Listening to music may not be quite as much of an art form as playing it. However, assembling a sound system that reproduces recorded the music the way it was played in the studio – or would be played on stage – requires a skill set and an ear not unlike that of a musician.
“Does your audio system sound as natural as seeing the artist in real life?” asks Doug Morrison, owner of Wilson Audio. “Is it bringing you complete happiness, connecting you to the true emotions you feel when you hear that music live?”
Morrison added that “connecting you with the emotional impact of music is our core value.” This means matching the right audio equipment with the listening space in each customer’s house – and also with each customer’s budget. To that end, the Wilson Audio team individually auditions every piece of equipment they sell.
“Just because we’re a dealer for a certain brand doesn’t mean we’re going to get behind every model they sell,” Morrison elaborated. “We carefully hand-select products that are worth the investment, and get them to fit within the customer’s budget.”
Morrison is mindful of the common misperception that buying high-end audio requires spending high-end dollars.
“We don’t want to scare off a budget-minded client by showing them a $400,000 system,” he said (though if you have 400K to spend on your system, they can help you do that), In particular, “with today’s technology in speakers, they’ve gotten so efficient, you can get a very high-quality speaker, one that will deliver that three-dimensional performance, the full range and balance and richness, without blowing the budget.”
Another way Wilson Audio helps make their products more affordable, especially for customers who are upgrading existing systems, is by accepting trade-ins that can be credited against the cost of the new equipment.
Morrison purchased the operation from original founder Doug Wilson in 2017, and while he has carried on the tradition of offering great home sound systems across all price points, he has also rolled with some of the changes in the music listening industry. One example of this is that Wilson Audio now has a full-scale in-house repair facility.
“We provide full support for all the products we sell,” noted Morrison, “and we also service products we don’t sell. Even with some older equipment, it may make more sense to repair it than to replace it.”
Wilson also offers on-site repairs, though with an additional “house call” fee, along with customized installation. The products themselves include every possible audio system component, from amplification to speakers, and all types of sound sources. Good systems also include one often overlooked aspect, the connecting cables, and Wilson sells a variety of the best to complement each component.
One trend that Morrison observes with some dismay is music streaming. “Streaming just gives you no physical connection to the music, which reduces the emotional connection.”
This is why – while not disparaging the quality of CDs – Morrison still prefers LPs and sees why they have been making such a comeback. “Nothing delivers what vinyl does,” he pointed out, “giving you that personal connection with the artist.”
A trend that Morrison truly welcomes is that “I see young people today getting more connected with their parents through music. Young people today listen to a whole big range of music, not just today’s pop but many genres that their parents listened to.”
Today’s frenzied world seems to disconnect people from so many things, including the bliss of sitting back and letting great music flow over, through and into you. Many people have never had this experience; as Morrison noted, “Many people don’t know that they really care about their audio system until they are ready to listen.”
This can make the audio business a little frustrating, but Morrison counts on the thousands of years of human music to carry him through.
“Music is a timeless thing,” he observed. “Television comes and goes, shows come and go, but you listen to your music forever.
“They can take away your lights, take away your power, but they can’t take away the music.”
