The Alexia's are HERE!

[LL21]

Well I pulled the trigger and ordered a set of Stillpoints Ultra for the Alexia's. They're not in their final resting place yet but playing one of the best recorded grunge metal songs that I have heard lately, "Come As You Are by Nirvana" gives me goosebumps on top of goosebumps! The Alexia's are the best Wilson speaker I've heard properly setup.

Will be interesting to hear your feedback. I think you are on concrete, so i wonder what the differences will be. Being on wood over concerete, all i know is the Velodyne with no isolation was at volume 8...when i put on the Auralex subwoofer platform it went to 34...when i added the 3 Ultra 5s on top, it is now 42. But much tighter in both cases. So the floor was clearly a problem.

In your case, i will be most interested to hear what happens. On the installation, the distributor used the Wilson screw adaptors and left quite a bit of space between the underside of the speaker and the top fo the Ultra 5 (while still ensuring enough screw was in both components to be secure) in order to preserve the height of the speaker. You also leave space as per Turntable's photos as well...as part of the way the Ultra 5 and Ultra SS is designed to be installed in general.

Good luck.

 

[Bruce B]

Do you have it on tape ???

Yup..... Seattle is the birthplace of grunge.....

 

[andromedaaudio]

Cool

 

[audioline]

Lucky You

Well I pulled the trigger and ordered a set of Stillpoints Ultra for the Alexia's. They're not in their final resting place yet but playing one of the best recorded grunge metal songs that I have heard lately, "Come As You Are by Nirvana" gives me goosebumps on top of goosebumps! The Alexia's are the best Wilson speaker I've heard properly setup.

 

[MadFloyd]

I also can't wait to hear what you think.

 

[Enatai252]

Bruce,

Let me know your thoughts....I am considering whether to order a set under my new Alexia's....and wanted to decide prior to having them spiked. Since they are still breaking in...the casters are still on. I have carpet/pad over concrete so will be different than your setup...but would like to hear your impressions. I understand Bruce Jacobs from Stillpoints is in town.

 

[Bruce B]

Bruce,

Let me know your thoughts....I am considering whether to order a set under my new Alexia's....and wanted to decide prior to having them spiked. Since they are still breaking in...the casters are still on. I have carpet/pad over concrete so will be different than your setup...but would like to hear your impressions. I understand Bruce Jacobs from Stillpoints is in town.

Craig and Gary from Definitive were over last night teaking the speakers a bit more. They said they were having lunch with Bruce today and would get back with me this evening.

I would say that when they finished moving them around and putting them on the spikes, it's a night/day difference. Was playing Aaron Neville's "Use Me Up" and the bass was thumping me in the chest. The needles weren't even moving on the Pass amps, so whomever said the speakers were a tough load was BS.
They moved the speakers back towards the front wall about 2'. Think final resting place to front baffle was 39.5" from front wall, which puts it quite close. I'll be taking some measurements this evening and sending it to them.

 

[LL21]

Craig and Gary from Definitive were over last night teaking the speakers a bit more. They said they were having lunch with Bruce today and would get back with me this evening.

Very interesting...look forward to hearing the outcome of that lunch and your own thoughts soon.

 

[Orb]

Craig and Gary from Definitive were over last night teaking the speakers a bit more. They said they were having lunch with Bruce today and would get back with me this evening.

I would say that when they finished moving them around and putting them on the spikes, it's a night/day difference. Was playing Aaron Neville's "Use Me Up" and the bass was thumping me in the chest. The needles weren't even moving on the Pass amps, so whomever said the speakers were a tough load was BS.
......

Just to add Bruce, even if they are a tough load I am not surprised you do not notice it because Pass Labs do stunning electronics.
If I remember from Hifi News measurements; when looking at both impedance and phase angles this combines to give the equivalent of 1.8ohms just below 100hz (if I remember).
Not an issue I would say for the top tier design such as from Pass Labs, but certain design/topologies will have an issue.
No idea on their sensitivity across the frequency range though.

