Alexia versus Sasha II versus Sasha I

[Mikeoz]

Originally Posted by 2fastdriving

A few people on here have said that tweeter is very fatiguing to them. One guy said it makes him run out of the room. I never really felt it was fatiguing until I got the new Sashas. The new tweeter is a bit less harsh. It's more natural. And this is coming from a Sasha 1 lover. Not a hater!

Interesting. I haven't followed the threads that closely this is good to know and something to listen out for. However they've got to be better than the ones in my current Sophia 2 so maybe I'm too easy to please

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by dcvibe

LOL… run out of a room on the Sasha I's. That is hysterical to me. The Sasha 1 is a tremendous loudspeaker. I've spent hours listening to them. In my room with my equipment it reminds me of live music. You are always going to have opinions out there… I'm sure the Sasha 2 is better… Wilson doesn't do upgrades for no reason. I'm just trying to figure out if it is worth it (financially) to upgrade? I know that is a personal decision but hearing others impressions that have made the move to Sasha 2 or Alexia is very helpful!

I agree that Sasha is a great speaker. The Sasha 2 is better, but in my opinion it is probably not worth upgrading unless you get a decent sale price on your Sasha 1's. I got really lucky with my situation, but I'm not going to go into detail.

I guess what I am saying is - don't undersell your old ones and struggle and scrape to buy the new ones. It's not "night and day". It's an improvement for sure, but I wouldn't want anyone to put themselves in a tough place financially to make such a move.

My overall take on the new version is that it's a refinement. It takes the strengths of the original Sasha and improves them in ways that are subtle yet palpable.

[SOA]

Originally Posted by dcvibe

I have been with Sasha I now for several years and I do not find the treble fatiguing. I'm sure it was a relative statement. Obviously much of the character of the sound is going to be determined by your associated equipment and cables.

+1. Never experienced any fatiguing treble when listening to Sasha series 1 in my system.

[dcvibe]

Originally Posted by 2fastdriving

I agree that Sasha is a great speaker. The Sasha 2 is better, but in my opinion it is probably not worth upgrading unless you get a decent sale price on your Sasha 1's. I got really lucky with my situation, but I'm not going to go into detail.

I guess what I am saying is - don't undersell your old ones and struggle and scrape to buy the new ones. It's not "night and day". It's an improvement for sure, but I wouldn't want anyone to put themselves in a tough place financially to make such a move.

My overall take on the new version is that it's a refinement. It takes the strengths of the original Sasha and improves them in ways that are subtle yet palpable.

This is a very honest answer and much appreciated. I am leaning toward upgrading to Alexia and feel that would be a larger noticeable upgrade in my system… however, there are people out there that say Sasha 2 is getting closer to Alexia so it is difficult to know what that means exactly...

[2fastdriving]

Personally, I think it becomes a function of two things - room size and wallet size.

In a small to mid size room, I just don't think Alexia is going to be a big improvement over the Sasha 2. In a large room, yeah...of course it's going to be better.

If you can afford the Alexia, by all means do it! It's fantastic. But if it's gonna hurt...and hurt badly...you won't be disappointed at all with the Sasha 2. It definitely bridges the gap between the Sasha 1 and Alexia. that's why the price is going up on both! That's the other thing...BUY NOW! Or you'll pay more.

[dcvibe]

Originally Posted by 2fastdriving

Personally, I think it becomes a function of two things - room size and wallet size.

In a small to mid size room, I just don't think Alexia is going to be a big improvement over the Sasha 2. In a large room, yeah...of course it's going to be better.

If you can afford the Alexia, by all means do it! It's fantastic. But if it's gonna hurt...and hurt badly...you won't be disappointed at all with the Sasha 2. It definitely bridges the gap between the Sasha 1 and Alexia. that's why the price is going up on both! That's the other thing...BUY NOW! Or you'll pay more.

Yes I am aware of the price increase coming at the end of this month… my room is 15ft wide by 20 ft long.

[tima]

Originally Posted by dcvibe

Yes I am aware of the price increase coming at the end of this month… my room is 15ft wide by 20 ft long.

With an experienced person doing the setup, Wilson speakers are highly adaptable to room size, and even more so the larger models with their ability to adjust separately the angle of the mid-range and tweeter.

Apart from differences in physical construction, there are very real sonic reasons why the Sasha 2 and Alexia are priced where they are. I haven't seen a review comparing those two models, but Martin Collums compares the Alexia with the MAXX 3, and its worth reading. (PDF download)

[SRT-10 Viper]

My room is 14x17... I went from Sahsa 1's to Alexia's before the Sasha 2's were announced. It made a huge difference in my room. Friends that aren't Wilson fans again these are the toughest on Wilson, commented that my system went from sounding Hi-Fi to audiophile. It won over quickly my largest critics. Other's that really loved my Sasha's thought the Alexia's sounded like planer speakers... So much better integrated then the Sasha's. If you can do it, go for the Alexia's would be my vote.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Mikeoz

So the Sasha 1's treble is fatiguing ? - a genuine question.

I plan to upgrade to this in time but you only generally hear positive things about current models. I certainly dont find the treble fatiguing with my Sophia 2 and I've not read this observation previously.

It's a matter of taste as far as the tweeter goes. When the new Maxx comes out I'm definitely going to look at one because I liked what I heard in the Alexia midrange and treble. I did not like it better than the Maxx3 overall but I could imagine that the new Maxx could be superior in this regard to the old one. But what about the new woofers? I have never seen woofers the like of the Maxx3. I think it is easy to focus on one aspect (the treble) while forgetting the other qualities. Much of the treble/midrange improvement in the new Sasha may be due to the overall improvement in the speaker, i.e. better cabinet, crossover, adjustability, etc., and not the new tweeter per se.

[JPT]

Im in My second year as à sasha 1 owner. I have driven it with solid state and tubes (mc2000 and mc452) and the treble is not at all fatiguing with either amp. Just clear and extended, and in My opinion one of the best tweeters i heard (which makes me really curious about the new sasha 2 tweeter). The speaker i Owned before the sashas were softdome (the excellent von schweikert db99) and the sashas is clear and marked improvement both in treble and bass (as it Schould be at twice the price). I Also owned à jmlab 927 with the beryllium tweeter but never got it to sound right. In comparison the sasha is so much clearer and silky in the treble. I guss My point is that implementation seem to be more important than material when designing à speaker. But im sure implementation is top notch with the sasha 2 as well