Sometimes I hate this forum software. I just had to try three devices to successfully edit. It just replaced my text with the link here.
I just watched John Darko’s review of the Wilson Audio Tune Tots. His reviews are interesting and very sincere. He has a conscience which is evident in his approach to audio. His musical tastes are not for me but hey, each to their own. Interestingly, in the background behind the Tune Tots, you can see a pair of BHK 300’s, stacked on a dolly. I know John communicates with Paul. I guess a review is forthcoming.
BHK300’s entered system 2 years ago today, 2,200 hours listening relegates what anyone else thinks or says interesting but of no practical importance to me. In my system, these are terrific amps.
He won’t need BHK for Wilson - very easy to drive and Hegel 390 is a bit overkill.
He’s right about Wilson, just Wow! That’s what my wife said. Don’t need comparison. I like his take on the bass. Even the Sabrina are not full range, but they have plenty of fantastic bass, so full range speakers is another thing I don’t need.
I wonder what speaker’s he’ll use for BHK. I seem to recall he had a pair of Harbeth. Much easier to drive than @Famavolat’s Focal.
Had the pleasure to hear Wilson Alexia’s when auditioning the Audio Research Reference 6 preamp with Audio Research GS150 stereo power amp. What a marvelous (but too expensive for me) combination that was.
That amplification should be perfect for Wilson. I wasn’t planning on buying Sabrina, it was my wife’s idea. I was smitten by the Sasha DAW, but too expensive and the wife hated them. V. Ugly.
I do like Darko, just no nonsense, honest and meaningful description of what a product can do. I like that he apologises for not having the time to make comparisons to other products, because that’s what consumers want to know - what the options are.
You may want to moderate this perspective. I think their hype may be more along the lines of “It doesn’t Require an Uber-Expensive or Uber-Powerful amp to drive our Very Expensive speakers”.
Speakers use whatever portion of an amp’s power they need, so the big thing is - how does it sound? To what degree does the speaker reveal the amp? To what degree does the amp let you hear what the speaker is capable of? Is it the most musical match? How good are “the bottom watts” of the amp, particularly if it is not a Class A amp topology? A 200 watt amp with only 20 linear bottom watts may not be the best pairing with speakers of this quality.
Also, people who know a lot more about this than me may take exception to the notion that the Wilsons present an easy load across their bandwidth. Though I’m sure a Sprout 100 and XVX’s would be killer.
I heard the Sasha DAW in a presentation by Brinkmann, using their best phono system including NOS valve power supply and Edison II phono, Lyra Atlas cartridge, bespoke Lyra step-up (a unique unit). They even brought along some copper master discs. Soulution 725 pre-amp and Trilogy 995R amplifiers. The digital was dCS Vivaldi.
The 995R was set up in Class A (valve) mode, in which it provides 40w continuous and 55w peak. It can be operated in Class A/B mode up to 200w, but was not necessary for the Sasha DAW.
It was possibly the most enjoyable system I’ve ever heard and was instrumental in my buying a pair of Wilson speakers.
I heard the Audio Research Reference 6 preamp with Audio Research GS150 in a demonstration by Peter Thomas of PMC. Even though he is the European distributor of Bryston, he likes AR. He brought along some direct cut uncompressed discs of percussion, which were pretty terrifying.
I’ve heard other Wilson in the same room as the Sasha DAW with larger amplifiers, such as Dan D’Agostino and Krell, but the 995R in 40w Class A mode were extraordinary.
So he knows what people want but doesn’t take the time to do it? To me that would mean to ignore his reviews because they are just suited for people already owning a device and wanting a non critical confirmation of their choice.
Seems like a cook who knows what meals people really want, but cooks easier ones due to too little time. I wouldn’t go there
True that. Specifically, not easy to drive well. Hook anything up to them and sure sound will emerge but gotta differenciate between able to drive and driving to full potential.
Whoa! I think the Sasha DAWs are beautiful! Would love to have those, amazing sound and looks. Fly yellow! dang, would def take those in a heartbeat and be satisfied for life. Oh well, shows how subjective everything is, haha
If you didn’t watch the video, he was offered Wilson TuneTot for only 4 days, not long enough to do a full review, for which he apologies and qualified his comments, but wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity to try them. He loved them. He was very clear throughout as to the limitations of his observations.
My wife loved the look and colour of the Sabrina in the store, so that was that. They had 4 or 5 other pairs of Wilson in the store and the larger they were the more she hated them. I loved the sound of the Sasha DAW but they are above my pay grade anyway.
My dealer has any number of hi-end power amplifiers available, D’Agostino, Naim Statement, McIntosh, Soulution, Audio Research, lots more, but would not have used an underpowered amp for Brinkmann, who had flown in from Denmark, and as the 995R is a hybrid amp he could have switched the mode into a top flight 200w amp in seconds.
One of the indispensable values of a good dealer is having the resources & experience to try many combinations of top components, discern which work best together & present those matches for their customers consideration. No small reason those Sabrina’s (their inherent quality notwithstanding) sounded so good I suspect.
