Wilson Sasha 2 or Alexia for small room 10' x 17'?


I went to audition the Wilson Sabrina at a local shop. I so wanted to love these speakers because of the reviews, price and compact size. Unfortunately, I could not (don't hate me  Sabrina owners). I did, however,  fall in love with the Sasha 2. It seemed to do everything and more that I was looking for and I am hoping this speaker will be a speaker I can live with for a very long time. After thinking about it, I wondered, is the difference between the Sabrina and Sasha 2 smaller or greater than the Sasha 2 and current Alexia? The room has  good acoustics, Mcintosh C50 pre, MC152 amp and as noted above, is very small. Would there be too much bass and overwhelm the room. I have not heard the Alexias and was wondering if any owners or listeners familiar to both can comment on the differences and similarities and give impressions as to how they might work in my small room. I currently own and like very much the  Sonus Faber Venere 3.0 but am looking for more. At this point, I am pretty sure I will go with the Sashas  but am looking for guidance from someone with experience especially since it is very hard to locate the Alexias and hear personally.  Thanks for your opinions
996cupracer
Audiotroy and Kuppe38
You both have no shame and, more importantly, no credibility. And neither of you read well. As I have said on numerous occasions, Audiotroy is a salesman at Audiodoctor who should be banned form trying to sell his gear on Audiogon. Period. As of a few years ago with our former moderators, that would have already happened without my input. Audiotroy is doing no one a service, especially his breathlessly hyperbolic dealer, Audio Doctor, by trolling a Wilson thread to show Wilson owners the light of what he tries to sell as a better product. It frankly doesn't matter if he truly believes it. I know and patronize many dealers who think what they sell is the best there is and have every right to do so. Imagine if one rep from every dealer trolled threads regarding products they do not sell to show everyone on that thread the light with respect to the stuff they do sell. It would destroy the forum. That's exactly what Audiotroy is doing.
 Re: the Personas. In fact, I liked them and said that I expect them to be well reviewed and a bargain at that. I liked them at the NY audio show. I have since heard them at a dealer NOT Audiodoctor-- and my opinion has not changed. They are very good, a bit hard and bright (you call transparent). But they are not world beaters. But I will say that Paradigm is a great speaker company with excellent R&D and resources who has always made great speakers for the money and should be proud of their first entry in the high end. If one thinks they are better than $100,000 Kharmas as Audiotroy once said, they are free to believe that .
   I own Wilsons but I am not a fanboy and I have owned many other brands. In fact, I thoroughly enjoy speakers from Rockport, Focal, Kef, Legacy, ATC, Harbeth, Verity, TAD  and others too numerous to mention --- all of which have many  different positive traits and all of which, on any given day, I would consider among the best speakers I have ever heard and would consider purchasing.   
 Let's check out the newly minted  Kuppe38 who says I have no integrity and that I should not slander a dealer who cares about its clients. I would never do that. I know way too many dealers who genuinely care about their clients and get much joy out of providing them with gear that provides the client with a greater insight into the music. But they don't do their selling here. My point is that we should keep dealer or manufacturer shills off this site. So far Audiotroy is one of only 4 such manufacturer dealer reps that I have consistently come across in my years here who unabashedly promotes his products. One other quit after he was hounded off (not by me) and banned by the former moderator. The other 2 are professionals who inform all on this community with their engineering intelligence and expertise and they NEVER push their own products like the ever shameless AudioDoctor crew.
 So Kuppe38, before you criticize anyone, try living on the site for a few years, get a feel for how this audio community is supposed to work and you may come to understand that it is set up for you and me and people like us --NOT DEALERS. I say this because you made your very first post to Audiogon within the past 3 weeks. Since then you have had 4 other posts all of which laud Audio Doctor and your visits there to hear the Personas and the Legacys. You also make 2 baseless statements (among others) that I want to address. First, you imply that I am gullible to believe Wilson's sales pitch wherein Dave claims to have tested various diamond, beryllium and other exotic tweeters and rejected them.
 In fact, I did not believe that but came to learn it was true. I suggest you take a tour of the Wilson factory which I have done (as I have with 3 other speaker manufacturers) where I actually saw those tweeters which Dave had in the listening room. They were all there.
Second,--get your facts straight, Vandersteen does not use beryllium drivers.  Beryllium tweeters can be wonderful or hot depending on the implementation. Some say balsa or carbon fibre or silk dome are better, but it's all matter implementation and taste.
I will say nothing more on this topic as I have wasted too much of my valuable time scolding Audiotroy for his bad form. I have no skin in this game as he and his acolyte do. I am done. You 2 may now say what you will.
Apologies to 996Cupracer for taking up space on a thread but someone has to say it. Congrats again. Enjoy your speakers and let us know what you think after they have been installed. 

   

Get yourself Bowers Wilkins new 802D3! Much more musical and refined than any Wilson at any price..... Will work in your room greatly too. Actually the 803 D3s will work fantastic just as well. You will save a lot of money as well, which will allow you to get Symphonic Line Rg4 MK4 monoblocks, that are fantastic with B&Ws and true bi-wired Cardas golden Cross speaker cables. If you like Sonus Faber  type sound get the Elipsa model. They are most musical in their line up and since they being discontinued (unfortunately), you should get a hefty discount as well.. Also much more musical than any Wilson at any price :) If you listen to the actual music that is, and not to 25 audiophile recording all the time ;)  ...Myself,  I d go with B&W & Symphonic Line combo thou, but Elipsas are superb as well in room size like yours... Stereo Exchange in NYC has them both in NY in rooms that are similar to yours. Granted they use crappy cables and crappy Devialet with them the last time I visited, but you should get an idea....
Ah ,you ve already bought the Wilsons :) That was quick :)  Hope you ll enjoy them! :)
First - a real tangent: Is the original poster actually a Porsche cup car owner? I raced Porsches in IMSA as a professional driver in the 1990's, then in club racing. My wife and have owned 15 911's, including several cup cars. Sorry for the distraction.

About the Wilson speakers - I have a pair of WattPuppy 7 speakers. My local dealer, Paragon Sound here in Ann Arbor (a great place!), as well as Dave Wilson, recommended a room no smaller than 13 x 19 ft. We were careful about adding both diffusers and absorbers to the basement room - great improvement in sound. FWIW- My system is McIntosh, MCT450/D150 into the recently updated C22 tube preamp and then a C275 into the Wilson speakers. The sound is incredible on most of the DSD files that I have, others are too "bright."
Gerry, yes I raced a cup car in PCA only for about 20years starting 944 turbo, a 993 cup and ending with a 996 cup. I very recently sold the 996. Great car, great people and great times. I am very lucky to have enjoyed these wonderful race cars!
Just as I am looking forward to enjoying the Wilsons. Curiously, they are seemingly made from drivers that are not made from exotic and high tech materials, but the sound is anything but ordinary. The lack of use of the latest and greatest driver materials attracts the most criticism. Their research and engineering has clearly paid off.. Wilson has many people lined up willing to exchange tens and even hundreds of thousands for a pair of their speaker. These are not all people with more dollars than sense. Most who can afford these well made pieces of joy are smart enough to know better than to get snookered. They let their ears be the judge to what pleases. In my limited exposure in this fascinating and engrossing hobby, it is not easy to find a more engaging and dynamic experience. Their sound is not for everyone, but that can be said of every speaker made. They certainly seem to have a devoted cult following with many people traversing through the entire line.