Wilson Sasha 2 or Alexia for small room 10' x 17'?


I went to audition the Wilson Sabrina at a local shop. I so wanted to love these speakers because of the reviews, price and compact size. Unfortunately, I could not (don't hate me  Sabrina owners). I did, however,  fall in love with the Sasha 2. It seemed to do everything and more that I was looking for and I am hoping this speaker will be a speaker I can live with for a very long time. After thinking about it, I wondered, is the difference between the Sabrina and Sasha 2 smaller or greater than the Sasha 2 and current Alexia? The room has  good acoustics, Mcintosh C50 pre, MC152 amp and as noted above, is very small. Would there be too much bass and overwhelm the room. I have not heard the Alexias and was wondering if any owners or listeners familiar to both can comment on the differences and similarities and give impressions as to how they might work in my small room. I currently own and like very much the  Sonus Faber Venere 3.0 but am looking for more. At this point, I am pretty sure I will go with the Sashas  but am looking for guidance from someone with experience especially since it is very hard to locate the Alexias and hear personally.  Thanks for your opinions
996cupracer
Gee Ohlala I don't know if that is a compliment or a dig, if it was a compliment, I think that people who work in dealerships can be a great resource as they have tremendous real world experience, and for that reason a dealer's response may be very helpful. If it was a dig then you need to understand where I am coming from:

Most of my responses were about being attacked by Grpu who obviously feels threatened that there may be a product better than a Wilson that he already owns, and as I said both Dave and I owned Wilsons before, so we both like and respect the Wilson sound, it is however a sound and it is a product with specific strengths and weaknesses as all of these products have. None of these products are perfect including the brands we sell!

Our philosophy is different, some dealers are brand loyal, while others are sound loyal. We have moved in and out of numerous lines, chasing great sound, while some of our competitors just stick with the same lines and never explore some of the newer and sometimes more adventurous lines of new products which are out there. I know of certain dealers who have always sold B&W no matter if B&W was building the best speaker or not at the time, etc, etc. 

If you noticed I never said that one product was better I said he should check them out because they may, and I use the word may, have been the perfect product for this gentleman's room and setup, and then again maybe not, Beryllium drivers sound very different then silk and wood pulp based drivers, and in some setups can be too revealing.

I will say that Wilsons can sound really good with a lot of different gear, I don't think the Personas are as forgiving and are more likely to sound more forward, which is why Grpu probably didn't like them, when he heard them, also they do sound different, there are Wilson guys, Magico guys, Vandersteen guys etc, and I am sure all of those people totally think that there choice is the best. 

As I explained earlier, the sole reason I even posted on this thread was to point out a product that Cupracer probably wasn't thinking about, at this point very few people have heard the new Persona line, and the press is just starting to review them, so very few purchasers are even thinking of this line.

The main point was here is a competitive product that will or can work well in a small room, because the product was designed using technology which allows for room compensation in the bass, and in passing, I said if this gentleman was on the East Coast he should check them out. 

Only after Cupracer mentioned that he was at Lyric was there any possibility of him hearing the speakers at our shop, once he started the thread he could have been anywhere in the world, so the likely-hood of him being close to us was only a remote possibility at best, this means we had nothing to gain.

I find it odd that almost none of you are concerned that the Sashas with their 20hz or so bass response will sound remotely good in this room vs his old Sonus Fabers which probably don't go down past 40hz, which would mean the Sonus Fabers would sound better in the bass then the more capable Wilsons.

Cupracer has a great room, however, I feel that it is too small especially for the short wall to sound anything other then boomy with a pair of Sashas,  I guess time will tell once Cupracer gets the speakers, I would advise him to only continue with the purchase if Lyric will setup a pair in his room before he takes delivery to guarantee they will work, and Cupracer will be happy.

I hope that clarifies my position and I wish Cupracer nothing but the best.



