Impressed with recent Wilson XVX audition - is there anythings that presents that kind of detail without sounding analytical?

Nuprin

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Jan 9, 2020
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I got a chance to hear a pair of XVXs with Momentum Monoblocks and DCS Stack and was impressed in some aspects. While I have not heard all the top of the line brands and their flagships or near top speakers, I will say I've never heard wood instruments such as upright bass, guitar, cello sound so realistic. They are an extremely detailed speakers and carve out a specific space for those type of instruments. Very addictive.

The room was about 25 feet wide and 28 feet deep. These are tall speakers, sitting 6 or 7 feet from the front wall, seating position 12 feet back from them and spread about 10 feet apart. The center vocal image was way up in height, what seemed like floating 8 feet in the air. Surprisingly the soundstage was not as wide and deep as I've heard in this particular setup but I believe they need to be pulled further from the wall (despite seeing many pictures of XVXs set up rather close to the front wall) and the listener sitting further back into the room or needing at least 35 feet of total room length for these to sound even better.

I heard the Alex V with albeit a step-down in electronics and was again surprised at how much of a difference there was between the two. Back in the day, the Maxx 2s were much loser to the Alexandrias in a comparative 2.5 to 1 price ratio.

So my question is, for those that have heard that speaker, is there anything else on the market that comes close to that realistic instrument detail/tone/dimensionality without sounding cold and analytical? Marten, Rockport, Kharma Veyron series or something else? Have heard Tidal speakers at a show and they were just ok.
 
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Alrainbow

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There are many on there level and some better in some ways.
they are very Large and require a very large room to reach there potential
the smaller ones are also very good but all is very set up sensitive
I’m more a fan of magico and aysolvox
look up some threads in them here.
 

Nuprin

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Jan 9, 2020
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There are many on there level and some better in some ways.
they are very Large and require a very large room to reach there potential
the smaller ones are also very good but all is very set up sensitive
I’m more a fan of magico and aysolvox
look up some threads in them here.
I heard the S5 MKII at a show and they sounded extremely analytical and cold. Haven't had a chance to hear Aysolvox yet. Those also seem like they need a fairly large room.
 

Alrainbow

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I’ve heard the aysolvox many times they are panels you don’t need a massive room I felt.
Imaging and dynamics were amazing
now pilium was the amps and vac amps
magico I’ve never heard analytical or cold but it’s a show who knows how set up
Wilson is a very well made speaker not really a fav of mine but still a top level speaker.
the dag amps while I love him and Krell I’ve not heard his newer amps after Krell and loved them. but this is always choices not wrong or right to me.
Magico is a very well made speaker but also very common and like most not always set up well.
I feel many speakers if done well can be amazing but true top dogs just are above the rest.
 

BillK

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Aug 25, 2015
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There are many on there level and some better in some ways.
they are very Large and require a very large room to reach there potential
the smaller ones are also very good but all is very set up sensitive
I’m more a fan of magico and aysolvox
look up some threads in them here.

The Magicos have never done it for me but the Alsyvox are incredible.
 

Ron Resnick

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Jan 24, 2015
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I got a chance to hear a pair of XVXs with Momentum Monoblocks and DCS Stack and was impressed in some aspects. While I have not heard all the top of the line brands and their flagships or near top speakers, I will say I've never heard wood instruments such as upright bass, guitar, cello sound so realistic. They are an extremely detailed speakers and carve out a specific space for those type of instruments. Very addictive.

The room was about 25 feet wide and 28 feet deep. These are tall speakers, sitting 6 or 7 feet from the front wall, seating position 12 feet back from them and spread about 10 feet apart. The center vocal image was way up in height, what seemed like floating 8 feet in the air. Surprisingly the soundstage was not as wide and deep as I've heard in this particular setup but I believe they need to be pulled further from the wall (despite seeing many pictures of XVXs set up rather close to the front wall) and the listener sitting further back into the room or needing at least 35 feet of total room length for these to sound even better.

I heard the Alex V with albeit a step-down in electronics and was again surprised at how much of a difference there was between the two. Back in the day, the Maxx 2s were much loser to the Alexandrias in a comparative 2.5 to 1 price ratio.

So my question is, for those that have heard that speaker, is there anything else on the market that comes close to that realistic instrument detail/tone/dimensionality without sounding cold and analytical? Marten, Rockport, Kharma Veyron series or something else? Have heard Tidal speakers at a show and they were just ok.

I love the XVX, but with that source and electronics the sound is not my cup of tea (too detailed, too analytical, to delineated sonic image-y for me).

I think someone shopping for these kinds of dynamic driver speakers looking for "realistic instrument detail/tone/dimensionality without sounding cold and analytical" would be remiss if he/she did not audition the Rockport Lyra. I recommend Absolare Hybrid monos with Lyras.
 

andromedaaudio

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So my question is, for those that have heard that speaker, is there anything else on the market that comes close to that realistic instrument detail/tone/dimensionality without sounding cold and analytical? Marten, Rockport, Kharma Veyron series or something else?

If your looking for music , i guess its the Kharma Exquisite Classic / Exquisite Grand or Rockport Lyra .
If you like a nicely machined stacked Loudspeaker design which loooks like a switch watch i guess its the XVX.
The first 2 represent music , the third i have no clue .

