Wilson Sasha

marty

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
3,166
4,699
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United States
Well here's something you don't see everyday- me saying something great about Wilson speakers! I have to admit that that majority of Wilson speakers I've heard through the years leave me nonplussed (generally good but never great). The obvious exception to this is the Alexandria II, which I have heard in its finest configuration at our fearless leader's home (oneobgyn) and also in a superb system at my neighbor Brian's in DFW. I've owned Maxx's in their original form and sold them quickly. Always liked but not loved Watt Puppies pending their configuration (6's and 8's were my favorites). Most other Wilson's were more impressive for their stature than their sound. But Sasha is simply sensational. Heard them last week at Sound Experience in Boca Raton at a dealer that really knows his stuff and can set up demos with the best of 'em. (Thank you David Zucker for reminding me that gracious and competent high end dealers still exist!) This is unquestionably the best value speaker Wilson has ever made. Musical and balanced, it's got balls so it can float like a butterfly and sting like a bee and is of course well made (no surprise). This is an outstanding achievement. Like all Wilson speakers, they could stand to be supplemented by a good Gotham subwoofer (yes, even the Alexandrias don't go to 20Hz well unassisted). But you won't miss a sub terribly if you don't need "bowels to the end of the earth" LF extension. And by the way, no matter what Dave Wlison says, Sasha's sound much better with their grill clothes off. (Give it a try both ways and report back). For most folks, spending more on speakers will simply not make sense as Sasha's performance is that good and will not leave you wanting for something more.
 
Marty- i heard the Sashas on Boulder equipment and was def impressed. easily the best W/P made---I owned Sophias for many years, and one reason was that I felt the W/P was not as coherant or musical (the mid bass hump still very obvious). the Sasha is a superb improvement.

Have you heard the Magico V3? I know some will disagree with me, but I still much prefer the Magico to the Wilson. it may not have the same bass impact due to the sealed enclosure, but is the highest resolution speaker i've heard.
 
I've demoed the Sasha driven by Spectral with a computer server feeding the Berkeley DAC. Absolutely fantastic. It is a significant improvement on the WP8, which itself was only a slight improvement over the WP7.
 
Grinding through the fine print of the Sasha product literature, apparently they have almost nothing in common with the W/P series, except for their place in the Wilson lineup. Sez here that the tweeter and midrange are the same unit as in the MAXX3. My setup will be the same as Ron's, namely amps driven directly by various DACS. http://wilsonaudio.com/product_html/sasha_drivers.html

Now, how long to really break these in?
 
I was with Marty at The Sound Experience in Boca and share most of his thoughts about the Sasha and definitely about the store and David Zucker. Put simply he is an audio mench, few of which are retailers at this point in time. If you are in SE Florida area, give him a visit. He spent 4 hours with Marty and me and would have spent more if we desired.

I would like to emphasize one point Marty made because I think it was not made strongly enough. Although rarely a Wilson fan due to their price performance issues and my love of dipoles, I have respected Dave Wilson since I first met him when he was demonstrating his first pair of WAMM's. The man has ears and tons of experience. Therefore, it truly surprised me how poorly the Sasha's sound with their grill cloths on. Marty, Dave and I all were dumbfounded how Wilson could recommend that the speakers should be played with the grills on. I must say that these grills are among the most acoustically intrusive of any that I have ever heard. Put another way, you have not heard the Sasha's till you remove the grills.
 
Does anyone have the sense that Wilson is going for a smoother, more 'refined' sound than the jump out of your seat dynamics that they were known for? In a listen at a dealer, I thought the Sasha's midrange was extremely open and the bass outstanding, but that it lacked some of the liveliness and excitement I've heard in brief listens to some other, older Wilsons.

And BTW, I'll second the props about David Zucker. He really stands out particularly given some recent experiences with dealers.
 
Does anyone have the sense that Wilson is going for a smoother, more 'refined' sound than the jump out of your seat dynamics that they were known for? In a listen at a dealer, I thought the Sasha's midrange was extremely open and the bass outstanding, but that it lacked some of the liveliness and excitement I've heard in brief listens to some other, older Wilsons.

And BTW, I'll second the props about David Zucker. He really stands out particularly given some recent experiences with dealers.

Were the speakers totally broken in? I find a lot of top flight gear require extra long break in time-speakers being some of the worst. Some take as long as 800-1000 hrs supposedly.
 
No idea. Might be worth a trip back to the dealer as by now they surely are.
 