Ohlala, the Sashas and Sabrinas were heard in the same room which was to my eye about 22' x 24'.
I did not have the opportunity to hear the 
Evette. Both dealers near me did not have them to demo. I did however prefer the separate box design for tweeter and mid that the Sasha had compared to the single box of the Evette. Both dealers did not try to guide me in that direction ......possibly because they did not have any for me to hear. It would be interesting to hear and compare the 3 speakers.

As far as the Sashas sounding boomy, I will soon see. I don't think that will be the case though as my impression of them was not very bass overdone and the room acoustics will minimize much of the negativity. The SF Venere did sound good but needed a sub to sound full range to my ear. I expect to not need the sub system with the Sashas. I do like hearing and feeling bass though........
Audiotroll
I said I was done with this thread, but your completely false summary of my objections to your postings here (and in another thread) cannot stand. I am not threatened, as you say, to anyone who prefers any speaker over Wilsons. As in all audio choices, the choice of speaker is a deeply personal one and there is no such thing as "the best". There are many times when I prefer other speakers myself.  
 Unlike you, I have never trolled a thread about a speaker brand other than Wilson and put in my unsolicited 2 cents about how the OP should consider Wilsons. If I did as a nondealer, that would be acceptable conduct here. 
Let's look at your conduct just on this thread. The OP asked about issues he had deciding between 2 Wilson models. You swoop in not only  to promote Paradigm Personas but to promote your organization and many of the brands you carry (you mention over a dozen). You also extol the talents of Dave (your boss) in having a  track record of finding high value great sounding products.You claim your dealership, unlike others, is sound loyal vs brand loyal, has years of sound experience and provides valuable insight to the members here. Right. That would be a fact for every dealer I patronize, but they don't have to say it and I don't have to read it here on Audiogon.   
 The OP purchased Wilsons on the 17th, but days later you are still here talking about me (as if I'm a problem) and Ohlala who was actually defending you. Let's see----oh yes, that means you are a troll and a shill. Now, can you just go away?


 
Again, Grpu, you put me on the defensive with all your bull and your defender of morality and propriety, stance. This is a forum, for open exchange, I explained my affiliation and offered a simple alternative, which is no different than some of the other posters who sometimes reply on these threads.

You complained that your issue was with meeting Dave and being turned off by his promoting and extolling the virtues of a pair of Usher speakers at a show? Correct, and that in your words his "hyperbolic" presentation turned you off, gee it seems to me that a Vandersteen dealer promoting the new 7’s would be saying the same things.

Usher speakers offered also very advanced driver technology, and at the time produced great sound for usually less money then many of their competitors, so wouldn’t you be exposing that concept, great sound for less money? Would any dealer who is representing this brand then say an Usher speaker is a better speakers then brand Y, I highly doubt it, the demo would be about creating great sound and offering a competitive product that might sound as good as brand Y for less money, and as I pointed out Usher in the next few years got a lot of traction for just that offering fantastic sound quality for less.

Two people who actually came here and  visited the shop,with one man owning a pair of Wilson 8s, came to our defense. The man who owned the Wilson 8’s said he thought the Personas were better, interesting isn’t it?

If I may remind you it is you that went out of your way to raise and cast aspersions on a person’s character and motivations.

What I said was a few sentences about how there may be a product which because of its room correction technology may enable this man to produce the results he is looking for in a small room, it was you who continued to push and hence there were lengthy exchanges to explain my position.

Taste and preference is a personal thing, we strive to find outstanding products, and if you think that many dealers aren’t in it just for the money think again, there are plenty that sell products they carry because they are easy to sell or are established reference brands.

I also advised this man to have his dealer bring over and setup these speakers in his room to guarantee that he is happy. It certainly doesn’t seem that through a forum post anyone is going to change this man’s mind.

He likes Wilson’s that is great, let’s just make sure he is getting the results he is paying for which is the coaching I would have given him if he was dealing with us in the first place.

You don’t sell Wilson Max for guys with small rooms, but I am sure there are dealers who took the money and run.

If cupracer buys his Wilsons new, and he is, then the dealers is obligated to set up the speakers correctly in his room. It comes with the purchase price. This is Wilsons rule.