2. speakers
  3. 1323801158

WILSON ALEXANDRIA XLF SPEAKERS-

TIME waits for no one; i wonder when they are going to give demos on these speakers? i've only heard the X2.1's and they were quite overwhelming- i couldn't stop thinking about them for several days afterwards. the 2.2's are supposed to sound like the best concert hall in the world. so the 2.3's will have
to sound even better than that... although, after hearing the WAMM's many years ago i was
still the MOST impressed with their ability to dissect EVERY instrument out of the mix, plus they had two separate (18") woofer cabinets. if wilson hasn't tried to crossover the alexandrias to their present subs i wonder why not? other than space being an issue (in a room designed for $160,000 speakers?) that might work really well also....
french_fries
razmika
45 posts
 
That would have been a good idea 20 years ago… Why the change suddenly? I thought Wilson fans cherish these magnificent highs :)
elberoth2's avatar
elberoth2
1,223 posts
 
Maybe no soft dome tweeter available at the time was good enough ? Just a thought.
razmika
45 posts
 
Yep, if Dave says so, it must be the case...
lloydelee21
1,202 posts
 
Agree with Elberoth...DW has always sought very, very strict technical capabilities. While silk dome tweeters of old had a sound many of us liked (incl me)...perhaps they did not meet the rigid dispersion, performance he was looking for. imagine that has changed over the years...and the silk dome tweeter (like SF Guarneris and Strads) have a beautiful natural voicing.
auraladdiction
3 posts
 
Possible reasons for moving to soft dome tweeters:
1.) Generally soft domes of today have much higher frequency response then the ones of yesteryears(try ~40Khz rather than 20Khz). They may not be as extended as the best diamonds or berylliums(60 – 100Khz) variety but those also come with their own evils.
2.) The best soft domes of today tend have lower distortion points than the best metal or diamond.
3.) The best soft domes tend to have wider dispersion characteristics at higher frequencies than metal or diamond due to the more rounded dome shape which helps in high frequency cancelations.
4.) The best soft domes tend to have lower resonance frequency points which determines where you set your crossover point. The lower your crossover point the better you transition to the midrange unit due to directivity issues that start to occur on the upper bands of the unit. You also want the crossover point to stay as far away from the resonant cone break ups that also occur in the upper frequency bands of the midrange unit.

Positives:
- More imaging specificity
- Greater lower to mid treble clarity
Negatves:
- Loss of upper octave “air ” and/or “shimmer”. Although this problem has been ameliorated by the addition of the rearward facing ScanSpeak Revelator super tweeter which has an extended frequency range to ~60Khz.
More to discover