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I just heard the Wilson Alexandria XLF's Wednesday

My local high end audio shop hosted its annual "Music Matters" open house where reps from their prime product lines demonstrate their latest wares. In the past I've been introduced to many products that were either just reaching the market or still in prototype stage (e.g., the Magnepan Mini's).

In one room we had Peter McGrath of Wilson, Dan D'Agostino with his new $50K/pair monoblock amps, a Meridian rep with a Sooloos front end, and John Atkinson of Stereophile, who had some great 24/96 music files he'd recorded himself.

Two demos were of music Atkinson had recorded with minimal miking--a small orchestra and pianist playing Rhapsody in Blue and a 9-person vocal group with organ accompaniment.

This setup produced the most realistic reproduction of music I've personally heard. I am a subscriber to the Seattle Symphony and attend live concerts there monthly. It's obvious to me that these live performances have--in addition to the music--a sense of room energy that's consistently lacking in audio reproduction. NOT THIS TIME! The Meridian/D'Agostino/Transparent (Opus)/Wilson signal chain produced a completely fleshed-out, live-feeling presentation. A sonic hologram if you will. The presentation was transparent and resonance-free, linear, extended, but most of all, live-sounding.

In fact, the very next demo I went to was of Audio Research pushing the new Wisdom Audio $95K flagship panels+sub system, and it sounded artificial by comparison. On its own I'm sure the Wisdom is an excellent speaker, but following the twice-as-expensive Alexandria XLF it was a complete letdown.

Anyone who has an opportunity to hear the Alexandria XLFs should give them a listen just to see what can be done. For me it completely re-defined what can be done with musical reproduction and makes me regret not setting out to become a millionaire when I was young so I could afford a pair (plus the D'Agostino amps) today.

BTW, in all previous Wilson demo's I've heard (Sophia 2 & 3, Maxx 2 & 3, Alexandria X-2, Watt/Puppy 7, Sasha W/P 8), they always sounded decidedly better--more musical, liquid, resolving, real-sounding--with tube electronics. Not so this time. The D'Agostinos are so neutral and so good at driving the speakers that all you think about is the music and the holographic presentation.
johnnyb53
sacman
110 posts
 
I completely agree with the assessment of the D'Agostinos monos. I auditioned them driving a pair of Wilson Sasha at CES '11 and they're probably the most musical setup at the show. Meeting Dan was definitely the highlight for me that weekend. If I can ever afford the upgrade from my current system (801Nautilus + Krell 650mc), it would be the Sasha + Dan's new amps.
lloydelee21
1,202 posts
 
HI Sacman,

Just saw your system...pretty amazing! I actually think your system is pretty amazing and am not 100% convinced having heard the Sasha numerous times and the D'Agostino monos that it is as much of an upgrade over what you have.

Will the D'Agostino's present a more refined treble and mid? definitely. Will the Sashas present a smoother upper treble (where it also distinguishes itself from WP7 and before, and somewhat WP8)...yes.

Do i think it is an upgrade i would go for if i had your system?...i actually would be quite happy with your system. And if i did upgrade, would probably feel the need to go a few levels higher than Sasha/650mc.

I would look at 'big tweaks' in your system: first your preamp, then smaller stuff...Monster power conditioner, or cabling. I imagine the Sashas and D'Agostinos were being run with great preamp (ARC Ref 5?) Transp Opus cabling which is absurdly expensive but absurdly good as well. I imagine if you went with SOTA preamp, your sound would change dramatically...for a lot less... You really have an incredible system imho.
sacman
110 posts
 
Hi Lloydelee21,

I've been an audiophile since I was making minimum wage at $4.75/hr years ago. I went through so many set up and every upgrade was very exciting as the improvement was somewhat aligned with the cost. However, as I went for more expensive gears I think I approached the point of diminishing return. Having the opportunity to attend CES every now and then, I am aways amazed how much more expensive these gears have become. For example, the a pair of YG speakers that costs 100K+ were really good but I'm pretty sure they don't sound 2000% better than my 801N bought used at $5.5K. Another example is the $20K Transparent Opus cables. At the end of the day, I realized that it's the music and time to enjoy listening are the most important things. Having said that, I do think the Sasha were amazing when matched with Dan's new amps. They left the most memorable sound in my head after spending 3+ days going through all the systems at CES in 2011. My recent revamp of the interconnects with the old lines of Transparent Musiclink/Musicwave super seemed to bring out the hidden improvement from my system. On the horizon, I probably will upgrade my PS Perfectwave DAC to MKII.
johnnyb53 OP
3,490 posts
 
The D'Agostino Momentum mono's are the closest thing to perfect amplification that I've heard. It's easy to forget you're listening to electronics, without euphonic colorations on one hand or clinical sterility on the other. I've heard them with the Sashas and the Alexandria XLF. Before the D'Agostinos I always liked Wilsons with tubes (e.g., Audio Research Signatures and VTL Siegfried). The D'Agostinos did it for me even better than those.
lloydelee21
1,202 posts
 
Hi Johnnyb53. Agree D'Agostinos are some of the best solid state i have heard in many, many years....utterly refined and (as with all D'Agostino designs) utterly powerful.

I have spoken with people who compared the XLFs on ML latest Ref, D'Agostino monos and the Gryphon Mephisto and it seems those who were there preferred Mephisto significantly. My sense is that the Gryphon is more delicately nuanced while being a match or more than a match in sheer power. At this level, it is all about preferences, and probably subtle but meaningful room setup, etc. Just passing along the feedback i got yesterday from someone who had done the audition.
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