I hope to hear all of them again in Munich this year , may be i will change my mind somewhat but i doubt it

If you go for Kharma i think the Exquisite line is a good choice as they are made of HPL .
Veyron series is made of Bullet wood
 

gadawg58

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Apr 7, 2018
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I’m wondering if personal tastes and maybe even room setup come into play here … while all of the speakers mentioned in these posts are really very good … to me at least the last time I heard the Rockport Lyra’s I couldn’t wait to get out of the room for exactly the reason describing the Wilson’s above .. being too analytical and almost cold or sterile sounding. When I heard the Rockports that day I heard them with Pass Labs XS300’s and XSPre and that was my first time hearing that setup so maybe that was an issue but I can’t say as I‘m not really super familiar with the Pass Labs XS Line. I will say I’ve heard Rockports sound better than that in other rooms with other equipment and I imagine the XVX with say the dartZeel setup might be much better than with the Momentum’s?
 

Gregadd

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Analytical is just a euphemism for distortion
We have no emblem with the term euphoric distortion. Why can't we say analytical distortion
If may be the Wilson ability to resolve reveals distortions up the chain that are masked by less resolving speakers.
 

andromedaaudio

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Partnering has certainly something to do with it as they were demonstrating the XVX with Nagra which im not a fan off .
The Alexx was playing with D agostino and iirc the small DAW as well which adds to the dry / sterile sound
Plus its a show with its limitations off course , one room is obviously better dimension wise then the other .
I reckon all loudspeakers no matter what would benefit if they were paired with the Gryphon Apex amps and WADAX as a digital source

Ps I would definitively not trade in my LS for the big wilsons thats for sure
 
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Elliot G.

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I got a chance to hear a pair of XVXs with Momentum Monoblocks and DCS Stack and was impressed in some aspects. While I have not heard all the top of the line brands and their flagships or near top speakers, I will say I've never heard wood instruments such as upright bass, guitar, cello sound so realistic. They are an extremely detailed speakers and carve out a specific space for those type of instruments. Very addictive.

The room was about 25 feet wide and 28 feet deep. These are tall speakers, sitting 6 or 7 feet from the front wall, seating position 12 feet back from them and spread about 10 feet apart. The center vocal image was way up in height, what seemed like floating 8 feet in the air. Surprisingly the soundstage was not as wide and deep as I've heard in this particular setup but I believe they need to be pulled further from the wall (despite seeing many pictures of XVXs set up rather close to the front wall) and the listener sitting further back into the room or needing at least 35 feet of total room length for these to sound even better.

I heard the Alex V with albeit a step-down in electronics and was again surprised at how much of a difference there was between the two. Back in the day, the Maxx 2s were much loser to the Alexandrias in a comparative 2.5 to 1 price ratio.

So my question is, for those that have heard that speaker, is there anything else on the market that comes close to that realistic instrument detail/tone/dimensionality without sounding cold and analytical? Marten, Rockport, Kharma Veyron series or something else? Have heard Tidal speakers at a show and they were just ok.
TAS Cover.png
 

Gregadd

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Hopefully as an al out no excuses one would hope the Wilson is neuitral. IMo one should at least audition the speaker as Wilson intended. Just because the Wadax is the most expensive that it is a good match. I would never refer to the MM7 as sterile. I have never heard it however.. just based on the house sound.
 
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microstrip

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When the WAMMs were presented prospective buyers were invited by Wilson Audio dealers to listen to them in David Wilson room with his system - at that time being a XLF owner I got the invitation, but as I was not considering spending such amount on speaker, I kindly declined it. Much later I listened extensively to the WAMM/subs demo in our distributor large room in Lisbon - a great performance by any standards, but some people who were there and had also been at David Wilson room told me that the demo was a few steps behind the magic of the master system!
 

Gregadd

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Mike I seem to recall you haveca steady stream of visitors enjoying your hospitality.
 

Mike Lavigne

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Mike I seem to recall you haveca steady stream of visitors enjoying your hospitality.
certainly plenty of visitors, but the MM7's are a victim of seamless sound without parts drawing attention. is it the room? is it the amps? is it the sources? the tweaks?

can't be these huge speakers i've never heard of. nothing fun about that to talk about. people just don't relate to 3000 pounds of not sexy twin towers.

it's just music.

fully mature sorted out systems are like that. the system disappears.
 
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Gregadd

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I find them to be very sexy.
 
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Lagonda

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certainly plenty of visitors, but the MM7's are a victim of seamless sound without parts drawing attention. is it the room? is it the amps? is it the sources? the tweaks?

can't be these huge speakers i've never heard of. nothing fun about that to talk about. people just don't relate to 3000 pounds of not sexy twin towers.

it's just music.

fully mature sorted out systems are like that. the system disappears.
Those are exactly the kind of speaker systems i relate to, big heavy twin tower speakers are so sexy ! :p
 

Ron Resnick

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the speakers mentioned in these posts are really very good … to me at least the last time I heard the Rockport Lyra’s I couldn’t wait to get out of the room for .. being too analytical and almost cold or sterile sounding.

That must've been the fault of the associated components or the room or both, because that just is not how Lyras sound.

For solid-state on XVX I personally would use big darTZeel or big Gryphon.

For tubes on XVX I personally would use big ARC, VAC or VTL.

For hybrid on XVX I personally would use Absolare Hybrid Monos.
 

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