Chronosonic XVX.

[Tango]

The thread went off topic because Tang asked about Wilson Magico YG difference, so one of them is Tang. I just answered. And Peter broke into a song in the middle so he is the other

True and the off fairway discussion seems beneficial to potential buyers since it actually touched on, by several commemts, how the new model possibly improve the coherency that some felt was a drawback of the older bigger model.

Unless we have a real user of this XVX making comment, this thread is just a marketing thread.

 

[LL21]

Actually, I would appreciate hearing from Metaphacts about where WILSON focused their efforts to improve on the XLF flagship to the XVX? The answer could certainly be the generic 'everything'...but I imagine when you are actually designing something new...you actually must have very specific design goals in mind because you are literally manufacturing based on those very detailed design drawings and specifications.

What were the specific areas where Wilson was targeting to improve the XLF...and what does Wilson think are the actual results in terms of the specific key areas of improvement between XLF and XVX?

 

[microstrip]

True and the off fairway discussion seems beneficial to potential buyers since it actually touched on, by several commemts, how the new model possibly improve the coherency that some felt was a drawback of the older bigger model.

Unless we have a real user of this XVX making comment, this thread is just a marketing thread.

The "older bigger model" is the XLF not the X2 . We have a few users in WBF that reported that once properly set up and amplified the XLF has no coherence problems, on the contrary. Reviewers along many years insisted in this aspect. I can't understand why people insist on stereotypes of the early 2000's - Wilson has been using soft domes for almost ten years now.

And no, dear Tang, some of us find these threads interesting - information and entertainement, as I say. I think it is why you are participating in a Wilson thread.

 

[bonzo75]

The "older bigger model" is the XLF not the X2 . We have a few users in WBF that reported that once properly set up and amplified the XLF has no coherence problems, on the contrary. Reviewers along many years insisted in this aspect. I can't understand why people insist on stereotypes of the early 2000's - Wilson has been using soft domes for almost ten years now.

And no, dear Tang, some of us find these threads interesting - information and entertainement, as I say. I think it is why you are participating in a Wilson thread.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
By saying a few
Do you mean you

 

[microstrip]

(...) What were the specific areas where Wilson was targeting to improve the XLF...and what does Wilson think are the actual results in terms of the specific key areas of improvement between XLF and XVX?

Considering what has been achieved in the WAMM, I can easily guess more articulation and an improved ability to make us ignore the artifacts of stereo recordings, making them sound more realistic.

One think I like in the XLF is the coherent balance from the bottom to top zone of the audio spectra - speakers that have exceptional zones mixed with others not so good are not my favorites.

 

[Tango]

The "older bigger model" is the XLF not the X2 . We have a few users in WBF that reported that once properly set up and amplified the XLF has no coherence problems, on the contrary. Reviewers along many years insisted in this aspect. I can't understand why people insist on stereotypes of the early 2000's - Wilson has been using soft domes for almost ten years now.

And no, dear Tang, some of us find these threads interesting - information and entertainement, as I say. I think it is why you are participating in a Wilson thread.

I participate because I am curious. And you never know one day I might be so curious thinking which to satisfy my itch. The Master Croc or the M8 (or is it 9?).

 

[Rhapsody]

I participate because I am curious. And you never know one day I might be so curious thinking which to satisfy my itch. The Master Croc or the M8 (or is it 9?).

It is M9.

 

[microstrip]

(...)

By saying a few
Do you mean you

No, I say a few. We have several members owning XLF's in WBF, that used to post. Unfortunately the gladiator style of this forum does not invite them to post on their experiences.

As already referred, one nice thing of the signature is that we get many PMs from people sharing the same equipment.

 

[Ron Resnick]

A good friend of mine just received his XVX. I cannot wait to hear it!

In our usual fun "what if" games if I had to pick a price-no-object dynamic driver loudspeaker system today I would choose XVX + Master Subsonics. And I am not a "Wilson person" historically at all. I just think XVX + Master Subsonics is a fantastic system.

I would be curious to know from Metaphacts the theoretical reasons why some listeners might prefer the XVX over the Master Chronosonic. I know at least two people who feel this way, albeit only from brief demos, so this might be totally wrong on exteded comparison. This is puzzling to me because I generally feel that the more midrange driver surface a speaker has, the better.

Could it be the new Alinco midrange driver in the XVX?

 

[KeithR]

While I generally believe we hear the same sounds very similarIy, I suppose this may be an example of subjectivity in how we process what we hear. Perhaps there is a greater susceptibility of time arrival differences. I don't doubt your description of your experience. My case is just the opposite, once I heard individual instruments from a driver (which you cannot unhear), from the listening position it was nigh impossible for me to hear them like that again.

