Xa 100.5 x xa 160.5

[Nostromo]

Im trying xa 160.5 to drive my wilson alexia instead of my xa 100.5
I was confortable with tha xa100.5 and my previus speakers sasha but now the dinamics improved and the bass is really better with the xa160.5
Have anyone the same experience ?

[Audioseduction]

I love my xa160.5s

[raidho]

Nostromo
what for a preampli you use?
a Pass (xp20 - xp30 ???)

for me the Xa100.5 are more as enough. the Pass are very powerfull and with 100watt class A in monoblock you have a amazing power in ampere and 2 (well 1 pro powerampli) electriticy parts!

if you will invest with a 160.5 go with this model...is your choice.



Audioseduction: the xa160.5 make fly the MLogan speaker, sure overpowered. imho.

Of course the xa160.5 if a great powerampli nohing to say but is too a $$ question.

I dont know how much you go pay for a pair of xa100.5 vs. the xa160.5 in Usa... in switzerland you go have a lot of money the you can use for other great products.

[Nostromo]

Raidho
i use the xp 30
I posted this tread just after testing the xa 160.5
As Wilson Alexia are current demanding speakers because the low impedance the changes with more power are really huge
With the xa 100.5 the needle didn t move and i thought thats one signal of enough power to drive the speakers
But only by hearing the xa 160.5 i could realize thats the diference is more than specs
better bass, presentation , focus and detail
I live in SP and the price difference is bigger than i spected but....
its a hard decision return to the dealer the xa 160.5
Today i will make another A/B test
regards

[raidho]

well with a Sasha the Xa100.50 give you a lot of satisfaction of course the Alexia mybe "need" (nort effective but for more enyoj) a powrampli like the 160.5.

I use a xp20 and x250.5 and I have teted for more months the xa100.5 with focal scala and Sasha.
more at the xa100.5 is not necessary...


a xa160.5 can be a powerampli for life (and for all future speaker upgrade - is possible!)

sure the XA in class A sound amazing but is you can try a x350.5! can be a big surprise ?!?!?!

[MadFloyd]

I have Alexias now but when I had Sashas I tried both the XA100.5 and the XA160.5.

There was no contest. The 100.5's could not drive the Sasha's woofers very well. Bass was loose. With the 160.5's it was MUCH better.

Alexias shouldn't be that different from Sashas in this regard.

Nostromo, your impressions match mine.

[jpspock]

I am surprised to read a xa100.5 should have problems with the bass of the sasha. They live together at home since 3 years and the bass is deep, articulate and very well controled, believe me.

[MadFloyd]

Originally Posted by jpspock

I am surprised to read a xa100.5 should have problems with the bass of the sasha. They live together at home since 3 years and the bass is deep, articulate and very well controled, believe me.

Sometimes you have to hear it properly driven to recognize when it's not.

[PlanarSpeakerFan]

Originally Posted by MadFloyd

I have Alexias now but when I had Sashas I tried both the XA100.5 and the XA160.5.

There was no contest. The 100.5's could not drive the Sasha's woofers very well. Bass was loose. With the 160.5's it was MUCH better.

Alexias shouldn't be that different from Sashas in this regard.

Nostromo, your impressions match mine.

Hi Floyd,

May I ask what preamp were you using when auditioned the XA-100.5 and XA-160.5? There's no question that the XA-160.5s offer more robust bass than the XA-100.5s. However, my experience with the XA-100.5s pretty much matches JPSpock's on my Revel Salon 2s, deep, articulate and well defined bass.

Best,
Ken

[MadFloyd]

Originally Posted by PlanarSpeakerFan

Hi Floyd,

May I ask what preamp were you using when auditioned the XA-100.5 and XA-160.5? There's no question that the XA-160.5s offer more robust bass than the XA-100.5s. However, my experience with the XA-100.5s pretty much matches JPSpock's on my Revel Salon 2s, deep, articulate and well defined bass.

Best,
Ken

This is going back over 2 years ago and I went through a bunch of preamps at that time so it's hard to say. I had both tube and solid state. One of them would have been an H20 Fire. I had the XP-20 at one point, but not sure if that was back when I had Sophia 2's. Tube pre's that I might of had at that time were an Audio Valve Eclilpse and a Joule Electra LA-150 II Signature.

Ken, I'm not saying that the XA-100.5's are not capable of delivering good bass on a speaker, I'm saying that ( in my opinion) it's not an optimal match for the impedance challenged Sasha or Alexia. Heck, right now I'm using a tube amp with my Alexias and while it does an admirable job of driving the bass, if I switch to a well matched solid state amp there's a huge difference that is very enlightening.