Cheers
Orb

 

[Steve Williams]

Just to add Bruce, even if they are a tough load I am not surprised you do not notice it because Pass Labs do stunning electronics.
If I remember from Hifi News measurements; when looking at both impedance and phase angles this combines to give the equivalent of 1.8ohms just below 100hz (if I remember).
Not an issue I would say for the top tier design such as from Pass Labs, but certain design/topologies will have an issue.
No idea on their sensitivity across the frequency range though.

Cheers
Orb

well you won't be running SET's through the Alexia, that's for sure. In fact when I was designing my new room it became apparent to me that if I couldn't get my X2's to function in the room and went with the Alexia I would end up having to sell my amp and preamp as well.

IIRC doesn't the Sasha have the same dip to 1.8 Ohms below 90 Hz

 

[Bruce B]

Just to add Bruce, even if they are a tough load I am not surprised you do not notice it because Pass Labs do stunning electronics.
If I remember from Hifi News measurements; when looking at both impedance and phase angles this combines to give the equivalent of 1.8ohms just below 100hz (if I remember).
Not an issue I would say for the top tier design such as from Pass Labs, but certain design/topologies will have an issue.
No idea on their sensitivity across the frequency range though.

Cheers
Orb

Well one reason I mentioned it was because of 2 other speakers I had in here for audition really made the amps struggle. One had the needles bouncing like it was a vu meter! Those speakers are the ISIS and MAXX3. You could actully hear the amps softening the transients and sounding compressed. That was the main reason I went with the MM3's because it was a benign load.
I was very reluctant putting the Alexia's in here, thinking I would have to get at least 300 watts or more, but Wilson assured me that I was fine.

 

[Bruce B]

When the speakers were first set up on 2/25, they sounded good.... not great. Of course they were new, still on casters and were just placed in the room somewhat where the other speakers were sitting. I did a measurement and could see it was not good.

 

[Bruce B]

After running the speakers almost 24/7 since 2/25, I feel the Alexia's are fully broken in. Craig and Gary from Definitive came here last night and put them on the spikes. For about 1.5 hours, they listened to everything from Peter McGrath's master tapes to Metalica. They did this all by ear with no measurements. They finally ended up at 39.75" from the front wall and 28" from the side wall. Toe-in you're able to just see a sliver of the inside speakers. I'm sitting at the 1/3 wave length of the 21' room.
Here you can see the response is much improved.

 

[Bruce B]

My Stillpoints should be here next week and they will be further tweaking the speakers. I think it can be better. I can honestly say this is the best the room has sounded... ever!

 

[treitz3]

It's amazing what a trained ear can do.

Tom

 

[MadFloyd]

Bruce, why are the amps in front of the speakers as opposed to back near the wall? Wouldn't the soundstage be better if the amps were pushed back?

 

[Steve Williams]

After running the speakers almost 24/7 since 2/25, I feel the Alexia's are fully broken in. Craig and Gary from Definitive came here last night and put them on the spikes. For about 1.5 hours, they listened to everything from Peter McGrath's master tapes to Metalica. They did this all by ear with no measurements. They finally ended up at 39.75" from the front wall and 28" from the side wall. Toe-in you're able to just see a sliver of the inside speakers. I'm sitting at the 1/3 wave length of the 21' room.
Here you can see the response is much improved.




View attachment 9308

Bruce can you show us what it looks like above 500 Hz

 

[Bruce B]

Bruce, why are the amps in front of the speakers as opposed to back near the wall? Wouldn't the soundstage be better if the amps were pushed back?

Because when they were initially set up, the front of the speakers and amps were in the same plane. Now in their new position, the speakers were 2' further back. Now I have to move my amps!

 

[mauidan]

They finally ended up at 39.75" from the front wall and 28" from the side wall. Toe-in you're able to just see a sliver of the inside speakers. I'm sitting at the 1/3 wave length of the 21' room.

Bruce,

Is the 39.75" your A1 or A2 measurement?

WASP Worksheet:

 

[Bruce B]

Bruce,

Is the 39.75" your A1 or A2 measurement?

WASP Worksheet:
View attachment 9322

A1