Tim, well I don't believe you've owned a single driver loudspeaker. I'll point you to the JVS review of the Alexia 2s which talked about the deficiencies of the prior versions coherence that I and others heard easily (that he couldn't hear until the latest version). I've heard the Alexia 2s at my dealer and while better, they still don't do it for me entirely. And most, if not all, times I've heard the larger Wilsons they've been setup by "experts" in the field- be it McGrath, Brian Berdan, Maier Shadi, etc. The Alexx is particularly poor in this regard. If the Chronosonic fixes the issue, I'm really happy for their new owners - but over $300k to solve this problem is kind of ironic.

If you want to know a competing speaker that I feel does it much better with some innovative crossover tech - recommend hearing a pair of YGs.

@PeterA @Ron Resnick , etc.

I'm not biased against Wilson to begin with - read the review of the DAW speaker in my thread. I'll also note that Daryl changed the crossover in that speaker to a lower order (which I discovered much later- maybe that helps). Also, I'm not sure I consider this a "preference" -as that would be me saying I like warmer amps or tubes or whatever. I align with @bonzo75 on this one (who has a lot of experience with single driver speakers and incoherent horn systems).

 

[microstrip]

(...) I'll point you to the JVS review of the Alexia 2s which talked about the deficiencies of the prior versions coherence that I and others heard easily (that he couldn't hear until the latest version) (...)

An interesting comment. Every time there is a new model, reviewers comment on how much better the new model is, usually enhancing the problems of the previous one. Just reading the review of the new component we would be persuaded how horrible was the last version.

However is this case JVS clearly explains why he had issues with the old Alexia: https://www.stereophile.com/content...-loudspeaker-jason-victor-serinus-august-2018

"As much as I loved the organic, liquid sound of the original Alexia, I was frustrated by the effect of its notorious impedance dip in the bass with the Pass Labs XA 200.8s, whose grip on the Alexias' bass was loose. Nor could the pair of Margules Audio U280-SC Black tubed monoblocks I'd reviewed last November even begin to cope with the Alexias' bass demands "

Later he writes

"The Alexia 2s' bass also sounded more true. When, through the original Alexias, I played recordings in which pianists used the instrument's entire 88 keys, the sound quality changed as their fingers moved up and down the keyboard. I never heard a crossover bump per se, but the overall timbre of the bottom octave sounded different from that of the notes above it. With the Alexia 2s, I heard no such discontinuity. "

It is is these cases that the measurements of Stereophile are valuable, helping us to find the correlations between technical and sound quality. What JVS was listening was the effect of an suboptimal amplifier, many (not all...) Wilson Audio speakers need current and are not tube friendly. IMHO it is all shown in the measurements section of the Alexia's

I have owned the original Alexia's for some time - a great sounding speaker by any standards, but surely not amplifier friendly and needing a large room. Effectively in my room it sounded much better with the D'Agostino stereo, and I was not thinking about giving up on tubes it was not a long time stay, and the beautiful Alexia's in Hermes orange moved away.

Surely the situation improved with the more friendly impedance of the Alexia 2, that is an overall a better speaker - a good friend upgraded his pair, in spite of owning the D'Agostino's.

BTW, it something miss about several Magico's - as they are mostly reviewed by TAS, not by Stereophile, we do not have access to independent detailed measurements.

 

[sbnx]

I would be curious to know from Metaphacts the theoretical reasons why some listeners might prefer the XVX over the Master Chronosonic. I know at least two people who feel this way, albeit only from brief demos, so this might be totally wrong on exteded comparison. This is puzzling to me because I generally feel that the more midrange driver surface a speaker has, the better.

Could it be the new Alinco midrange driver in the XVX?

One reason someone would pick the XVX over the Master is ceiling height. I even heard Daryl make a comment on one of the XVX videos that many of the Asian customers wanted a Master but couldn't due to low ceiling height.

 

[goernie20]

Hi all - I love watching this thread. This is my first post, I actually feel a bit intimidated reading your insights...! They are so detailed and informative, especially these discussions regarding the XVX. Today and tomorrow I am getting a complete XVX system Installed. I will take photos, share experience with installation, go through the break-in process and share the complete list - SubSonics, XVX, Burmester 909 amps (4), etc. And the room size, treatment... I am so looking forward to this, and I will do my best to explain what I’m hearing and how it changes After break-in. More later...and thank you the WBF folks, what a great resource...

 

[GSOphile]

An interesting comment. Every time there is a new model, reviewers comment on how much better the new model is, usually enhancing the problems of the previous one. Just reading the review of the new component we would be persuaded how horrible was the last version.

