Most audiophiles know of the unwavering commitment to accuracy and groundbreaking industrial design baked into the DNA of every Wilson Audio product (website), and the new Wilson Audio SabrinaX loudspeakers are no exception. This was first evident in Dave Wilson’s original assault on the state of the art with his WAMM design circa 1981, and other loudspeaker systems followed over the years. Along with advancements in materials science and simple but visually striking industrial design aesthetics, each loudspeaker system has a unique raison d’etre rather than simply various scaled-down models at different price points. Words and photos by Dave McNair Dave Wilson practically devoted his life to designing a speaker that would precisely reproduce what his ears (and mics) heard on his extraordinary recordings. His recording approach was a simple, purist style used to record musicians playing in natural acoustic spaces. It might seem simple, but there is nothing easy about this kind of approach. So it naturally follows that faithfully reproducing the recording of that event in a home listening room was his ideal. Today, Daryl Wilson and the rest of the great crew at Wilson Audio have maintained those same ideals and goals while simultaneously refining, improving, and […]
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The Wilson Audio Alexx loudspeaker needs little introduction. I had instant envy the first time I heard it, with its thundering low frequency slam. The original Alexx was lead by Daryl Wilson while his father David finished the Wilson Audio – WAMM Master Chronosonic, a speaker that changed my perspective on music reproduction. Fast forward to 2019, Wilson slipped some WAMM sauce into the slightly smaller Wilson Audio Chronosonic XVX. At Music Matters 2020, the Wilson XVX loudspeaker, paired with Dan D’Agostino Relentless electronics, produced the closest experience to what I heard while listening to the Wilson Audio WAMMs in David Wilson’s home. Today the new Wilson Audio Alexx V is taking a significant number of advancements of the XVX in a smaller form factor and price point. Visually, the biggest change is the introduction of the open upper gantry similar to its larger siblings the XVX and WAMM. This new frame and associated hardware allows customers to adjust each upper module individually allowing for more precise adjustments. Other key changes includes the utilization of Wilson proprietary V Material at the top of the woofer cabinet and in the upper gantry consistent with the XVX. At the same time, there […]
Does a 260-pound loudspeaker that packs an 8- and 10-inch driver need any re-enforcement in the lower octaves? Add in a delicious amplifier that can generate 500 watts at 4 ohms with ease and you are off to the races, right? The engineer in me is always looking for opportunities to continue to move closer to that moment when the music was recorded. The release of a new Wilson Audio ActivXO stereo crossover designed by John Curl tickled my interest. I was fascinated to see what would happen if I added a pair of 211-pound Wilson Audio WATCH Dog subs and Wilson ActivXO into my room. Could these elevate my system further? If so, in what ways and by how much? Wilson Audio ActivXO: Do I really need subs? Over the years I have listened to musical systems where they added a set of stereo subs to various loudspeakers. In the setups that were done correctly, it was not about more bass. Instead, it was about creating more space. By “space,” I mean that feeling when you close your eyes and the associated soundstage grows and takes you a few steps closer to that feeling of being there at that moment […]
Over the years, we’ve tried endless numbers of tweaks to get the most out of our components. Some work, others don’t, and some behave as un-wanted tone controls. It’s a puzzle that every audiophile loves to solve. The one piece that always seems to have a high hit rate are devices that help with reducing vibration. These usually take the form of platforms for our components, feet that go under our components, or fancy weights that sit on top of our components. When Wilson Audio announced their new Wilson Audio Pedestal isolation foot with some impressive test results, I was intrigued. Wilson Audio will not reveal who they tested against, and your guess is as good as ours. It doesn’t matter because test results only give you one piece of the puzzle. For me, it is always a combination of measurements and listening that gives you the complete picture. Naturally, when the Utah-based company was kind enough to loan me five sets of Wilson Audio Pedestals, I jumped in foot first! Could these elevate my system further? What would their impact be with and without the platforms I was already using? How about my components that don’t use platforms and […]
It’s fun to dream about owning a time machine such as the Wilson Audio WAMM Master Chronosonic or Chonosonic XVX loudspeakers, but the reality is that their DNA is readily available through the entire Wilson Audio line. Completing this mission, Wilson is bringing some of our favorite innovations from the WAMM, XVX, Sasha DAW, Alexia Series-2 down to their new entry level Wilson Audio SabrinaX loudspeaker. When Daryl Wilson set his team in motion to re-design the Sabrina Loudspeaker, his goal was clear. Daryl said: “We must make it represent the best we can do in its simple, yet elegant form.” As we peel back the layers of the updated Wilson Audio SabrinaX, we can discover what that “best” is. The SabrinaX feels like it took the best ingredients from its siblings and put them all in a smaller enclosure and a lower price point. First, let’s dig into the changes from the original Sabrina to the new SabrinaX. Enclosure Update The original Sabrina used proprietary Wilson X-Material in its front baffle, as well as its bottom plate. The rest of the speaker enclosure and internal bracing was made with High Density Fibre (HDF) to reduce cost. The new Wilson […]