Wilson Sasha vs. older Watt Puppies


Years ago I owned Watt Puppy 6s, and I sold them mainly because of some etch in the vocals that I just couldn't live with (and a bit of stridency in strings). But aside from that, I really loved them, especially the 3d staging and layering and a wonderful clear natural unforced bass, and they were not bright (or boomy).

Have the vocals and strings improved on the Sashas? Are the good qualities still there? Thanks.

(I quickly heard the Sashas at the NY show, and felt the stridency/etch issues were solved, but it was a short listen, and it wasn't enough for a thorough evaluation.)
rgs92
The older Watts did indeed tend to have a brightness unless you were careful about your amplification. They worked much better with tubes in that regard than solid state, due to the way the resonance in the tweeter was controlled.

The Sasha however is quite impressive, and a lot easier to drive with tubes than its low impedance at 80Hz (or thereabouts) would make you think :)
I found the Sashas to be an excellent speaker when I auditioned them, and might well have bought them but for my very lively room.
I heard the Sashas recently at JS Audio in Bethesda, MD, and I thought they sounded stellar. The Sashas had the typical Wilson virtues of being extremely detailed, dynamic, transparent, and "open" sounding but did not sound harsh, strident, hard, or otherwise offensive. Plus, they had subjectively phenomenal bass response, despite being in a relatively small room. Overall, they sounded as good as I've ever heard reproduced audio, and I've been lusting over them since this audition. A friend of mine owned the WP7's, which I heard a few times. I also thought those were great, but the Sashas strike me as being more relaxed (i.e. less overtly analytical) and having improved bass definition compared to my memory of how the WP7 sounded.
From an article about Gary Shandling in 2010 in GQ magazine:

We're in the living room, checking out his speakers—a six-foot-tall pair of Alexandria X-2 Wilsons that he calls "the best rock 'n' roll speakers in the world"—

Read More http://www.gq.com/entertainment/humor/201008/comedy-issue/comedy-issue-garry-shandling#ixzz1u9G8Xbuv

(the page with the quote:)
http://www.gq.com/entertainment/humor/201008/comedy-issue/comedy-issue-garry-shandling?currentPage=2