Hi Dan , what differences did you notice vs 4 ohm tap ? Sophia 3's are a much easier load than Sasha so I'm intrigued by your decision -
What amplification are you using with your Wilson speakers ?
- Thread starter Chrisfrombyron
- Start date
I'm using Pass XS-150's with X-2.2's. They don't even break a sweat. I had some friends over yesterday and we played the Sheffield drum track album loud. No problem.... Best sounding drums I have ever heard reproduced save for a live drummer.
I drove my Sasha series 1 with an ARC Ref110, and will be driving my Alexias with a REF 10 / REF 75 combination. I asked my dealer, who I trust, about using the Dag mono amps with the ARC pre-, he thought the Dag pre paired with the Dag monos was a better match. He loves the Ref10/Ref75 duo on Alexias.
Bob , that's very interesting , Ref 75 and Alexias , I would have thought the Alexias would need more grunt , for lack of a better expression , maybe I need to persevere with what i have , set up , different impedance taps on the amp etc etc , thanks for the feedback . Out of interest , why did you go for a lower output amp on the Alexias ? Was it because of the Ref 75's retro looks and those great looking meters or does the increased power supply/current capability ( I hope I have that right ) compensate for the lower actual wattage ?
The 4 ohm tap sounds closed in.Hi Dan , what differences did you notice vs 4 ohm tap ? Sophia 3's are a much easier load than Sasha so I'm intrigued by your decision -
I'm sitting here listening to the Bruce Barth Trio Live at Smalls, and it's like I'm at the club with all the sense of space.
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I must agree with your dealer. All itens referred are excellent products, but IMHO these brands should not be mixed. At some time I tried the Dagostino power with the REF40 preamplifier and was very disapointed with it. However, when I listened to it using the matching preamplifier I found it a true masterpiece.
steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
That's why I use a Lamm pre to drive my Lamm monos and almost always use the same brand pre as my amps
I was leaning strongly to REF150, but my dealer spent a lot of time with REF75 on Alexia and said the REF75 is really magical. The reviews of the REF75 also said it is something quite special. And some members here and other forums who have put KT150 in said the amp got even better.
That said, my system is still unplayed. Numerous occurances in the last 10 months have kept me from setting up my room. It looks like finally, next month, I'll be able to speak more on my combo, but even then a breakin period will be required. I may just get the REF 2SE and break everything in together. Granted, that would make me a real ARC groupie/slut/whore, but if whoring out, going all-in with ARC will make me feel like a high-class whore!
Hi Bobvin ,
I presume you mean a Ref 5 SE ? Very nice preamp , I'm using an LS27 but had a long term loan of a REF 5Se from a friend who needed to store it somewhere during renovations , definitely the REf 5Se had a ' silkier ' sound with more inner detail and a slight but noticeable reduction in that sense of electronics being in the reproduction chain , BUT , the LS27 , with its solid state power supply , also had some virtues as well , while I haven't heard the REF 75 , you may like to consider hearing one paired up with an LS27 also , I hear the SP20 is also a nice amp but perhaps if you do a lot of vinyl listening you may prefer a stand alone phono stage .
Hi Devert ,
I have tried the Ref 150 on the 8 ohm tap and yes , you are correct , the sound is definitely more alive and immediate , there also appears to be an improvement in the bass area also , I'm unsure why this is , but will do more listening during the week ... Cheers and thanks for the heads up ! Much mahalos ( did I say that right ? ) .
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Repost from new members forum .....
It has been suggested that I repost this introduction from the new members forum ....
I have included a few afterthoughts also .....
Hello all and thanks for accepting me to the Forum.
I'm 59 years old and live on the east Coast of Australia , below is my story so far ....
I started out on my hifi journey when I was 17 , my parents bought me a Sanyo 3 in one record player
with 2 plastic speaker enclosures for $50 , after I had this unit for about 2 months I
started to hanker for something better and with the proceeds of my Saturday morning job at
Woolworths I bought a pair of Mullard Magnavox 6 plus 3 speakers , after that I picked up an old
Labcraft belt drive turntable for $30 and finally a Monarch SA 800 20 WPC integrated amp , by the time
I had my 18th Birthday , in 1972 , I was off on my lifelong journey on the quest for better sound .
