Wilson Sasha's - All evolution in Wilsons are.....

Well I spent tonight listening to my new Sashas using the following amps:

Pass XA100.5 + XP20
Krell EVO202 + EVO402

As is to be expected both combinations gave excellent results. I am still doubting which one I like more. You can not realy say one combination is much better than the other. The Pass combination sounds a little smoother and slightly more musical. But the Krell combination is cristal clear with amazing details both in the bass and in the highs. I could live with both combinations and did not decide yet which combination to keep.

Disadvantage for the Krell is the high power consumption even in standby and the disadvantage of the Pass is that they need minimum one hour to sound good. But this are all minor things.

I also put the Sasha on the spikes. The bass became a lot better but the highs were a little bit less. Maybe a higher spike will improve that. The spikes (I use one ring) are about 3-4 cm lower than the wheels so this could have to do with it.

One of my friends plays with Jadis on a Wilson Puppy 7 and that combination is amazing to. More than enough power and very very good mids. But of course the bass from a big transistor amp is better but the mids of the Jadis are unbeatable by any transistor amp.

Tubes or transistors; both have their friends. I hear from both good results, it just depends what is your taste and what you want to hear.

Peter

Very interesting thread. I own Sophia 2's and have been eyeing the Sashas as the logical upgrade path, but haven't had good experiences when it comes to auditions. RMAF was kind of spotty (hard to tell in those small rooms) and a recent dealer audition/comparison (Sophia 2's vs Sashas) was very inconclusive. They both sounded terrible and difficult to tell apart.

I love my Sophia 2's, I just want more articulate bass, a little more forgiving upper mids and more air. :-) I use Pass XA100.5's so it's nice to hear that the Sashas work with these. Peter, do you really find the XA100.5's need an hour to sound good? What differences do you hear? I haven't really noticed much difference...

Ian

I don' have any reservation regarding Sasha Krell or pass Sasha combination(power amps). They are both fine with Sashas.One thing is for sure Sasha is not a piece of cake load for amps. However, neither full Krell nor Pass setup will yield max. outcome. Based on my past experience, both are very good in Power amp making but only ''good'' in preamp making.

Well about the Pass XA100.5. If I just start them I feel the bass is not controlled. The difference between a cold one and one that is on for an hour is quite big. Of course cold they sound good but they realy sing after an hour.

For the preamps I agree that both Pass and Krell were not famous in preamps in the past. But both the new XP20 and the new EVO202 are world class amps. I had Spectral DMC30SL G2 and Audio Research reference 3 but the Krell and the Pass are at least as good although different sounding.

Now after 3 more days of listening I am now playing with the combination of Pass XA100.5 and Krell EVO202. The Krell power amp in combination with the EVO202 was a little on the bright side with the Sasha. However with the Wilson Maxx this was the best combination. So it depends on the set.

The EVO202 beats the XP20 in terms of openness, dynamics and bass control. Maybe the Pass is slightly more musical but for now I prefer the EVO202 with the Pass XA100.5 monos.

I am going to try an ARC Ref5 also in this set. The new ref5 should be faster than the ref3 and I might want to buy this one also.

As for the Sasha and the Sophia 2. If you like the Wilson sound just buy the Sasha without listening as I did. You will love the sound. It is the best speaker I ever had in my house. It blows away any Puppy and also my previous Maxx in my room (different rooms give different results). The voicing of both speakers should be similar but the Sasha delivers more of everything and the new mid driver is amazing in speed and details.

Peter

Thanks for your thoughts, Peter.