Wilson Audio’s first wall-mount loudspeaker was designed as part of the WATCH Home Theater system. Its sole purpose was to serve as the surround sound component of a 5.1 installation while nonetheless offering the measure of frequency response and dynamic contrast that would complement Wilson’s large floorstanding main speakers.
Over time, however, it became apparent that the performance of the WATCH Surround Speaker was so good that people were using it as wall-mounted speakers in two channel music systems. In bedrooms, offices, or other locations where space or architecture precluded the use of floorstanding loudspeakers. It was in recognition of this need that Alida was born.
Although Alida bears a passing resemblance to the WATCH Surround Speaker, it is, not so much an upgrade, but a thoroughly re-imagined product. The Alida was designed primarily to function as a high quality wall-mounted loudspeaker for music reproduction, while still maintaining its ability to excel in multi-channel surround installations.
Walls and ceilings wreak havoc on frequency linearity and dispersion due to their proximity to the transducer. And because most walls are drywall over studs, energy transferred to the wall from the loudspeaker can create unwanted resonance and ringing.
Alida overcomes these challenges in a variety of ways. First, the crossover design benefits from everything learned in the creation of the Duette, Wilson’s loudspeaker designed to be used against walls and other boundaries. Second, the wall mount itself, machined from X-Material, isolates the speaker from the wall, effectively damping resonance from the mounting surface.
Finally, the new mounting system, re-engineered for Alida from aircraft grade aluminum, provides 30 degrees of rotation so the speaker can be more perfectly aligned in both the time domain and for the dispersion pattern to the listening position.
Alida’s cabinet is constructed from the same proprietary materials found in products like Chronosonic XVX and Sasha DAW. The enclosure design was refined using Wilson’s laser vibrometry analysis, which further reduced internal resonant artifacts to near zero.
In addition, a rear-wave diffuser, similar to the technology found in Wilson’s larger speakers, helps reduce time-domain distortion inside the cabinet.
Because Alida remains the uncompromising choice for state-of-the-art cinema surround, we naturally had to stay current with the newest technology, and so we developed the Alida Ceiling Mount.
New cinematic experiences await those who choose the Dolby® systems such as Dolby Atmos. Alida is ready.