Things progressed at a steady and sometimes hectic pace over the next ten years , I progressed through
a series of turntables from JH , Acoustic Research , Dual , Thorens , Technics , Luxman and Rega Planar ,
amp wise I progressed from my Monarch to an Acoustic Research Amp , various Marantz models to a 3600/240
Combo , when the 240 power amp blew up I bought a Phase Linear 400 and after that progressed further to a
GAS Thaedra Preamp/Ampzilla power amp , speakerwise during these early years I have lost track , but I recall
at various times owning Wharfedale Super Lintons , Leak 600 sandwich speakers , various AR models including
the AR4xa , AR6 , AR5 , AR3A improved and AR MST , Bose 901's , JBL L100's and the original Advent speaker ,
eventually I was introduced to planar speakers and at one time had a very nice combo of Magneplanars , Rega Planar ,
GAS Thaedra & Ampzilla . Following this I bought Acoustat 3A's and traded the Ampzilla for a Perreaux 2150B Power Amp ,
which didn't look as good as Ampzilla but could drive the Acoustats much better . I thought I had finally found audio nirvana
with this set up until I made the mistake of visiting the newly appointed Australian distributor of Audio Research equipment .............
The Thaedra was eventually superceded by an ARC SP8 and I can still remember how entranced I was at the sound , this raised
my now obsessive compulsion with HiFi to undreamed of new levels , I struggled to buy a D70 power amp and then upgraded to a D115 ,
my turntable was an early Oracle Delphi and my speakers were Infinity RS2B's , later on I was offered a used pair of Infinity RS1A's ,
which I eventually bi amped with my D115 and VTL 225 watt monoblocs on the bass towers and traded the Delphi on a VPI turntable fitted with an SME tonearm .
My Sp8 was traded on a used SP10 and then a new SP11 . Finally I though my audio journey was complete , even if most of the living room was
taken over with cables , amps , speakers etc etc . Then disaster struck , I lost my job and 12 months later had to sell my hifi to try and keep my house ,
which I eventually had to sell anyway , along with my Harley Davidson , I managed to keep my VPI Turntable but wound up with a vintage marantz
integrated amp and an old pair of AR MST's . Eventually things improved somewhat and I bought an older SP9 and a used Conrad Johnson MV50 amp
and a brand new pair of the then new Thiel SCS bookshelf speakers , freed of the need to constantly listen to hear the benefit of a new item in the system
chain I actually began to listen just to solely enjoy the music .................. I was quite happy with this modest rig for several years and did much listening
to my constantly expanding vinyl collection , eventually I purchased an ARC Phono One and a CA 50 integrated , sold my Thiels ( against my better judgement )
and bought a pair of Birdseye Maple Silverline Sonatinas , which I also kept for several years . As my situation allowed I progressed to an ARC LS17 and a Vs110 power amp ... this system I happily enjoyed and was determined not to get back on the upgrade merry-go-round , alas , one day my local dealer , who I had bought my Infinity RS1a's from decades earlier , told my he could do a really good deal on a demo pair of Wilson Audio Sophia 2's , I had always admired Wilson speakers from a distance but considered them to be way beyond my means , alas , with the sale of my Rolex GMT Master2 and a few other items , plus a maxed out credit card ,
the Wilsons arrived , at the same time as a pair of ARC VTM 220 monoblocs , 4 years later the Wilson's started to develop some hairline cracks ( apparently due to a faulty batch of glue ) and after some negotiating with the dealer i paid a price differential and obtained a demo pair of Sophia3's , my turntable during this time had progressed from my original VPI , to a TNT Junior and then a traded in TNT4 , I upgraded my LS17 to an LS27 and my monoblocs to a reference 150 , surely I thought this must be the journey's end and my system to see me into old age , then my Dealer contacted me and said he found in his warehouse a superceded pair of Sasha series ones in Karousel Orange , apparently these were a special order but the guy cancelled and bought Alexias instead , the Sashas arrived in my living room about 3 months ago ,so now I hope my journey has finally come full circle , I'm sure I have missed some things , and I can't remember what CD players I have owned over the years , nor the succession of tonearms , cartridges and tuners , but I have a nice collection of vinyl and CD's and DVD's to relax to after a day in the garden , thanks for reading this far - . Regards .
Addendum .... Did I regret buying any equipment ?
Well , yes , I regret buying my JBL's , from memory they were L100 Centuries or they may have been Horizons ,
I knew the moment I got these speakers home and fired them up that it was a case of , grab a bargain then buyers remorse ....
no matter how much bourbon I drank the sound just would not improve , they were the antitheses of my Maggies ......
I also regret leapfrogging so quickly from equipment to equipment and in many cases not really getting to appreciate the gear I had.
If I had a crystal ball ? I would probably have bought Rogers LS3/5a's and then gone straight to Infinity RS2b's and leapfrogged to Sasha 2's or Alexias .
As much as I love my Wilsons , I fondly recall those years I spent once a month meticulously polishing my Infinity's with teak oil .........
When did I 1st here Wilson speakers ?
A friend of mine , who had a much worse case of upgrade disease than I did had sold a humongous pair of Duntech Sovereigns
and bought an early pair of WATT/Puppies , I think they were WATT5/Puppy 4's , I could not believe the difference , it was like he had sold a big loud ' hifi ' speaker
and bought something that gave a crystalline window straight to the music , I can't remember the amp but it may have been a Krell KSA 250 ....
