Pls kindly recommend which combo could be better?

[boodokhan]

David says the Speaker is the most important, so I am very hesitant.

wilson audio alexia + Gryphon Diablo 300 or sasha2+Boulder 1010 1060

I wonder which combo should be my first choice if they have the same budget.Thank you.

 

[Whatmore]

Get the best speaker you can afford now. Actually, get a *better* speaker than you can afford and then start saving for an amp

 

[FrantzM]

Get the best speaker you can afford now. Actually, get a *better* speaker than you can afford and then start saving for an amp

+1000

 

[Billy Shears]

Alexia and the fantastic Diablo 300 without a second of hesitation!!!

 

[analog brother]

alexia likes antileon.
sabrina and siegfried would be a lovely match though.

 

[microstrip]

Consider the system as an whole and a time schedule to get it. In my very humble opinion selecting just the speaker can lead to a financial and spiritual disaster.

Again IMVHO without knowing musical preferences, space and total budget no one can give any useful advise.

I have experience with both the Alexia and Sasha - both are excellent speakers, but the Sasha's need a different approach from the Alexia's. But my heart would go towards the Alexia's proposition!

 

[FrantzM]

Consider the system as an whole and a time schedule to get it. In my very humble opinion selecting just the speaker can lead to a financial and spiritual disaster.

Again IMVHO without knowing musical preferences, space and total budget no one can give any useful advise.

I have experience with both the Alexia and Sasha - both are excellent speakers, but the Sasha's need a different approach from the Alexia's. But my heart would go towards the Alexia's proposition!

Come on microstrip!!

he/she is choosing within the same family of speakers, same brand.. Don't make it more complicated than it is .. he/she gets the best speaker he/she can afford and will later dwell ad aeternum on the amplifier.. Both amps are excellent ..

 

[microstrip]

Come on microstrip!!

he/she is choosing within the same family of speakers, same brand.. Don't make it more complicated than it is .. he/she gets the best speaker he/she can afford and will later dwell ad aeternum on the amplifier.. Both amps are excellent ..

Both amps are excellent if properly matched with speakers, cables and sources. Do you have direct experience with them driving very different Wilson speakers? I owned Alexia's , a good close friend owns the Sasha's. We have made a lot of experiences with them, but not with those amplifiers.

Sorry to say, but IMHO this nonchalant style get the best speaker you can and then wait for the lottery is poor advice, and most of the the time results in dissatisfied customers. If you look at opinions about Wilson speakers you will see a bipolar pattern - mostly due to those who listened to them in poor conditions or in well matched and setup systems. And yes, the high-end is a very complicated game. Making an inadequate and limited system (stereo) sound glorious is not an easy job. Surely, YMMV.

 

[Al M.]

Consider the system as an whole and a time schedule to get it. In my very humble opinion selecting just the speaker can lead to a financial and spiritual disaster.

You gave a good point here. Matching of amp/speaker is crucial, they should be considered as a pair.

Sorry to say, but IMHO this nonchalant style get the best speaker you can and then wait for the lottery is poor advice, and most of the the time results in dissatisfied customers.

Agreed. It is poor advice.

 

[FrantzM]

Both amps are excellent if properly matched with speakers, cables and sources. Do you have direct experience with them driving very different Wilson speakers? I owned Alexia's , a good close friend owns the Sasha's. We have made a lot of experiences with them, but not with those amplifiers.

Sorry to say, but IMHO this nonchalant style get the best speaker you can and then wait for the lottery is poor advice, and most of the the time results in dissatisfied customers. If you look at opinions about Wilson speakers you will see a bipolar pattern - mostly due to those who listened to them in poor conditions or in well matched and setup systems. And yes, the high-end is a very complicated game. Making an inadequate and limited system (stereo) sound glorious is not an easy job. Surely, YMMV.

No micro.. not a iota of experience with any of these (in all likelihood) fine amps. We are talking about Boulder and Gryphon here, however. Not run of the mill anything goes amps... And we are talking about Wilson speakers here .. What is sooooooo particular about these amps and speakers such that either combo wouldn't be a stellar one? Pray tell?

At the end we sit at opposite side of this spectrum. The OP will make his own decision. I know what most are thinking here .. if his room can accommodate the Alexia ..

 

[bonzo75]

David says the Speaker is the most important, so I am very hesitant.

wilson audio alexia + Gryphon Diablo 300 or sasha2+Boulder 1010 1060

I wonder which combo should be my first choice if they have the same budget.Thank you.

Better speaker now, and then build up for the amp, but you should hear the combo with your destination amp(s) to know where you are headed and decide to be patient, else you will think it's your speaker that's poor. Other strategy is to do what LL21 is doing. He has built up his electronics and is waiting for his final speaker that uses the same electronics, but then he has a very.good speaker now anyway. Given his electronics can be built up easier due to lower budget than the speaker, that makes sense.

The other thing is I have never heard a Wilson sound better with SS than with valves. The only SS combo I liked was when I heard the Alexandria X2S2 with dan momentum agostino and the pre, so i assume very high end SS amps can, but otherwise with valves they sounded much better. And even there I missed a valve in the chain. Alexia also sounded nice with a Reimyo. I am not a Wilson fan except for the Alexandrias, so YMMV

 

[Gregadd]

If you get the opportunity, here is a little experiment .Take a bad speaker, and pair it with an excellent amp. Then take a bad amp and pair it with an excellent speaker. The answer will be obvious.

