New Wilson Speaker

[Steve Williams]

It seems to me that adjusting the alignment of the drivers without adjusting the crossover will lead to phase errors.

I can't say that I have found this in my system at all

 

[rockitman]

I can't say that I have found this in my system at all

That is exactly why Wilson seals the crossover components in epoxy to keep trade secret stealers at bay...

 

[Randall Smith]

Have they figured out a clever way of beating science with clever marketing terminology?

 

[Steve Williams]

Have they figured out a clever way of beating science with clever marketing terminology?

maybe you should ask him Randall and perhaps you are indeed smarter than him.....

(801) 377-2233

 

[audioarcher]

The Alexia looks like a step in the right direction for my taste. If it sounds similar to the XLF it should be a winner.

 

[terryj]

Propagation delay adjustments are based on listener ear height and distance from speakers in the listening position. Having this set at the factory is a compromise and most speakers are that way save for Wilson. Having the ability to custom adjust for your room and ear height is one of Wilson's distinct advantages, imo

sure, don't get me wrong, I am all for time alignment (tho even there there is much debate) but I also know that when you change that time alignment, I mean either the physical or electrical that there will be a corresponding change in the FR. that is not a deal for me as I always adjust that after any changes, but that is a bit harder to do with a passive network. Without being able to do BOTH at the same time then one or the other (if changed) will suffer.

At the end of the day you can always leave it where it sounds best of course so no big deal really, and to that degree any sort of adjustment not normally available can be a good thing, but the two are linked. That's all.

No mention of what the track was?

 

[DonH50]

Changes in FR happen as a result of room interaction and/or interaction among drivers. Moving the drivers to time-align at the listening position allows Wilson to optimize the response in your room at your listening position for your ears.

If the room was well-treated and drivers had little interaction (all bg ifs) I would expect minimal frequency response changes but the sound wavefronts would be aligned.

 

[Andre Marc]

A breakthrough for Wilson?

We are excited to announce an ALL-NEW loudspeaker from Wilson Audio, The Alexia (coming Fall 2012)!! The Wilson Audio Alexia is a new model positioned above the Sasha, and below the MAXX.

Preliminary information (Full technical details will be
included in a press release scheduled for September 15, 2012):

The Alexia's form factor resembles the Sasha; its footprint is similar to the Sasha, and it is slightly taller. The Alexia features three modules to facilitate micro adjustments in the time-domain for all three driver groups, the woofer, the midrange and the tweeter. High frequencies are handled by a revised version of Wilson's newest driver, the Convergent Synergy Tweeter. The critical mid frequencies are handled by Wilson's acclaimed midrange driver. For the bass, Wilson developed two entirely new drivers, an eight-inch and a ten-inch. As with the MAXX Series 3 and the Alexandria XLF, speed, bass extension, and authority are optimized with this carefully tuned staggered-two-woofer approach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MT1Xbmx0Ink

Disclaimer: I have liked EVERY Wilson speaker I have heard so far! Some more than
others, but they all perform at a very high level from what I have experienced.

STRICTLY playing devil's advocate:

When they say the Alexia is "positioned" between the Sahsa and Maxx I can hear the cynics saying
that the speaker was designed to meet a certain price point, to fill in a "gap" in the line.

In other words, Wilson bashers may claim this is a product born in the marketing department first, then sent
over to the engineering team to make it happen.

I am NOT saying I really believe this..but food for thought.

 

[FrantzM]

Disclaimer: I have liked EVERY Wilson speaker I have heard so far! Some more than
others, but they all perform at a very high level from what I have experienced.

STRICTLY playing devil's advocate:

When they say the Alexia is "positioned" between the Sahsa and Maxx I can hear the cynics saying
that the speaker was designed to meet a certain price point, to fill in a "gap" in the line.

In other words, Wilson bashers may claim this is a product born in the marketing department first, then sent
over to the engineering team to make it happen.

I am NOT saying I really believe this..but food for thought.

What point are you trying to make Andre?

It is indeed positionned right between the Max and Sasha. Wilson had to react to the Magico and Rockport, Tidal, Vivid, etc . The Q3 and the Avila were likely the tragets... The Maxx 3 is perched around $90K and the Sasha at around $30k there was a gap, where you could fill entire systems based on several good speakers. This model fills it. And if you are Wilson you make sure you don't cannibalize your Maxx 3 with making the smaller model too good to better .. Simple business decision no Wilson-bashing in all that ...

