My Sasha mini-review

[2fastdriving]

As many of you know, I had B&W 802 Diamond speakers and recently upgraded to Wilson Sasha's. I decide to post a little review of why I did it and what I think about them now that I've immersed myself in their glory for over a week.

I first want to say that I really like the 802 Diamond, they are a great value for their price point. Nothing I say in this post should be taken as a dislike for those speakers.

I was prompted to look at other speakers that my dealer (Definitive Audio in Bellevue/Seattle, WA) carries because of their trade up program. I feel it is a really good program, and I didn't want to let it slip through my fingers without some deep thought. I decided to check out other offerings they carry. Unfortunately, because of the way they are set up, I could pretty much only hear Wilson. They carry VA, but don't have the "good stuff" like VA's "The Music". Now...I know I could have gone to Magnolia or traveled a bit to see other brands. But I've heard other brands at various events and shows and friends places. I knew what I was looking for, and I figured that if the Sasha's could deliver it, I would go for it.

What was I looking for? I wanted a touch more realism. My 802's had gobs of detail and punchy lows and crispy highs, but everything seemed just a touch mechanical. I wanted something to breathe life into what I was hearing. I love a lot of female singer/songwriter artists such as Jewel, and I know how her voice should sound. It should sound like she is in the room, not an artificial reproduction. There should be an organic quality to her voice, her breathing, and the plucking of her guitar.

My dealer gave me a whole afternoon with the Sasha's paired with my exact equipment...except I think the Transparent speaker cable was a few levels up from mine.

You may have read another post of mine after that day. I felt that there was some magical stuff happening in the midrange and that voices finally sounded as though they were real. No mechanical approximation. No "cones in a box" as one other member put it. However I was disappointed in the bass quality in that listening session. The dealer assured me it was the room, and I agreed that must be it. I placed my order. Since I have McIntosh gear and Transparent cables, I was very excited to be able to say my system was mostly Made in the USA! (Mac Mini and NAD CD player and Rega turntable are not).

Between the time I placed the order and received them, I was treated to a tour of the Wilson facility with my dealer. I was able to meet David Wilson himself and his wife and daughter. I had a great time. I detailed that experience in another post here.

When I received my Sasha's on the big day, the first that thing struck me is how well they pack and ship these things. It's obviously an obsession to do it right. After my tour, that shouldn't be a surprise at all. But these things come in huge crates that are very well made, and are wrapped up like mummies with protective wrapping. It took a long time to get them unpacked and unwrapped. I did most of that. My dealer did the set up.

The first thing that struck me about the sound was the BASS. I was genuinely worried that my 802's destroy the Sasha in bass output and that I would be disappointed. I think I wrote a post about that as well. HA! Whatever. The bass that the Sasha makes in a normal room when set up properly is absolutely glorious. I suppose you could make it go deeper with a sub, but I feel it is unnecessary for 2-channel and it would be tough to integrate. I am used to bass being felt, not heard very much. The Sasha gives bass a real "texture" that you can hear and feel. It seems as though there is a sub in the room at times, but on other recordings there is very little bass. So I feel comfortable it is putting out exactly what is on the recording. No editorializing, no "pumped up port". If it's on the recording you will be getting it.

The midrange and tweeter are not quite giving me the magic that I heard in the dealer room. That said, they are still besting the 802 in every way. I feel I will need to play with room treatments a bit more to wring that last bit of perfection out of them. So how are they better than the 802? Same thing that I mentioned I heard in that demo: you get the detail and crispy highs but you also get a sense that "you are there". A sense that the voices are palpable. They sound more convincingly real. So do guitars. You can hear the resonance of the guitar string against the frets. You can "feel" the plucking. I could hear some of these things with the 802...it is very revealing. But it was there as detail, an asterisk. Not as an integrated part of the performance. Now it is as though it's there for a REASON. Those details tie the recording together and paint a beautiful portrait of sound in three dimensional space.

