The Return of the WAMM?
- Thread starter LL21
- Start date
'Twas in Michigan. Anne Arbour to be more precise, but the XLF's were not yellow.
Here's a pic of the XLF's (beside the Maxx3's)
And was the WAMM finished in Rosewood, and using WATCHDog's as subs...?
Um, don't recall if there was Rosewood. I do know there were subs, setup by none other than Peter McGrath...
All I know is that I loved the Maxx3's so much more than the Sashas... and I loved the XLF's more than the Maxx3's, but I was very smitten by the WAMMs.
Great stuff, MadFloyd!!! Thanks. Not to be keep probing, but what was it about the sound that you preferred it to the XLFs? I have heard extremely good things about the WAMMs and have heard from long-time Wilson dealers the XLF finally gets 'close' to the sound of the WAMMS...perhaps more so with dual Thors, but that they remember the WAMMs as in a league of its own.
it's called going out on top. the crowning achievement of his career- what's weird or disturbing about that?
What makes you so sure Wilson is going out ? I see many years ahead for that company. The best speaker they make may be years away. I guess I have trouble with your phrasing of posts sometimes.
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Wilson isn't going anywhere. I see Daryl taking on more of the R & D responsibility lately.
Christian,
The way *I* read it, Keith meant Wilson *the man*, not Wilson *the company*.
It's only natural for a man to pass his family company to his kids.
I think your love for WA and the need to defend it at all cost is what caused your understanding of what Keith wrote to go the other way...
alexandre
Put another way, how close did you feel the Maxx3 and XLF were to the WAMMs? Taking a leaf out of Martin Colloms book, if Maxx 3 is an arbitrary 100, where is XLF...165?...where would that put WAMMs?
My experience with the WAMM's and the XLF's but the former several notches below newer model.
Wow...that IS interesting...so you found the XLFs superior to the WAMMs? I can only imagine then what XLFs + Thors must sound like when setup well.
Back in the mid 90s I was looking for my "last pair of speakers".
HiFi Station 2001, the Wilson distributor in France at the time, had a used pair of WAMMs for sale at their place in Mantes La Jolie. I went up there to audition them fully expecting to buy them, based on what I had read.
Whilst they were very impressive, I found the bass a bit overblown and slow, even in their vast listening room. I also found the Goldmund Analogs and Apologues, which I listened to there for the first time also, to have a more natural instrumental timbre to my ears.
So whilst I was impressed, I discovered a new range of speakers I hitherto did not know anything about which I preferred overall, mainly the fast, natural bass and convincing instrumental timbre.
I auditioned several other SOTA speakers over about 2 years, shortlisted the B&W Nautilus (I loved its styling too...) but ended up buying Goldmund Epilogs.
I would like to hear the Goldmunds against the XLF but frankly, I am an old bloke now and I'd sooner listen to more music than spend any more time auditioning equipment so probably won't risk it!
HiFi Station 2001, the Wilson distributor in France at the time, had a used pair of WAMMs for sale at their place in Mantes La Jolie. I went up there to audition them fully expecting to buy them, based on what I had read.
Whilst they were very impressive, I found the bass a bit overblown and slow, even in their vast listening room. I also found the Goldmund Analogs and Apologues, which I listened to there for the first time also, to have a more natural instrumental timbre to my ears.
So whilst I was impressed, I discovered a new range of speakers I hitherto did not know anything about which I preferred overall, mainly the fast, natural bass and convincing instrumental timbre.
I auditioned several other SOTA speakers over about 2 years, shortlisted the B&W Nautilus (I loved its styling too...) but ended up buying Goldmund Epilogs.
I would like to hear the Goldmunds against the XLF but frankly, I am an old bloke now and I'd sooner listen to more music than spend any more time auditioning equipment so probably won't risk it!
Oh come on'! With a moniker like F1...you gotta do the shootout and let us know what you think. AFterall, very very few of us have ever heard the Goldmunds...they are rare indeed.
In any event...thanks for the heads up on WAMM...I do remember your saying this earlier. Good to know. Would love to know what you think of XLFs...and more important XLFs plus Thor...thought talk about rare as hen's teeth. That combination is very very hard to audition.
Elliot G.
Industry Expert
I have heard a WAMM and the XLF. In my opinion there is little comparison. The new speaker is far better. I dont think there is any comparison. ALl the later generation products are far better for many reasons.
Better tools to work with,
Computers
Better Electronics
Better Cables
Better parts and materials
Experience.
The XLF is the best speaker Wilson has made PERIOD
One mans opinion!
Sir dont go listen to them ( in a good place) unless you are prepared to dump your speakers. The XLF are really really good.
Perhaps I'm the odd one out. I remember hearing the Wamm many years ago, helped David Wilson set it up. The room was relatively small, all driven by Rowland and Wadia. The sound was magical, floating an image that was completely free of the speakers. Intimate and yet explosively powerful. David spent 2 days setting it up. He used his own recordings to adjust the phase on the EQ system; if I remember correctly, it was the Ragtime album. Adjustments were done one speaker at a time. David used the tri-chordial character of the piano to tune the phase of each frequency. Each time the correct setting was achieved, it was as if a part of the window had suddenly become completely transparent. He repeated this process painstakingly until all the adjustments were done. When we started to tune the other speaker, it sounded muffled in comparison. Truly an ear opening experience.
If I had the proper room, I would own a pair in a heartbeat. Perhaps some of the speakers today are better in different ways, and having heard most, I would agree, but the Wamm is magical.
Best,
Adrian Low
If I had the proper room, I would own a pair in a heartbeat. Perhaps some of the speakers today are better in different ways, and having heard most, I would agree, but the Wamm is magical.
Best,
Adrian Low
+1
As I've mentioned elsewhere, one excellent WAMM set-up did leave 'one of' most memorable experience in my audio journey.
Initially it was driven by JRD Consummate + 2prs Rowland Mono 9s, which later were replaced by FMA266 + 2x FMA811, Digital were ML30 & 31, and some serious analog rig which details today escapes me.. Plus $150k+ worth of Siltech/FMA cabling to top all that (which I recalled for that period- '90s, rest of us seriously thought that that buddy had gone half nutty).
System was set-up in a huge room, size more of a mini-theatre. Remembered when first installed it was sort of nothing special, dynamics were a touch soft, images mostly too bloated and lack specificity. After a couple months of settling, David Wilson came did his thing, closely followed by Manuel Huber weeks later who did the finishing touches/tuning. Sure one difficult beast to set-up, but once perfectly dialed/locked-in, like Adrian said it was err.. quite Magical in many ways.. Even by today's standard I must say.
Similar threads
- Sticky
 | Steve Williams Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator |  | Ron Resnick Site Owner | Administrator |  | Julian (The Fixer) Website Build | Marketing Managersing |