WLM
Website:http://www.wlm-loudspeakers.com/
Est. year: 2002
WLM, short for Wiener Lautsprecher Manufaktur, is a small Austrian loudspeaker workshop founded in 2003. It builds high-efficiency speakers intended to run from low-powered tube amplifiers, and its name has been tied from the start to the Diva, the model it launched in its first year.
Range & what it's known for
The original Diva of 2003 was a passive two-way design built around a coaxial driver. In 2015 it became the Diva MK IV, a three-way system. Beyond that model the company offers a basic series and a luxury series of loudspeakers, each in passive and active versions, along with its own Class-D amplifiers. The high-frequency output can be turned down by up to 6 dB, and the design priority is high efficiency so that a small tube amplifier can drive the speakers properly.
Who owns it and where it's made
WLM is a craft manufactory rather than an industrial plant. Cabinets are made by hand from selected woods and fine veneers, and the company can build to a client's specification. The coaxial drivers are sourced from Eminence in the USA and the bass drivers from Eton in Germany.
The lineup in this catalog
Loudspeakers. A WLM pair lists at about EUR 5,000 or more, with the top versions above EUR 20,000.
Who it's for
An owner of a low-powered tube amplifier who needs an efficient, workshop-made speaker is the WLM customer. The Diva is the obvious place to begin, and the luxury and active versions add a higher grade of finish or built-in amplification.