Wilson Audio Maxx 3 arrived !

[XV-1]

any feedback about the super tweeters?
I only know them from Tannoy, does they work good with Maxx3?
Do you connect them to the main input of Maxx3 or another input?
Which vol position of the Townshend ?

One thing the Wilson Focal tweeters do lack is "air" which my old Strad speakers had in spades. The larger Wilsons give superb scale, image height and stability - the Townsend super tweeter brings that " air" the focal tweeter lacks. This to me make the Maxx3 preferable to any of the smaller Wilson siblings, including the Alexia.

I have it on 4 or 5 depending on amp/mood/cables. They just sit on top of the speaker with rubber stoppers - connected to the amplifier outputs directly.

I would like to try other super tweeters, but the slope of the top of speaker combined with the size of most other super tweeters makes it a bit more difficult.

keep us update on the journey.

 

[shakti]

One thing the Wilson Focal tweeters do lack is "air" which my old Strad speakers had in spades. The larger Wilsons give superb scale, image height and stability - the Townsend super tweeter brings that " air" the focal tweeter lacks. This to me make the Maxx3 preferable to any of the smaller Wilson siblings, including the Alexia.

I have it on 4 or 5 depending on amp/mood/cables. They just sit on top of the speaker with rubber stoppers - connected to the amplifier outputs directly.

I would like to try other super tweeters, but the slope of the top of speaker combined with the size of most other super tweeters makes it a bit more difficult.

keep us update on the journey.

Just remembering an interview with Neil Patel from Avalon .
He said, that improving the tweeter response in higher frequencies (in his case from ceramic to diamond) means also , that the woofer need to be improved in the lower frequencies as well, as the total bandwidth of a speaker concept should be in harmony. So I ordered a pair of Townshend super tweeters and prepared my Velodyne 1812 Signature to be integrated as well.
Will be a nice start into 2019

Do you have any recommendation about placing the supertweeters, like 2cm from the front?

 

[LL21]

F

Just remembering an interview with Neil Patel from Avalon .
He said, that improving the tweeter response in higher frequencies (in his case from ceramic to diamond) means also , that the woofer need to be improved in the lower frequencies as well, as the total bandwidth of a speaker concept should be in harmony. So I ordered a pair of Townshend super tweeters and prepared my Velodyne 1812 Signature to be integrated as well.
Will be a nice start into 2019

Do you have any recommendation about placing the supertweeters, like 2cm from the front?

Fantastic...look forward to hearing how the combination of Townshend and Velodyne work out!

 

[microstrip]

Just remembering an interview with Neil Patel from Avalon .
He said, that improving the tweeter response in higher frequencies (in his case from ceramic to diamond) means also , that the woofer need to be improved in the lower frequencies as well, as the total bandwidth of a speaker concept should be in harmony. So I ordered a pair of Townshend super tweeters and prepared my Velodyne 1812 Signature to be integrated as well.
Will be a nice start into 2019

Do you have any recommendation about placing the supertweeters, like 2cm from the front?

Peter Walker of Quad once said something similar - if you augment the highs you should augment the bass in a speaker design. It was one of the reasons why the ELS63 has extended bass and highs compared to the ESL57.

 

[XV-1]

Just remembering an interview with Neil Patel from Avalon .
He said, that improving the tweeter response in higher frequencies (in his case from ceramic to diamond) means also , that the woofer need to be improved in the lower frequencies as well, as the total bandwidth of a speaker concept should be in harmony. So I ordered a pair of Townshend super tweeters and prepared my Velodyne 1812 Signature to be integrated as well.
Will be a nice start into 2019

Do you have any recommendation about placing the supertweeters, like 2cm from the front?

Honestly, I just have the super tweeters on the front bezel of the top/ midrange. Nothing very scientific about.

Let us know if you find the super tweeter beneficial

Cheers

 

[shakti]

The Supertweeter is still on transport, so I started in the last days to integrate the Velodyne 1812 Signature subwoofer. The Koda Takumi K10 G2 has 3 sets of "out" connectors, 2x xlr and 1x RCA . As I have connected my Boulder 2008 and 1060 via xlr, I tried both, RCA and XLR on the Velo sub. For XLR to RCA I tried the output transformers from Totaldac (Velo 1812 has only 2x RCA and 1x XLR inputs).

The automatic measurement is done in a few second, but the result is not satisfying at all, independent of cable and connection.

Then I started to adjust manually , like phase, crossover frequency , filter and so on.

With the structural approach I was able to integrate the Velo 1812 to my hORNS Uni III to a perfect blend,
most listeners were not able to judge, if the sub was on or off.

But the same level of integration was not possible with the Maxx3. always it sounded like a big speaker with an external sub. The sub was smearing over all the details, the Maxx 3 is able to provide.

