Avalon Acoustics vs Wilson Audio

Kazmann,

I have heard all these speakers over the last year and you are right on in targeting the Sashas. I used to *hate* Wilsons, but not anymore. It is remarkable to me that they have done such a remarkable makeover on the house sound of their "entry level" speakers (Sophia and Sahsa). Coherence, realistic midrange, you are there soundstaging. The Avalons are very nice, but the Sashas are better. The new B&W 802D's are also good, but not in the same class as the Wilsons IMO.

As for the Arcam reciever - it is a remarkably good sounding AVR. I auditioned it carefully recvently and was surprised how good it sounded with decent 2ch. gear surrounding it and speakers from Vandrsteen and Dynaudio. No, it won't extract the last bit from any of the speakers listed above, but it will drive them all well enough to really enjoy music or movies. It might do a better job with the Sophia than the Sasha as already suggested, but the Sasha's are to die for in my book, and would justify much better electronics in the future - I recommend front end and amplification from Audio Research as a splendid match if you eventually upgrade from the Arcam.

Kazman..I wasnt trying to get your panties all in a bunch by "attacking"your fast 802s so freakin chill.They are slow,most would agree.You dont think so listen to more speakers as another suggested and if you are still in that mind set buy them..Not sure what fanboy means and dont really care I guess but if its meaant as thinking the Wilson Sasha and the Avalon will smoke that 802d Ill take that as a compliment.

Well I went back to my local dealer to listen to the 802d's again. I had them pair it to Simaudio moon evolution series electronics. We used a Supernova cd player, Simaudio p7 pre-amp, Simaudio and a w-7 dual mono amp. The cables were balanced analysis-plus solo crystal IC, and Analysis-plus oval-9 speaker wire. The sound was very neutral, and natural sounding. However you guys were right, they weren't quite as fast as I remember or at least thought I remembered. They weren't bi-amped which would help a bit. My experience with bi-amping especially with my paradigms was a big improvement. Thats probably part of the reason why I thought it was a fast speaker. When I first heard them on the Arcam gear it was bi-amped. Either way though they sounded great. We also played the thiel 3.7 on the same gear, and they are really tight speakers. Very natural sounding as well. The Thiels are very well articulated from top to bottom, but I still like the bowers a little better.

Maybe some good news for some of you guys though. One of the employees at the store was recently at the Thiel factory, and apparently they are working on a new flagship called the cs7.5. I'm not sure if you guys knew or not, but I thought I put it out there.

Hello Kazman,

In my experience I have found that a speaker that hits you over the head with it's detail fools one into believing it has detail, but in reality it does not.

A speaker that allows one to listen into the sound is the speaker that brings out all the subtly of detail in the music that reveals its life.

I have yet to hear the Sasha. The last speakers that I heard from Wilson have been the Maxx 2's and the WP8's, Neither of which IMO had anywhere near the resolution of detail , clarity, tonal neutrality, and especially the coherence as the Eidolon Diamond.

IMO Wilson's greatest strength is unfettered dynamic scale and for many rightfully so this is a very desirable virtue.

Good luck in making the right choice for you.

best,
Tom

Kazmann,

If you go with the Sasha you will need to step it up with the amplification and source equipment. The V5xe will not be enough to properly drive the Sasha IMO.

I have not auditioned Avalon Acoustics but I am told they are very good by an audio friend. One thing to consider is speaker placement in the room. I am told that the Avalon's need to be placed much further out into the room than Wilson's. I have Sasha w/p and they ended up closer to the wall than I ever imagined. This would be something to consider. Perhaps someone can shed some light on this subject.