 

[LL21]

Better speaker now, and then build up for the amp, but you should hear the combo with your destination amp(s) to know where you are headed and decide to be patient, else you will think it's your speaker that's poor. Other strategy is to do what LL21 is doing. He has built up his electronics and is waiting for his final speaker that uses the same electronics, but then he has a very.good speaker now anyway. Given his electronics can be built up easier due to lower budget than the speaker, that makes sense.

The other thing is I have never heard a Wilson sound better with SS than with valves. The only SS combo I liked was when I heard the Alexandria X2S2 with dan momentum agostino and the pre, so i assume very high end SS amps can, but otherwise with valves they sounded much better. And even there I missed a valve in the chain. Alexia also sounded nice with a Reimyo. I am not a Wilson fan except for the Alexandrias, so YMMV

Hi Bonzo, i am flattered you mentioned my approach as a 'strategy'. In truth, you've actually summarized my approach to audio equipment very well. I had a system in my mind and built towards it, one piece at a time, picking up each one 2nd hand or demo between 2008 and today. And exactly as you say, the electronics cost a lot less than their equivalent in speakers...so that big final piece is going to take some time, but in the meantime, i am perfectly happy listening to the big Wilsons and the big Velodyne.

 

[amirm]

If you get the opportunity, here is a little experiment .Take a bad speaker, and pair it with an excellent amp. Then take a bad amp and pair it with an excellent speaker. The answer will be obvious.

If someone already knows which are bad amps and speakers, then they can avoid both and be golden.

 

[microstrip]

(...) The other thing is I have never heard a Wilson sound better with SS than with valves. The only SS combo I liked was when I heard the Alexandria X2S2 with dan momentum agostino and the pre, so i assume very high end SS amps can, but otherwise with valves they sounded much better. And even there I missed a valve in the chain. Alexia also sounded nice with a Reimyo. I am not a Wilson fan except for the Alexandrias, so YMMV

I have owned a solid state amplifier that sounds great with Wilson speakers, even the X2S2 - the conrad johnson premier 350. And a few people have reported great results with Lamm hybrids such as the M1.2 reference. I have listened to the Momentum's sounding very good in the Alexia's but with the top Transparent Audio cabling than costs a almost as much as the speakers and a top source. BruceB used his Alexia's with Pass with great success (but without the Transparent Audio cables).

 

[Ron Resnick]

. . . The other thing is I have never heard a Wilson sound better with SS than with valves. . . . with valves they sounded much better. . . . .

You did not ask about tube amplifiers, but I agree with this. I like the Alexia and the Alexandrias.

I know the Diablo is popular and highly regarded, but I have never heard it.

 

[analog brother]

i agree - wilson sound better with valves. upper end arc and vtl work fine.
sasha is a difficult load, and alexia needs more power to adequately control the bottom-end, otherwise it can be a little flabby.
gryphon (separates) and momentum do a good job for ss from what i have experienced.
also, even though alexia is a smallish footprint, it still is essentially a large speaker which can be over-bearing in a small room.

 

[Gregadd]

If someone already knows which are bad amps and speakers, then they can avoid both and be golden.

Lol. True enough.
You are too young to remember this.
When a study revealed that mice developed cancer when fed massive amounts of cyclamates(artificial sweetner). Critics of the study said, just don't use massive amounts. Scietntists often exaggerate conditions for effect or to accelerate the process.
It is a good experiment for deciding which component is paramount.

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

The notion of "system" is brandished very often by some in the audiophile community. It does have some merit. You would not for example get the best out of a 3 watts SET if you were to use it with an 80 dB/w/m speaker .. flea-power SET to drive a Magico Q5 or worse a MBL 101... Past those obvious and IMHO absurd pairing, I fail to see how a Gryphon Diablo (300 solid Watts per channel) would not drive the Alexia well.. Having said this, audiophiles talk about the system approach but mostly reject active speakers, the epitome of a system: Speakers with multiple amps specially conceived to work with specific drivers within their range of operation. They are as rare as it can be in the High End Audio ecosystem.
As for the Valve vs SS, I have heard Wilson with both and would go for the SS. the OP also asked about two SS amps ...

Fact : Assuming adequate and well treated room, speakers are the foundation of a good system.. calls to the contrary aside. You start with the best speaker (and , again, room) you can get and move toward the amplification your current budget can afford you. There is a lot of calls for amps first. i believe those are more of a manifestation of an Audiophile ethos than results-based high fidelity system building

 

[Al M.]

David says the Speaker is the most important, so I am very hesitant.

wilson audio alexia + Gryphon Diablo 300 or sasha2+Boulder 1010 1060

I wonder which combo should be my first choice if they have the same budget.Thank you.

The source is most important. Resolution and tonality starts at the source. Rather spend money on a great source than on the best speaker. No speaker can rescue what is lacking from the source. The resolution of the amp is also critical.

I suppose that the David you mention is David Wilson. Of course he would say that the speaker is most important. He is a speaker manufacturer.