The Los Angeles & Orange County Audio Society announces the 2025 Founder’s Award will go to Sheryl Lee Wilson and the late David A. Wilson II, who passed away in 2018, the co-founders of Wilson Audio Specialties, Inc., one of the world’s elite loudspeaker manufacturers. This is the first time the Society is making a dual award and first time to a posthumous recipient.
David’s wife and business partner Sheryl Lee will accept the award at the Society’s 32nd Anniversary Gala and Awards Ceremony on December 7, 2025, in Buena Park, CA. The current CEO and Creative Director of Wilson Audio, Daryl C. Wilson will also attend.
Wilson Audio was originally founded in Waukegan, Illinois in the garage and then after being there a very short time Dave and Sheryl moved their growing family and small business endeavors to Novato, California. Later, the family and the company moved to Provo, UT where it is headquartered today.
Inspired by the well-respected in its day Dahlquist DQ-10, the Wilson Audio Modular Monitor (WAMM), was the company’s first major loudspeaker design. However, the speaker that “saved the company” was the Wilson Audio Tiny Tot (WATT). Dave Wilson designed and developed the original WATT as a studio monitor that spoke the same sonic language as the WAMM he had at home. Later the WATT was used to demo Dave Wilson‘s recordings at shows. Sheryl Lee was the prime mover in getting the WATT speakers into production and combining it with the Puppy woofer upon which it sat.
The WATT/Puppy combination is embodied in some of the current Wilson speakers including the SashaV and AlexiaV. Dave Wilson’s speakers are known for their extraordinary attention to precise time alignment and use of exotic resonance damping cabinet materials. These are just a few of the elements responsible for the Wilson signature dynamic, transparent, and true-to-life sound.
Presenting the award to Sheryl Lee Wilson will be Michael Wechsberg, CEO and President of the Los Angeles & Orange County Audio Society, and Michael Fremer, Executive Vice President of the Society, The Absolute Sound editor at large, and proprietor of the website trackingangle.com. Robert Harley, editor of The Absolute Sound where Dave was once a reviewer, will deliver the keynote address for the Gala on December 7, 2025. Further information about the event will be posted on the Society’s website www.laocas.com during the coming months.