No idea. Might be worth a trip back to the dealer as by now they surely are.

Be interesting to hear if the speakers had opened up. I just can't imagine a Wilson with compressed dynamic range.
 
It wasn't just the dynamic range, microdynamic liveliness was also lacking. I'll have to give them another listen.
 
It wasn't just the dynamic range, microdynamic liveliness was also lacking. I'll have to give them another listen.

Dynamic shadings are another thing :) But then again, I'm jaded by planars and estats, that eat up microdynamics! The loss of those subtle shadings is one thing that always drove me crazy when I had the W/P 5 and 6.
 
Those shadings are essential for reproduced music to sound alive and real.
 
Those shadings are essential for reproduced music to sound alive and real.

Couldn't agree more. That's what I find lacking on certain LP reissues :)
 
That's interesting about reissues. Just getting back into vinyl and have bought some reissues of stuff I have -- will have to compare.
 
Sasha WP Listen

I had a chance to spend a couple of hours with these speakers some weeks back with a krell front end and Electro monos, what struck me first up was the sound from the speakers was completely effortless with a very natural balance.

Considering these speakers list at $ 35k here it is a premium and considering our dollar at the moment just a little bit of a rip to be honest when we were back at around the 60c to the dollar I could understand it, just don't quite understand?

Based on this listen I could live with a pair of these without to much trouble a sweet sound and yes the grills were off for the duration of the listen.
 
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I had a chance to spend a couple of hours with these speakers some weeks back with a krell front end and Electro monos, what struck me first up was the sound from the speakers was completely effortless with a very natural balance.

Considering these speakers list at $ 35k here it is a premium and considering our dollar at the moment just a little bit of a rip to be honest when we were back at around the 60c to the dollar I could understand it, just don't quite understand?

Based on this listen I could live with a pair of these without to much trouble a sweet sound and yes the grills were off for the duration of the listen.

Hmmm, perhaps not. the Sasha's retail for around US 27k. It would take a minimum of 3k to get here including freight, customs clearance etc. You then have 5% duty on speakers. then add 10% GST on the sell price. You get to around 34 or 35k list price. This price includes distributor and retailer in the mix, whereas the USA only has the retailer.

where is the rip off?
 
I would bet way north of $3K to get to Australia

You could be right Steve as it is 605 lbs (274.42 kg). The list price in Australia is quite competitive once you actually spend the time in a bit of research working out fully loaded costs in getting such large items to Australia.

cheers
 
Gentlemen,
understand the costs associated with shipping ect but humour me on the following. Is there sales tax on speakers in the US if so how much? ( deduct amount for export sale ) I assume the Australian importer would be dealing direct with Wilson Audio? ( deduct US agent amount ) Option of sea freight assuming container lots ? ( deduct airfreight cost ) Dealer margin would surely be incluced in the $27k US sell price and assume simular margin for Aus Dealer? I am not sure if the $35k Aus price actually included 10% GST or not then taking into accoune the $ for $ exchange rate still don't see the difference being that great.

Does this make sense or am I Just off the mark? I am into Motorbikes as well and we pay twice the amount as per US costs and these are fully imported into both countries.
 
Gentlemen,
understand the costs associated with shipping ect but humour me on the following. Is there sales tax on speakers in the US if so how much? ( deduct amount for export sale ) I assume the Australian importer would be dealing direct with Wilson Audio? ( deduct US agent amount ) Option of sea freight assuming container lots ? ( deduct airfreight cost ) Dealer margin would surely be incluced in the $27k US sell price and assume simular margin for Aus Dealer? I am not sure if the $35k Aus price actually included 10% GST or not then taking into accoune the $ for $ exchange rate still don't see the difference being that great.

Does this make sense or am I Just off the mark? I am into Motorbikes as well and we pay twice the amount as per US costs and these are fully imported into both countries.

The US 27k pricing is ex tax. Tax is always added at the point of sale as every state has a different local tax rate.
Seafreight is a cheaper option, however you need to be able to fill a 20 ft container as a minimum to make it cheaper. You still have to pay the custom fees, brokerage fees, delivery fees and the 5% duty on seafreight.
Aussie distributor deals direct with Wilson, as does any US dealer. The Aussie distributor needs to make money, as does the local retailer who buys from him.
The 35k would include the 10% gst. You cannot advertise ex gst unless it is wholesale.

Yes, I would luv it to be cheaper as well, however it is not the rip off as it seems at first.
 

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