

There are good reasons why Focall normally uses a foam surround on their tweeters. They used to on the early fiberglass an kevlar tweeters, and it worked well. Wehen they switched for titanium diaphragms, they had massive problems with glueing foam and metal. So they left the foam - knowing it was the far better solution - and did a classical rubber surround.
That product did not last very long, and only a few pieces went to the market. But Wilson still wants that tweeter - perhaps because nobody else has it..? I don't know. Tchnically, the later tioxid-versions of the T120 are far better.

 

[Bas Horneman]

O..I see. I thought you meant the tioxid versions sucked. I just bought a couple of those because of their good reputation, and I had good results with the tc90's..

And I did not know Wilson used slightly different version.

Cheers,
Bas

 

[Peter Daniel]

I was so impressed with Wilson Grand Slamm speakers when they came out that I built my own version. However after using them for 2 years I switched to open baffle design and didn't change anything since then.

 

[Bas Horneman]

Where do you get the time?

I saw your current amps/speakers and the amps that you had for sale. Quite prolific I must say..Not to forget the passive preamp.. ;-)

 

[Elso Kwak]

Wilson Clone

Hi HPotter,
WOOOOOW............!!!
These look better than the orginal. A friend of mine has the original X1 but all middriversurrounds were rotten due to the harsh tropical climat; oversea.
We resurrounded the cones but I am still not sure it is right. Did you know these middriverss are very firmly glued to the cabinet?Almost impossible to replace. What kind of drivers are you using?🙂

 

[Peter Daniel]

I'm using Accuton tweeter and midranges, Cabbase for midbase and push-pull Vietas for subs.

 

[Peter Daniel]

Here is another try at copying other famous design. Tweeter is original B&W, Accuton midrange and Cabasse woofer in transmision line enclosure. All the walls are 1.5" mdf, midrange inclosure filled with sand, separate crossover boxes. I always liked those speakers in Black&White.

 

[Peter Daniel]

Here is the inside view:

 

[ucla88]

wilson slam

not sure if you have seen this link yet