Wilson Alexia 2

Hi George:
I read the Stereophile measurements and the review when they were published. I cannot speak about the Gryphon. I can speak about what I heard in my room. Measurements are helpful to determining how components may interact. Nothing beats actually listening.

Agree nothing beats listening. But to give what your listening to, deserves to have the best measurements to do the job properly, and get the very best out of the speakers yes?
Even a big Nad will work into them and sound fine, and if you didn't know any better you could very well say that's the amp for them.

So tot get a "base line of amps" that will do these great speakers justice, the test specs are the 1st most important to be considered, for the "base line of amps to listen to".
Otherwise you get some saying  things like Cary 805 monoblocks are a great amp get them!! 

Cheers George

Old thread, and comments are spot on. FWIW: own the Alexia 2s and had them on McIntosh stereo amp. Not offensive, but somewhat veiled. Moved to Pass X600.8s and a huge improvement. Heard both Boulder stereo and D’Agastino Progression monos and Momento monos (new release version) on them. Heard the ARC 160s, too.
 

And what they say seems true: the Wilson’s sound best IN MY OPINION on ARC for tube, and D’Agostino for SS. We liked the Momentum’s, stereo or monos work, well over the Progressions.

 

We will be upgrading in a bit to either ARC or Dags Momentums, most likely.

Just my two cents.

j

 

@carey1110 I would agree with the posters who have mentioned the synergy with ARC. Wilson excels with neutral-sounding amps, which is why they tend to pair up with ARC and Simaudio at the big shows. The dynamics are incredible and resolution is one of the best with these combinations. 

@yyzsantabarbara also makes a good suggestion with T+A. In full transparency, I am an authorized T+A dealer who paired the T+A HV series stack with Wilson Yvette. T+A is just a tad bit warmer than ARC and Simaudio, which resulted in a thicker, slightly darker presentation. It was wonderful, but different than what I’ve heard with the pairings above. Between the three (T+A, ARC, and Simaudio) it would come down to listener preferences. 

I would never on the other hand pair Wilson up with amplifiers that tend to be more on the bloomier side like Luxman or McIntosh, but perhaps other have had good experiences. Wilson are also quite current hungry. Some tube amps may drive them just fine (ARC especially), but in most cases you’re right in looking into solid state. 

Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss T+A pairing. 

Thanks guys I have moved up the food chain now to the Wilson Alexx V. Now my search is for this one but the synergy will be similar. If any of you know much about this one I’m open