ChronosonicXVX

[Charles]

Excellent video. Here's my initial assessment: the XVX will fit and I believe work well in my room. If you swivel the Alexx around and point it straight ahead it is 23" from the side wall. The XVX would be 36" and this would allow 3" below the ceiling. The Alexx is 8.5' apart inside wall to inside wall of speaker and 23" off the Thor. The XVX would be 6.33' apart inside wall of speaker to inside wall and 8" from the Thor. The toe in would be less and I sit 11' from the Alexx. I could move in up to a foot closer with my sofa to the XVX if needed. My room is 15.25' wide and my measurements are based on 180". My ceiling slope is 45 degrees and wall height 5' so if I go out 3' I am at 1.5' up or 78" which is where I get the 3" ceiling clearance, since the spiked height of the XVX would be 75". I hope the rear tweeter is low compared to the XLF. The way I make a purchase like this is that first I have to check and see if the funds are there. They definitely are. Would this change my financial position at all? No. Would it change anything, a meal, vacation, large purchase for home, car purchase, anything. No. Then I buy it in my mind and let it sit for a while to see how it feels.

The really good thing is that all my other equipment is new, recently purchased. They are absolute endpoints for me. As much as I like the Alexx, it does not have the feel (not the sound), to be may last loudspeaker but it could be. The XVX would be. It sounds like a lot of money but it would end my quest for a reference loudspeaker.

Everything will have to be double and triple checked as far as measurements. And I will have to check with Wilson and my dealer in great detail. A purchase like this will take 12-18 months especially since the ship date is the end of October. I suspect a back log of orders.

I have to say there's is nothing that I don't like about the XVX. It's everything I dream about in a speaker. There's nothing I don't like about my Alexx. It really is a great speaker and the first I have heard that I was totally satisfied with sound wise. This is really not about sound for me. It is about owning a true reference. I never thought one could fit in my room.

Last thought: all things are a matter of priorities. If I had hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in amps, preamps, and sources, as some of you do, a purchase like this would be impossible for me. I have always felt that Mac represents the best by far value on the market. I've got 1,500 watts of very clean SS power per channel enough to easily drive an XVX. The D1100 is in my mind the best value in a preamp/DAC on the market and my cables are Wel Signature and power cords Dragons, all solid silver. High end audio is very personal: I have exactly what I want for me source, amp and preamp. I feel that adding an XVX would give me an extremely cost effective, frugal, well thought out reference system. The only change would be that as Mac upgrades their reference D1100 to drop in the new piece at my discretion. That's pocket change but great fun to have the current most up to date Mac digital preamp/DAC.


____________________
Charles Updated System
Most recent update: AQ Diamond USB replaces AQ Coffee
Amps: McIntosh 1.25KW’s (3) set on floor on custom made cultured marble slabs
Preamp and DAC: McIntosh D1100
Sources: McIntosh MCD1100 SACD player, MVP881 BR player, MVP851 DVD player, MR87 tuner, Marantz 510LV Laser Disc player, ASUS laptop USB (JRiver Media Center 23)
Speakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexx
Sub-woofer: Wilson Audio Specialties Thor’s Hammer (1) horizontal lie and Wilson Watch Controller (abbr: WC)
Cables main system: Audioquest Wel Signature speaker cables and balanced IC (preamp to amps); Wel Signature AES/EBU balanced digital IC for CD playback; Audioquest Diamond optical (1) for tuner, (1) for BR player, and (1) for LD player for total of (3); Diamond USB cable; McIntosh MCT cable for SACD playback; Dragon power cords (5 HC cords and 3 source cords for total of 8); Thunder HC power cord for tuner; cables for DVD player not listed
Cables subwoofer system: Audioquest Redwood speaker cable (1); Wolf balanced subwoofer IC from WC to amp; Wind balanced IC from preamp to WC; Hurricane HC (2) and Dragon HC (1) power cords
Power conditioners: Audioquest Niagara 7000 (1) and Niagara 5000 (3); (4) dedicated 20-amp lines with no. 10 wire straight out of fuse box
Cabinet: Double Custom Woodwork & Design (CWD) solid walnut cabinet on large casters; holds all sources and preamp; also, Niagara 7000; 11 feet minimum distance from speakers
Acoustic Treatments: Room and Echo Tunes enough to turn the room into a virtual anechoic chamber if desired; however, at present my room is significantly reflective giving me a bright, vibrant, dynamic, highly resolving, smooth sound free of harshness and grain and perfect for my taste; zero slap echo; gorgeous midrange
AC: Dedicated to this room only, an ultra-high efficiency and quiet Trane split system 2.5-ton heat pump with 4 returns; active electrostatic filter and top-grade digital thermostat
Room (mancave): 40’L x 15.5’W A-frame; max ceiling height 8’ min 5’; wall within wall construction built of 2 x 6’s; built over garage with custom hardwood floor with gym seal with over 40 Lowes stiffened wooden I-beams supporting floor; complete isolation from rest of house