Another thing that struck me about the Sasha's was the dynamic power they can present. You can play a piece of music that is very soft and then it goes extremely loud. The Sasha's do not feel like they are stressed at all. They just very naturally present it to you as though you are part of a performance. (I am sure my MC452 plays a role in this! Great pairing with Sasha's!) I've also noticed that I can listen to music at a much louder volume with very little discomfort. This is dangerous to my hearing, I realize, but I also think it proves that the Sasha is much more able to play at high levels with little distortion. My 802's would be very hard on my ears at levels such as this. It was easy for me to say "ok, that's enough...it's starting to sound like crap and hurt my ears" before. Now, I can keep turning it up, and it keeps sounding better. That's scary!

Overall, I can say that spending this much money on an audio product is a first for me, and kind of daunting. I am not "rich", and it's a big deal to invest this much in a hobby. Let's face it, I could live with my 802's...which were paid for! But I love that my money is buying me state of the art speakers and helping to keep Americans employed. Huge bonus.

I feel my entire upgrade process was top notch. From my dealer's demo (with the exception of an over-damped room) to the factory visit to the delivery and set up - it was all great. The fit and finish, the quality is everywhere. And I am proud that it's made in America.

Thanks to the guys on here who have PM'd me and given me their input as well (Ivan, Ricjor1, PHC1, and Vinylpressing).

[vinod_david]

Wow, superb review. I love Sasha by reading all review itself.

[JiveTurkey]

I really enjoyed this read, it was quite well written. It doesn't feel stilted like a lot of press reviews. You've effectively summed up my thoughts on Wilson. I too adore their methods of packing up speakers for shipping, you can tell the job was given to an OCD bloke. How many hours into the speakers would you say you are? My XLF's seem to have stabilized their sound after about 150 hours, but I'm still breaking in the Sophia's. I can tell already you will be enjoying your Sasha's for a very long time. I still adore spending time at my dealers various listening rooms comparing the whole Wilson range. All of the speakers give a cohesive sound that doesn't "sound" like it's electronic at all. It's mind boggling.

[Still-One]

Marc
Very nice write up. It is good to hear that your new Sasha's are meeting your expectations.

If your speakers are already spiked one way to check your speaker set-up is to move your chair back and forth a few inches and raise and lower your ear height to see if you can find that midrange magic you heard at your dealers.

[Kingsrule]

Awesome and good for you. Another Wilson convert in the fold!
As far as your mid-range and tweeter concerns, give it time.
Having broken it several Wilsons over the years, you'll need 1200 + hours to get them fully settled.
And don't be afraid to hit them hard to loosen them up...

[Stereo-head]

Marc I enjoyed this review very much so. Thanks for posting and sharing. Some pics would be nice

[renabot77]

Great review, Marc. Which transparent cables were used in the dealer's demo and which cables do you use? Do you think in purchase higher level transparent cables in the future?

Best regards,

Renato

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by renabot77

Great review, Marc. Which transparent cables were used in the dealer's demo and which cables do you use? Do you think in purchase higher level transparent cables in the future?

Best regards,

Renato

I have Supers, and I think they had Reference. If I hear a difference, I am game for anything. I suppose I will try them at home.

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by Stereohead

Marc I enjoyed this review very much so. Thanks for posting and sharing. Some pics would be nice

I posted a bunch in my thread "sashas incoming". Here is a new one though.

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by Still-One

Marc
Very nice write up. It is good to hear that your new Sasha's are meeting your expectations.

If your speakers are already spiked one way to check your speaker set-up is to move your chair back and forth a few inches and raise and lower your ear height to see if you can find that midrange magic you heard at your dealers.

Jim, I have played with this exact thing, and it doesn't seem to quite match what I heard at the dealer. But I will do a few room treatments, which is easy. And I will play with placement at some point, but they are spiked and it's not easy to move these with only one person. As you know, the head unit is just sitting there, and rocking these around on spikes could be catastrophic if that thing falls off it's perch

Oh, and I need to try those upgraded speaker cables just to see what's what.