It took my 2 days of moving the heavy sub around and doing this type of fine tuning. At the end I decided, that this will not become a happy pair. The way of bass response of this two powerplayers is too different to find together as one instrument.

Means, the velodyne 1812 will leave my music room....

 

[redandgold]

Sorry for your wasted time trying to integrate an active sub in your system. At high end level I never heard an active subwoofer fully integrated. My suspicion is, that the electronics in the sub are disturbing the rest of the chain. Tried several times to use an active sub without success.
I can only recommend to use a passive version.

 

[LL21]

The Supertweeter is still on transport, so I started in the last days to integrate the Velodyne 1812 Signature subwoofer. The Koda Takumi K10 G2 has 3 sets of "out" connectors, 2x xlr and 1x RCA . As I have connected my Boulder 2008 and 1060 via xlr, I tried both, RCA and XLR on the Velo sub. For XLR to RCA I tried the output transformers from Totaldac (Velo 1812 has only 2x RCA and 1x XLR inputs).

The automatic measurement is done in a few second, but the result is not satisfying at all, independent of cable and connection.

Then I started to adjust manually , like phase, crossover frequency , filter and so on.

With the structural approach I was able to integrate the Velo 1812 to my hORNS Uni III to a perfect blend,
most listeners were not able to judge, if the sub was on or off.

But the same level of integration was not possible with the Maxx3. always it sounded like a big speaker with an external sub. The sub was smearing over all the details, the Maxx 3 is able to provide.

It took my 2 days of moving the heavy sub around and doing this type of fine tuning. At the end I decided, that this will not become a happy pair. The way of bass response of this two powerplayers is too different to find together as one instrument.

Means, the velodyne 1812 will leave my music room....

Sorry to hear about the sub not integrating. Curious as to what levels you might have been using? For my X1s in 2 different rooms, i always had the sub completely cut off above 40hz (ie 48db rolloff)...if you can, you might even try 38hz. And as for volume levels, i have used 11 which is very low. But it really did make a nice improvement that i would not go without.

 

[Elberoth]

Maxx 3 is hard to find and rare on offer, if on sales, prices are between 30.000,- and 40.000 eur
depending on age, available crates, choosen colour, specific condition, dealer warranty yes/no.

It seems they only go up in price then. 5 years ago, I have helped a friend of mine move his Maxx 3 pair. We have sold them for 33k EUR. That was a 2 years old pair in black, with the protective foil still on the speakers, so basically factory fresh, 10/10 condition, with some warranty left.

 

[shakti]

It seems they only go up in price then. 5 years ago, I have helped a friend of mine move his Maxx 3 pair. We have sold them for 33k EUR. That was a 2 years old pair in black, with the protective foil still on the speakers, so basically factory fresh, 10/10 condition, with some warranty left.

since Alexx has reached 140k in Germany, used Maxx 3 indeed do go up in price, at least in Germany.
Maxx 1 and Maxx 2 are still available for much less.

 

[redandgold]

since Alexx has reached 140k in Germany, used Maxx 3 indeed do go up in price, at least in Germany.
Maxx 1 and Maxx 2 are still available for much less.

Who told you this Alexx-price? The distributor or a local dealer? My last info was 128 k€...

 

[shakti]

129k was my last info in 2017, Q4 2018 info was 140k.
found no link, so please use this Italien one as a reference:
https://www.afmerate.com/v3/5071-wilson_audio_alexx/
mostly the prices in EU are aligned.

 

[shakti]

The Maxx 3 is educating me to accept their Wilson DNA

Coming from high resolution YG Anat II, coming from high dynamic hORNS Universum III, the first set up tried to copy the horns dynamic and to add the YG resolution.

And the Maxx 3 impressed me, as you can tune the speaker definitely into this direction.

But finally the Maxx 3 is not a YG or a Magico, it is a Wilson speaker,
It is not a Cessaro or Avantgarde, it is a Wilson speaker.

So you cannot beat them in their core disciplines.

I start to visit some friends , listening to Wilson Watt Puppy systems, just to get again used to a typical Wilson Audio set up again. My ones are too long ago to remember well , different room as well.

Then I visited people with active studio monitors (Neumann and Geithain) to get a flavor of the real studio sound.

Specially the visit of the other Wilson set ups gave me a clear understanding of the "real" Wilson DNA , as after some minuted we were just listening to new music, drinking wine and were enjoying a nice listening session.

So I started again with my set up, means combining the already placed Maxx 3 with different amplifier and set of cable, also I exchanged my Cartridges, my step up transformers.

The Boulder 1060 amp is now gone (and makes already a friend happy), as the Boulder character as such is great, but too much on the "information based" side of music reproduction.