Onwards and upwards ....
It has been suggested that I repost this introduction from the new members forum ....
I have included a few afterthoughts also .....
Hello all and thanks for accepting me to the Forum.
I'm 59 years old and live on the east Coast of Australia , below is my story so far ....
I started out on my hifi journey when I was 17 , my parents bought me a Sanyo 3 in one record player
with 2 plastic speaker enclosures for $50 , after I had this unit for about 2 months I
started to hanker for something better and with the proceeds of my Saturday morning job at
Woolworths I bought a pair of Mullard Magnavox 6 plus 3 speakers , after that I picked up an old
Labcraft belt drive turntable for $30 and finally a Monarch SA 800 20 WPC integrated amp , by the time
I had my 18th Birthday , in 1972 , I was off on my lifelong journey on the quest for better sound .
Things progressed at a steady and sometimes hectic pace over the next ten years , I progressed through
a series of turntables from JH , Acoustic Research , Dual , Thorens , Technics , Luxman and Rega Planar ,
amp wise I progressed from my Monarch to an Acoustic Research Amp , various Marantz models to a 3600/240
Combo , when the 240 power amp blew up I bought a Phase Linear 400 and after that progressed further to a
GAS Thaedra Preamp/Ampzilla power amp , speakerwise during these early years I have lost track , but I recall
at various times owning Wharfedale Super Lintons , Leak 600 sandwich speakers , various AR models including
the AR4xa , AR6 , AR5 , AR3A improved and AR MST , Bose 901's , JBL L100's and the original Advent speaker ,
eventually I was introduced to planar speakers and at one time had a very nice combo of Magneplanars , Rega Planar ,
GAS Thaedra & Ampzilla . Following this I bought Acoustat 3A's and traded the Ampzilla for a Perreaux 2150B Power Amp ,
which didn't look as good as Ampzilla but could drive the Acoustats much better . I thought I had finally found audio nirvana
with this set up until I made the mistake of visiting the newly appointed Australian distributor of Audio Research equipment .............
The Thaedra was eventually superceded by an ARC SP8 and I can still remember how entranced I was at the sound , this raised
my now obsessive compulsion with HiFi to undreamed of new levels , I struggled to buy a D70 power amp and then upgraded to a D115 ,
my turntable was an early Oracle Delphi and my speakers were Infinity RS2B's , later on I was offered a used pair of Infinity RS1A's ,
which I eventually bi amped with my D115 and VTL 225 watt monoblocs on the bass towers and traded the Delphi on a VPI turntable fitted with an SME tonearm .
My Sp8 was traded on a used SP10 and then a new SP11 . Finally I though my audio journey was complete , even if most of the living room was
taken over with cables , amps , speakers etc etc . Then disaster struck , I lost my job and 12 months later had to sell my hifi to try and keep my house ,
which I eventually had to sell anyway , along with my Harley Davidson , I managed to keep my VPI Turntable but wound up with a vintage marantz
integrated amp and an old pair of AR MST's . Eventually things improved somewhat and I bought an older SP9 and a used Conrad Johnson MV50 amp
and a brand new pair of the then new Thiel SCS bookshelf speakers , freed of the need to constantly listen to hear the benefit of a new item in the system
chain I actually began to listen just to solely enjoy the music .................. I was quite happy with this modest rig for several years and did much listening
to my constantly expanding vinyl collection , eventually I purchased an ARC Phono One and a CA 50 integrated , sold my Thiels ( against my better judgement )
and bought a pair of Birdseye Maple Silverline Sonatinas , which I also kept for several years . As my situation allowed I progressed to an ARC LS17 and a Vs110 power amp ... this system I happily enjoyed and was determined not to get back on the upgrade merry-go-round , alas , one day my local dealer , who I had bought my Infinity RS1a's from decades earlier , told my he could do a really good deal on a demo pair of Wilson Audio Sophia 2's , I had always admired Wilson speakers from a distance but considered them to be way beyond my means , alas , with the sale of my Rolex GMT Master2 and a few other items , plus a maxed out credit card ,
the Wilsons arrived , at the same time as a pair of ARC VTM 220 monoblocs , 4 years later the Wilson's started to develop some hairline cracks ( apparently due to a faulty batch of glue ) and after some negotiating with the dealer i paid a price differential and obtained a demo pair of Sophia3's , my turntable during this time had progressed from my original VPI , to a TNT Junior and then a traded in TNT4 , I upgraded my LS17 to an LS27 and my monoblocs to a reference 150 , surely I thought this must be the journey's end and my system to see me into old age , then my Dealer contacted me and said he found in his warehouse a superceded pair of Sasha series ones in Karousel Orange , apparently these were a special order but the guy cancelled and bought Alexias instead , the Sashas arrived in my living room about 3 months ago ,so now I hope my journey has finally come full circle , I'm sure I have missed some things , and I can't remember what CD players I have owned over the years , nor the succession of tonearms , cartridges and tuners , but I have a nice collection of vinyl and CD's and DVD's to relax to after a day in the garden , thanks for reading this far - . Regards .
