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Wilson Audio's New Sound?

So, I did a search on "Wilson Audio" here on Agon to determine if this would be a redundant thread, and I could not quickly determine that, so if this is old news or a recent rehash, then I apologize in advance.

I attended a recent open house at an audio dealer in the Seattle area and two of the display rooms featured Wilson Audio speakers. From my experience at this and other dealers around the country, this was the last room I had any interest in visiting. My general opinion of Wilson Audio speakers was that they were impeccably crafted, large, heavy, accurate, a bit on the bright side, Silver, very expensive, and they generally failed to connect with me emotionally regardless of the equipment or material driving them.

So imagine my pleasant surprise when at this recent open house, the two different sets of Wilson's (Sophia 2 and Sasha) were my favorite speakers. The electronics ahead of the Wilson's were from Audio Research in both cases. I mean, these speakers REALLY sounded good.

A few days later I was reading the latest copy of Stereophile, and low and behold in his column Art Dudley was waxing poetic about his new found love for Wilson Audio Sophia 2's. He, like me, apparently has recently found Wilson religion. Unlike me, he has access to Dave Wilson for an interview and Peter McGrath for a visit to his home to personally set their speakers up for his long term demo - at least one of the perks of a monthly deadline. But, also like me, he apparently really didn't much care for the sound of Wilson's prior to his recent encounter with the Sophia's. Anyway, for a bighorn and planner guy like Dudley to go over the top for a (albeit super sexy epoxy painted, exotic material, custom driver) boxy speaker is news.

Why? Without plagiarizing Dudley completely, he is convinced the current crop of Wilson's are not your rich brother's Wilson's of a few years ago. According to Mr. Wilson himself (secondhand via Mr. Dudley) the company has a new tuning method for their new model speakers based on more "real world" listening conditions. Huh. All I can say is, whatever they are doing it is working. Big Time.

This also makes me think about your rich brother and his slightly older Wilson's tuned for listening in an anechoic chamber but placed in his plush and acoustically imperfect Italianate Manse. Has Mr. Wilson deposited brother Rich at the doorstep of obsolescence? Just wondering, because if I had the old Wilson's, I would be wanting the new ones, like yesterday. Also wondering if there is an "upgrade" path for their older speakers in terms of crossover parts or settings that can "soften" their delivery to be more "real world" friendly.

Anyway, perhaps I am just looking for the dark side to radically improving your product. For an unapologetic bottom fisherman who trolls for yesterday's (more like the last century's) high end gems, like my European sedan that was first purchased by someone else about eight jobs and two degrees ago, I will have to wait quite a while for the current crop of Wilson's to hit my price point. And I really can hardly wait.
knownothing

Showing 5 responses by knownothing

knownothing OP
1,298 posts
 
Gee, I heard the Watt Puppies previously with VTL and Nagra gear in various venues and have to say it'a not'a make'a me'a happy. I heard the Alexandria's in home theater systems with VTL and Classe gear, same thing (although very impressive dynamics!)

These are not crap electronics, and some of it is tubed gear. As good as AR electronic are, I am convinced the new speakers are voiced differently. In fact, the amp that was driving the Sasha's at the Definitive open house is a new switching amp from AR, and that sounded supremely good through the Wilson's (of course I believe it had tubed pre, digital source and phono stage).

PS - Don_s, thanks for your very kind words!
knownothing OP
1,298 posts
 
Mixn4him,

"New" is a relative term. New to me. Newer than the last time I demoed Wilson's. New to Art Dudley and even "new" as in the tuning process the company applies as described by Dave Wilson in his interview with Mr. Dudley.

Maybe the "newer" Wilson's are not really that different than the "older" models, but if set-up is so sensitive, why do showrooms I have visited around the country have such a hard time making one of their signature products sound good enough that I could enjoy them or even consider purchase? And I am not the only one. In one, I will call it a medium-sized squarish showroom, I was standing with three other shoppers and we demoed a variety of musical cuts and styles comparing a pair of B&W speakers (802D I think) with Classe electronics to Wilson WATT/Puppy 8's driven by large VTL amps, and there was no question which set everyone preferred, The B&W and Classe, mostly based on the B&W's engaging midrange. The Wilson's were lively and accurate, but just not very musical. I have heard VTL gear sound very good with Avalon and Harbeth speakers, so had to "blame" the Wilson's in that instance, or perhaps it was just a matching issue or the set up was 1/2" off.

So lets just say that enjoying Wilson speakers is a new thing for me, and apparently for Art Dudley and some other posters here too. Interestingly, at the recent show I attended, a very similar B&W/Classe system to the one described above was on hand in one of the rooms. The Sophia/Audio Research set up in another room was better. The Sasha/AR set up in a third room completely blew my mind.

Maybe as you suggest "set up" is the operative term. I still think there is something fundamentally different going on with the speakers themselves.
knownothing OP
1,298 posts
 
Stringreen,

I am not insulted by your comments, but I do happen to disagree with you.

Sometimes live acoustics sound like crap to me, to point where I am distracted from enjoying the content of the performance. In many cases because of the control provided by the recording studio, or the effects intended by the artists and the engineers, recorded music should not sound like a live venue or performance, it should sound "better", or at least different. Not sure I expect hi fi to sound like "live" music in every case, but I do expect it to sound good, as if I am getting the essence of what the artist and engineer intended, if not a close facsimile of a recording studio, bar, concert hall or stadium environment recreated in my living room. Do the instruments and voices have pitch, texture and pace that is convincing? If yes, then good enough for me.

Generally, most of us admit that hi fi is fraught with compromises. To me, really good high end systems exhibit fewer obvious compromises, and can convincingly recreate a broader range of recorded settings and instruments, and many of those recordings were never intended to sound live, with added room coloration, crowd noise, etc. Some people love Ohm speakers because they claim they sound more like "natural" or "live" music to them. To me, they make everything sound like "live music", and sometimes that is just downright confusing. Some people love Maggies and Quads because they have "life-like" midrange you can cut with a knife. I can see where they are coming from, but then they disappear when amplified bass enters the room, and I don't mean in a good way. I had always felt Wilson's quest for accuracy lacked soul, but they could always do a convincing bass guitar and leading edge thwack of a snare drum. In my mind, the "best" speakers (amps, sources and wires too) are capable of doing everything better than average, and maybe a few things really, really well. The Wilson's I've heard recently now have a bit of midrange richness and presence added to their repertoire, and I heartily applaud the effort.
knownothing OP
1,298 posts
 
Camali,

Just curious - what speakers in combination with what amps have provided you with the most convincing reproduction of classical music? I sense the subject of a new thread...
knownothing OP
1,298 posts
 
Rebbi, thanks. I enjoy this site and others insights very much as well.
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