I tried some amps from friends as well (Mc Intosh monos, ML Monos, Rowland monos, all small to medium versions) , but finally I ended up, that my own VTL S-400 in triode mode were just playing fine.

On all former speakers the triode mode was not satisfying, so I kind of forgot, that this possibility exists, but with the Maxx 3 it is just right.

I will get later this month the Grandinote Genesi Preamp and the Demone mono Amps, as they should sound great on Maxx 3, so we will see, where I end up.

Now the Maxx 3 are giving me nice hours of music reproduction, not longer searching for the YG or Horns side of sound...

 

[shakti]

Finally last week my Grandinote Demone mono amps did arrive, but due to the fact, that I was in Munich, I had no time to listen to them. Now I am back from Munich and connected the Grandinote Genesi Preamp to the Demone mono amps.

This combination is made in heaven. The Genesi was before a little bit difficult to pair, but together with the natural combination of Genesis and Demone .

Big fun

The transformer coupled Demone class A Amps (60w) need speakers above 88db to fly (the Grandinote speakers do have mostly more than 98db) , so the Maxx3 is a perfect match for transformer coupled amps.

I can hear a lot more details, even compared to my former Boulder 1060, but in the same time the music has a wonderful flow and beautiful inner dynamic, which makes it easy to connect to the emotion of the music. A perfect blend of SET and solid state capability (damping factor is 230)

This will become a long night

 

[microstrip]

Finally last week my Grandinote Demone mono amps did arrive, but due to the fact, that I was in Munich, I had no time to listen to them. Now I am back from Munich and connected the Grandinote Genesi Preamp to the Demone mono amps.

This combination is made in heaven. The Genesi was before a little bit difficult to pair, but together with the natural combination of Genesis and Demone .

Big fun

The transformer coupled Demone class A Amps (60w) need speakers above 88db to fly (the Grandinote speakers do have mostly more than 98db) , so the Maxx3 is a perfect match for transformer coupled amps.

I can hear a lot more details, even compared to my former Boulder 1060, but in the same time the music has a wonderful flow and beautiful inner dynamic, which makes it easy to connect to the emotion of the music. A perfect blend of SET and solid state capability (damping factor is 230)

This will become a long night

They look very interesting, although the technical details are very mysterious. Are you sure that the Demone are SETs?

 

[shakti]

They look very interesting, although the technical details are very mysterious. Are you sure that the Demone are SETs?

sorry .., my English is not precise enough. The Demone are Solid state with output transformer.
So I meant the sound of the Demone combines the sonic expectation I do have on SET amps with the control of a solid state amp.

http://www.grandinote.it/technology - en.html

 

[shakti]

Some more month with the Maxx3 and I still have a big smile in my face, they just sound so nice in my room.

In the meantime I tried some more amps, as I was looking for the Demone Performance with more punch and power for the special hours of high volume music.

My current status is a stereo amp from Jeff Rowland, the model 825, which is just outperforming the other amps. The Grandinote Genesi seem to be a very good match. Both are transformer coupled and xlr connected. The Genesi Preamp has only 7ohm output impedance, which gives the 825 the needed power to perform.

In my room the Maxx3 likes the up to 700watts the 825 can deliver, on all listening volumes the sonic signature is the same.

So I can recommend the JRDG 825 to every Maxx3 owner (if the preamp does match),
the 825 in comparison to Boulder 1060 and VTL S400 is just a better match in all matters.

 

[jeff1225]

A system made up of MAXX 3's with Lamm M1.1's was one of the my favorite systems I've heard. Congrats

 

[microstrip]

Nice to know that these MAX3 are sounding great. I also have great memories of the 825 predecessor, the Jeff Rowland model 8.

 

[Birdwatcher]

It is long ago, that Shakti owned these nice red beauties, and we just talked on the phone some days ago.

What are the real DNA of the Wilson sound? And some specific DNA of the MAXX3 sound?

I intend to match my complete Zanden classic system (1200.3, 3000, 9600.2) and alternatively my Jeff Rowland Daemon with a MAXX3, but I had to admit that I have never heard one of them.
On the one hand I like my studio monitor from Klein+Hummel (O500C, now as Neumann on the market), as well as a little soft sound of a Graham LS5/8, and I am fascinated from the magical sound of my complete Shindo system.

What can I accept from the Zanden/MAXX3 combination? Surely a very open, resolving, immediate sound with much space and holographic layering, even a fantastic fast bass.
But is this a really nice sound for very long listening sessions? A sound with magical, natural representation of instruments. With a fantastic reproduction of classical music and human voice, magical for strings and woodwinds? Natural for Barock music?

What are your impressions from the MAXX3? What are other alternatives?

thanks for any input