 

[rockitman]

There will always be Wilson basher's...to me, the only one's who lose sleep over the speakers are the basher's themselves...not actual owners...
Having a speaker/price point in between Sasha and Maxx makes good business sense to me.

 

[Steve Williams]

I truly believe that if this speaker has the sonic personality of the XLF (and it has the silk dome tweeter) it could easily become Wilson's biggest selling speaker of all time

 

[rockitman]

I agree Steve. I will also add that I have had no problem with the sound of the previous metal tweeter implementation. I do wonder if a silk dome will last as long as the metal one in the long run...

 

[Andre Marc]

What point are you trying to make Andre?

It is indeed positionned right between the Max and Sasha. Wilson had to react to the Magico and Rockport, Tidal, Vivid, etc . The Q3 and the Avila were likely the tragets... The Maxx 3 is perched around $90K and the Sasha at around $30k there was a gap, where you could fill entire systems based on several good speakers. This model fills it. And if you are Wilson you make sure you don't cannibalize your Maxx 3 with making the smaller model too good to better .. Simple business decision no Wilson-bashing in all that ...

Correct me if I am wrong, and I may well be, but I believe the Maxx3 is $68K, not 90K.

I guess my main point, to paraphrase you is:

Did the Alexia come about as a "business decision", or because of the spark of a great idea for a new speaker that breaks new ground or brings something new to the table?

Did the Magico Q3 put some squeeze on Wilson?

These are questions I am asking as I said, to play Devil's Advocate.

 

[Steve Williams]

perhaps it was a bit of both Andre

 

[Steve Williams]

I agree Steve. I will also add that I have had no problem with the sound of the previous metal tweeter implementation. I do wonder if a silk dome will last as long as the metal one in the long run...

Christian

Having owned virtually every Wilson speaker over the past 16-17 years except for the XLF, Sasha and WP8 I can say in all candor that the silk dome tweeter adds much more than the inverted titanium dome tweeter that I am willing to bet that this tweeter will slowly be implemented in the Wilson line

 

[mep]

I think that Magico and Wilson are competing for the same type of well-heeled customers. That would be people who enjoy buying high quality products that were built with a fanatical attention to detail by a company who has built a reputation on only producing speakers of the highest quality in their respective price categories. So yeah, don’t be surprised if one or the other of these two companies develops a new product at a price point that wasn’t being served before and the other one follows suit.

 

[Andre Marc]

perhaps it was a bit of both Andre

Good point.

 

[MylesBAstor]

Disclaimer: I have liked EVERY Wilson speaker I have heard so far! Some more than
others, but they all perform at a very high level from what I have experienced.

STRICTLY playing devil's advocate:

When they say the Alexia is "positioned" between the Sahsa and Maxx I can hear the cynics saying
that the speaker was designed to meet a certain price point, to fill in a "gap" in the line.

In other words, Wilson bashers may claim this is a product born in the marketing department first, then sent
over to the engineering team to make it happen.

I am NOT saying I really believe this..but food for thought.

Perhaps in response to SF, Magico, Rockport and TAD? Or another alternative is that the speaker came out of requests from Wilson owners (or potential purchasers) for a speaker between the Sasha and the big wonders? Or maybe Dave wanted to see what he could come up with at that price point?

 

[trponhunter]

Of course this speaker came from a marketing perspective - most all speakers do. The divide between sasha and maxx has grown very wide. When Maxx was originally introduced, it was $38,900. 14 years later - it is now $68,000. Meanwhile, watt/puppies to sasha's have remains within a few thousand dollars of each other. Going from 25 to 40k was not the big of a deal - but going to 68k is like falling off a cliff. It's not real tough to figure out that there needs to be a step in between. My guess is that the new speaker will be around 45k, which will make it a reasonable price point for people to trade in or sell their sasha's, throw another 20 to 25k or so at it and get a new speakers.

 

[rockitman]

Of course this speaker came from a marketing perspective - most all speakers do. The divide between sasha and maxx has grown very wide. When Maxx was originally introduced, it was $38,900. 14 years later - it is now $68,000. Meanwhile, watt/puppies to sasha's have remains within a few thousand dollars of each other. Going from 25 to 40k was not the big of a deal - but going to 68k is like falling off a cliff. It's not real tough to figure out that there needs to be a step in between. My guess is that the new speaker will be around 45k, which will make it a reasonable price point for people to trade in or sell their sasha's, throw another 20 to 25k or so at it and get a new speakers.

Completely agree !