Wilson Sasha's - All evolution in Wilsons are.....

I agree with Peter,
They do sound perfectly fine with reputable tube amps IMO but these things are not the easiest things to drive including all other Wilsons for that matter.
The huge VTL Monos I listen to them were pretty darn good but the the big transistor Boys, they are truly exciting and fun to listen too for sure. Rock cracking bass with one of the Krells I have heard. Unbelievable! Even with Norah Jones first track on a her new CD "Chasing Pirates", what a wallop!!!!

It really did not sound to me as if there was any problem with our MA-1s amps playing bass on that speaker! So I'm sticking to my story- Wilsons are tube friendly and easy to drive. Like I said- we played some very nice volume levels and the meters on the amps were not even moving.

Well I spent tonight listening to my new Sashas using the following amps:

Pass XA100.5 + XP20
Krell EVO202 + EVO402

As is to be expected both combinations gave excellent results. I am still doubting which one I like more. You can not realy say one combination is much better than the other. The Pass combination sounds a little smoother and slightly more musical. But the Krell combination is cristal clear with amazing details both in the bass and in the highs. I could live with both combinations and did not decide yet which combination to keep.

Disadvantage for the Krell is the high power consumption even in standby and the disadvantage of the Pass is that they need minimum one hour to sound good. But this are all minor things.

I also put the Sasha on the spikes. The bass became a lot better but the highs were a little bit less. Maybe a higher spike will improve that. The spikes (I use one ring) are about 3-4 cm lower than the wheels so this could have to do with it.

One of my friends plays with Jadis on a Wilson Puppy 7 and that combination is amazing to. More than enough power and very very good mids. But of course the bass from a big transistor amp is better but the mids of the Jadis are unbeatable by any transistor amp.

Tubes or transistors; both have their friends. I hear from both good results, it just depends what is your taste and what you want to hear.

Peter

Very interesting thread. I own Sophia 2's and have been eyeing the Sashas as the logical upgrade path, but haven't had good experiences when it comes to auditions. RMAF was kind of spotty (hard to tell in those small rooms) and a recent dealer audition/comparison (Sophia 2's vs Sashas) was very inconclusive. They both sounded terrible and difficult to tell apart.

I love my Sophia 2's, I just want more articulate bass, a little more forgiving upper mids and more air. :-) I use Pass XA100.5's so it's nice to hear that the Sashas work with these. Peter, do you really find the XA100.5's need an hour to sound good? What differences do you hear? I haven't really noticed much difference...

Ian

I don' have any reservation regarding Sasha Krell or pass Sasha combination(power amps). They are both fine with Sashas.One thing is for sure Sasha is not a piece of cake load for amps. However, neither full Krell nor Pass setup will yield max. outcome. Based on my past experience, both are very good in Power amp making but only ''good'' in preamp making.