Addendum .... Did I regret buying any equipment ?
Well , yes , I regret buying my JBL's , from memory they were L100 Centuries or they may have been Horizons ,
I knew the moment I got these speakers home and fired them up that it was a case of , grab a bargain then buyers remorse ....
no matter how much bourbon I drank the sound just would not improve , they were the antitheses of my Maggies ......
I also regret leapfrogging so quickly from equipment to equipment and in many cases not really getting to appreciate the gear I had.
If I had a crystal ball ? I would probably have bought Rogers LS3/5a's and then gone straight to Infinity RS2b's and leapfrogged to Sasha 2's or Alexias .
As much as I love my Wilsons , I fondly recall those years I spent once a month meticulously polishing my Infinity's with teak oil .........
When did I 1st here Wilson speakers ?
A friend of mine , who had a much worse case of upgrade disease than I did had sold a humongous pair of Duntech Sovereigns
and bought an early pair of WATT/Puppies , I think they were WATT5/Puppy 4's , I could not believe the difference , it was like he had sold a big loud ' hifi ' speaker
and bought something that gave a crystalline window straight to the music , I can't remember the amp but it may have been a Krell KSA 250 ....
Onwards and upwards ....
Hey Chris, I do mean an ARC REF2se. I have a long breakin ahead for my still unused REF10 pre and REF75 power amps, hence the desire to possibly go all-in and get the REF 2se phono amp as well. REF10 Phono would be too big a stretch, and I'd catch hell from the minister of finance. You know the saying... "I'm the king of my castle -- until my wife gets home!
Oh , Ref 2 phono !!!
Sorry for the confusion , thought we were talking preamps , yes , that IS a nice phono , with the added bonus of balanced outputs , go for it !!!!
Sorry for the confusion , thought we were talking preamps , yes , that IS a nice phono , with the added bonus of balanced outputs , go for it !!!!
I haven't heard the Sasha 2, but with the Sasha 1 (which I did own before upgrading to Alexias) my favorite amps were Doshi JHor 90's. Tube amps that were designed for the Sasha 1 with an oversized transformer built to tight specifications to handle the bass (which it does amazingly well).
Disclaimer: I have a pair of these Doshi amps for sale.
Disclaimer: I have a pair of these Doshi amps for sale.
hI Chrisfrombyron,
I compared the ARC LS27 between my Wadia and Pass Labs to no preamp .
I found the LS 27 had more body but overall I preferred the Wadia direct to the Pass Labs power amp for the fffg reasons:
transparency
soundstage depth and width
noise floor
timber
microdetail
low frequencies,
I am now trying the Jeff Rowland Capri series 2.
will post my experience in a few days after it settles into my system.
I compared the ARC LS27 between my Wadia and Pass Labs to no preamp .
I found the LS 27 had more body but overall I preferred the Wadia direct to the Pass Labs power amp for the fffg reasons:
transparency
soundstage depth and width
noise floor
timber
microdetail
low frequencies,
I am now trying the Jeff Rowland Capri series 2.
will post my experience in a few days after it settles into my system.
Hi Alfa ,
that should be a correct result , theoretically the less electronics you have in the signal path the purer the signal should be .....
Assuming of course that you don't remove any essential circuitry ....
Regards .
Members, thanks for the advice. I have to admit, I have not tried the 4-ohm vs 8-ohm tap extensively since getting my Alexia in January 2014. From the posts I've read here, the REF210s with KT120s and the Alexia should be tried with the 8-ohm tap used. I will check this out on my system and let you know what I think.
Chris, I just wanted to say that the color of your speakers is beautiful. Also, looks like you had quite the audio journey to where you are now
steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Chris
I noticed your speakers are still on rollers. Have you spiked them yet? Make sure you use the round plugs for the spikes to fit into when you do or alternatively think of Stillpoints which many of we Wilson owners use
I noticed your speakers are still on rollers. Have you spiked them yet? Make sure you use the round plugs for the spikes to fit into when you do or alternatively think of Stillpoints which many of we Wilson owners use
Hi Mr Slow ,
The colour is Aston Martin Karoussel Orange , its the same colour on Wilson's Facebook page , a very fine metalflake type of mandarin finish , its a true stunner ,
but it definitely hits you in the face , especially in a sunny , will lit room . The are also some youtube videos floating around of Aston martins in the same colour ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWPnu6ZNH78 , as soon as I figure out how to resize some photos I will post some better ones , regards .
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