I went to my dealer to sign the contract and make the substantial down payment for my new streaming gear. The 2-meter AQ Dragon source power cord and the 1-meter Wel Signature AES/EBU are custom made, not sitting on the shelf gear, so it must be paid for in advance. Very expensive but worth it. I really liked the salesperson. He was young, knowledgeable, and respectful. They gave me an extremely good deal, exactly what I wanted. The installation will occur on Tuesday April 1.
The gear, especially the digital IC Wel, will be thoroughly examined at the store for defect. I am really looking forward to streaming. I have an excellent hard wired connection and ATT fiber optic internet, the very best, at the router in my study. The Ethernet will be hardwired to the Rose network streamer as well as my Lenovo laptop.
I got to listen for maybe 25 minutes to the Alexx V that has recently replaced the XVX, which returned to Wilson. I was extremely impressed by what I heard. All we listened to was Wood II by Brian Bromberg and at the end I told him, that's all you need to play, you just need to find someone with 157K to buy this speaker. It was powered by the MC2.1KW/ C-12000/MCD12000/ HiFi Rose 150 streamer, iPad and it sounded amazing.
They have an excellent room. How did the Alexx V sound compared to my system? The midrange and treble were more forward and the treble slightly hotter. The bass was tighter and quite robust. No one would ever accuse the Alexx V of bass deficiency or of any harshness in the midrange and treble from what I heard. I think my bass is more natural but you might not. I have a little more heaviness and fatness to my bass. My bass sounds like what you might actually hear in a live performance. The Alexx V was probably more accurate to the recording. Definitely, some of what I heard was the difference between a very fine tube power amp and a very fine solid state amp. I definitely was mightily impressed by the MC2.1KW but I love my MC3500's. They put the hard sell on me about the 2.1KW's but I am not buying them this year. It's just too much. I'm going to enjoy my new streaming capability, and rejoice that my system more than held its own when compared to an extremely good room, an expert setup, and one of the finest speakers I have heard, the new Alexx V
The piano was fantastic in both systems. It really is a wonderful speaker and would be my choice in this price range. Of course there are many fine speakers out there, but what I heard in only 25 minutes of listening mightily impressed me.
Best
Charles
Charles Updated System: Wilson McIntosh Audioquest
New gear on order: HiFi Rose 130RS Network Transport; Audioquest 2-meter Dragon source power cord; Audioquest Wel Signature AES/EBU balanced digital 1-meter IC; 25 foot HDMI video cable; Cat 6 ethernet cable
Amps: McIntosh: MC3500MKII (2); MC1.25KW (2); MC2.1KW An
Preamp: C-12000 An
Sources: MCD12000 An; MVP881; MVP851; MR87; Marantz 510LV; Lenovo Yoga laptop
Speakers: Wilson Chronosonic XVX
Sub-Woofer: Wilson Thor’s Hammer; Wilson ActivXO Stereo Electronic Crossover
Cables Main System AQ: WEL Signature speaker cables; 24’ balanced IC; balanced 1-meter Dragon IC ; WEL Signature digital, Coffee digital coaxial cables; Diamond optical (2); Diamond USB; Dragon (5 HC, 3 source cords); Thunder & Monsoon power cords
Cables Subwoofer System AQ: Redwood speaker cable; Wolf balanced subwoofer IC; Wind balanced IC to ActivXO; Hurricane HC; Firebird HC; Firebird Source; Dragon HC, power cords
Power Conditioners: AQ Niagara 7000; Niagara 5000 (3); (4) dedicated 20-amp lines.
Isolation: Wilson Pedestals; Bassocontinuo McIntosh Ultra Feet; X-material plinth
Cabinet: Double Custom Woodwork & Design (CWD)
Acoustic Treatments: Room and Echo Tunes
The gear, especially the digital IC Wel, will be thoroughly examined at the store for defect. I am really looking forward to streaming. I have an excellent hard wired connection and ATT fiber optic internet, the very best, at the router in my study. The Ethernet will be hardwired to the Rose network streamer as well as my Lenovo laptop.
I got to listen for maybe 25 minutes to the Alexx V that has recently replaced the XVX, which returned to Wilson. I was extremely impressed by what I heard. All we listened to was Wood II by Brian Bromberg and at the end I told him, that's all you need to play, you just need to find someone with 157K to buy this speaker. It was powered by the MC2.1KW/ C-12000/MCD12000/ HiFi Rose 150 streamer, iPad and it sounded amazing.
They have an excellent room. How did the Alexx V sound compared to my system? The midrange and treble were more forward and the treble slightly hotter. The bass was tighter and quite robust. No one would ever accuse the Alexx V of bass deficiency or of any harshness in the midrange and treble from what I heard. I think my bass is more natural but you might not. I have a little more heaviness and fatness to my bass. My bass sounds like what you might actually hear in a live performance. The Alexx V was probably more accurate to the recording. Definitely, some of what I heard was the difference between a very fine tube power amp and a very fine solid state amp. I definitely was mightily impressed by the MC2.1KW but I love my MC3500's. They put the hard sell on me about the 2.1KW's but I am not buying them this year. It's just too much. I'm going to enjoy my new streaming capability, and rejoice that my system more than held its own when compared to an extremely good room, an expert setup, and one of the finest speakers I have heard, the new Alexx V
The piano was fantastic in both systems. It really is a wonderful speaker and would be my choice in this price range. Of course there are many fine speakers out there, but what I heard in only 25 minutes of listening mightily impressed me.
Best
Charles
Charles Updated System: Wilson McIntosh Audioquest
New gear on order: HiFi Rose 130RS Network Transport; Audioquest 2-meter Dragon source power cord; Audioquest Wel Signature AES/EBU balanced digital 1-meter IC; 25 foot HDMI video cable; Cat 6 ethernet cable
Amps: McIntosh: MC3500MKII (2); MC1.25KW (2); MC2.1KW An
Preamp: C-12000 An
Sources: MCD12000 An; MVP881; MVP851; MR87; Marantz 510LV; Lenovo Yoga laptop
Speakers: Wilson Chronosonic XVX
Sub-Woofer: Wilson Thor’s Hammer; Wilson ActivXO Stereo Electronic Crossover
Cables Main System AQ: WEL Signature speaker cables; 24’ balanced IC; balanced 1-meter Dragon IC ; WEL Signature digital, Coffee digital coaxial cables; Diamond optical (2); Diamond USB; Dragon (5 HC, 3 source cords); Thunder & Monsoon power cords
Cables Subwoofer System AQ: Redwood speaker cable; Wolf balanced subwoofer IC; Wind balanced IC to ActivXO; Hurricane HC; Firebird HC; Firebird Source; Dragon HC, power cords
Power Conditioners: AQ Niagara 7000; Niagara 5000 (3); (4) dedicated 20-amp lines.
Isolation: Wilson Pedestals; Bassocontinuo McIntosh Ultra Feet; X-material plinth
Cabinet: Double Custom Woodwork & Design (CWD)
Acoustic Treatments: Room and Echo Tunes
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