However is this case JVS clearly explains why he had issues with the old Alexia: https://www.stereophile.com/content...-loudspeaker-jason-victor-serinus-august-2018

"As much as I loved the organic, liquid sound of the original Alexia, I was frustrated by the effect of its notorious impedance dip in the bass with the Pass Labs XA 200.8s, whose grip on the Alexias' bass was loose. Nor could the pair of Margules Audio U280-SC Black tubed monoblocks I'd reviewed last November even begin to cope with the Alexias' bass demands "

Later he writes

"The Alexia 2s' bass also sounded more true. When, through the original Alexias, I played recordings in which pianists used the instrument's entire 88 keys, the sound quality changed as their fingers moved up and down the keyboard. I never heard a crossover bump per se, but the overall timbre of the bottom octave sounded different from that of the notes above it. With the Alexia 2s, I heard no such discontinuity. "

It is is these cases that the measurements of Stereophile are valuable, helping us to find the correlations between technical and sound quality. What JVS was listening was the effect of an suboptimal amplifier, many (not all...) Wilson Audio speakers need current and are not tube friendly. IMHO it is all shown in the measurements section of the Alexia's

I have owned the original Alexia's for some time - a great sounding speaker by any standards, but surely not amplifier friendly and needing a large room. Effectively in my room it sounded much better with the D'Agostino stereo, and I was not thinking about giving up on tubes it was not a long time stay, and the beautiful Alexia's in Hermes orange moved away.

Surely the situation improved with the more friendly impedance of the Alexia 2, that is an overall a better speaker - a good friend upgraded his pair, in spite of owning the D'Agostino's.

BTW, it something miss about several Magico's - as they are mostly reviewed by TAS, not by Stereophile, we do not have access to independent detailed measurements.

Stereophile has reviewed four Magico speaker models over the years (all with measurements): M2, Q5, S5 MkII, V3.

 

[LL21]

Hi all - I love watching this thread. This is my first post, I actually feel a bit intimidated reading your insights...! They are so detailed and informative, especially these discussions regarding the XVX. Today and tomorrow I am getting a complete XVX system Installed. I will take photos, share experience with installation, go through the break-in process and share the complete list - SubSonics, XVX, Burmester 909 amps (4), etc. And the room size, treatment... I am so looking forward to this, and I will do my best to explain what I’m hearing and how it changes After break-in. More later...and thank you the WBF folks, what a great resource...

Congratulations! That is truly great news and surely very exciting. Look forward to reading all about it!

 

[Ron Resnick]

One reason someone would pick the XVX over the Master is ceiling height. I even heard Daryl make a comment on one of the XVX videos that many of the Asian customers wanted a Master but couldn't due to low ceiling height.

I believe the answer to my question simply is that the right speaker choice between Master Chronosonic and XVX depends on the size of the room.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Hi all - I love watching this thread. This is my first post, I actually feel a bit intimidated reading your insights...! They are so detailed and informative, especially these discussions regarding the XVX. Today and tomorrow I am getting a complete XVX system Installed. I will take photos, share experience with installation, go through the break-in process and share the complete list - SubSonics, XVX, Burmester 909 amps (4), etc. And the room size, treatment... I am so looking forward to this, and I will do my best to explain what I’m hearing and how it changes After break-in. More later...and thank you the WBF folks, what a great resource...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

That is wonderful!.

Yes please post photos and unboxing and installation and tell is your sonic impressions!

 

[goernie20]

Congratulations! That is truly great news and surely very exciting. Look forward to reading all about it!

I'm not sure this will be of interest to this group, I will try to keep it on point, forgive me if I stray a bit. So, you see 3,330 lbs (8 crates) from wilson. These include the subsonics as well.

The team from AZ is coming (Mike's shop LMC)...in a couple of hours. I'll send my thoughts as we proceed. Hope this is of interest to those on this thread...!

 

[microstrip]

I'm not sure this will be of interest to this group, I will try to keep it on point, forgive me if I stray a bit. So, you see 3,330 lbs (8 crates) from wilson. These include the subsonics as well.

The team from AZ is coming (Mike's shop LMC)...in a couple of hours. I'll send my thoughts as we proceed. Hope this is of interest to those on this thread...!

Great - it seems they managed to spare a box - the XLF came in 7 crates!

 

[LL21]

I'm not sure this will be of interest to this group, I will try to keep it on point, forgive me if I stray a bit. So, you see 3,330 lbs (8 crates) from wilson. These include the subsonics as well.

The team from AZ is coming (Mike's shop LMC)...in a couple of hours. I'll send my thoughts as we proceed. Hope this is of interest to those on this thread...!

Brilliant!!!