Thor's Hammer

[Steve Williams]

This new passive subwoofer has been on the market for at least 6 months now and has gotten little if any reviews. Has anyone heard this subwoofer? It doesn't come cheap and I would bet that after the cost of amplification has been factored in the price will be north of $40K

Everyone knows I am a big time Wilson lover and have owned literall the entire line starting from the WP 5.1 and working up. I also owned the huge XS passive subwoofer with twin 18" drivers and it was pretty remarkable. In this day and age however I am surprised that Dave is still making a passive sub when most all other speaker manufacturers are making speakers with active subs and an included digital amp.

I am interested if anyone has heard Thor's hamer and what amplification was used and what were your impressions?

 

[LL21]

Hi Steve,

For starters, i have seen you post this twice (with no replies)...so i will share with you what i've been told by guys i know and rate. i've gotten to know a dealer well both professionally and personally here. Yes, they're dealers, but frankly they have no need to BS me on something like this. i have a nice system, but in this town, it pales in comparison to the mid to high 6-figure systems they install regularly. They told me they have installed a Thor in an all Krell/all Wilson X2 (II) system. All i can say is they said they came back from the installation, stunned into silence. They said 3 grown men flipped on the Thor (Krell amp) and put on some "lousy movie" to test the sub...and ended up watching the entire film start to finish because they were so transfixed by the quality, volume and awesome power of bass in the room. They said there was nothing in their professional experience that they had ever experienced that could match it.

That said, i do not know if they've ever installed 2 Gothams, nor a Krell MasterSub ($64K!). All I can say is these guys install some pretty high-end systems (low to mid 6-figures) around here (full Continuum Lab turntables, Metronomia Kalista ref, etc...) and are pretty jaded having heard ML STatements, X2 series 2s, you name it..and they said they were breathless...

...sorry if now i've induced you to go trial one...but hey, you asked! (twice!)

 

[Steve Williams]

I have never heard Thor's Hammer but bear in mind not only its cost but also that it is passive and requires extra expenditure on amplification. That plus the fact that most people use 2 subs....well you do the math and compare Thor + amplification cost vs A pair of active Gotham subs with built in amplification.

BTW, when I owned the Wilson XS, I powered it with a Krell 750 Mcx

 

[LL21]

Agree. For similar reasons, i run Velodyne DD18 in parallel with my X1/Grand Slamms with a 48db rollof from 35hz down (self-contained, clean, and super-adjustable to blend....well, blend for a bass freak like me). If you do end up hearing a Thor, pls post!

 

[JackD201]

From what I heard at your place, I'd be afraid to so much as touch a knob on your subs Steve.

 

[Roysen]

I know a lot of X2 installations also have one or a pair of Thor's Hammer subwoofers to completement the X2 bass. Because of this I hoped I could get answers to a couple of questions in regards to Thor's Hammer and in particular its crossover called The Controller here.

First of all - is The Controller a part of the Thor's Hammer product or to be more precise is The Controller delivered with Thor's Hammer and included in the price of a Thor's Hammer?

I hope to use a stereo pair of Thor's Hammer and understand that in standard configuration The Controller has two outputs to drive two Thor's Hammer's and that The Controller takes a stereo input and sums up both input channels on both its outputs. This might be good for a system using one Thor's Hammer but in a stereo system using a pair of Thor's Hammer you would want bass from the left channel only from the left Thor's Hammer and the bass output from the right channel only from the right Thor's Hammer. If each Thor's Hammer comes delivered with its dedicated The Controller maybe it is possible to connect just one channel interconnect to each The Controller and use them in mono configuration or maybe it is possible to deliver one The Controller which does not sum up both input channels on its outputs.

Another solution might be to use two The Controller's and Y-adopters on one set of outputs on the preamplifier. Then I could run a stereo pair of interconnects from the left channel Y-adapter on the preamplifier to the left and right channel inputs of The Controller for the left Thor's Hammer and a stereo pair of interconnects from the right channel Y-adapter on the preamplifier to the left and right channel inputs of The Controller for the right Thor's Hammer. This way only one channel bass will be on each The Controller's outputs even if it sums up both input channels on its outputs?

The main speakers will be Rockport Arrakis 2 and I wonder how frequency and phase coherent the integration will be since the main speakers and the subwoofers have seperate active crossovers. Are there any adjustments on The Controller to control this?

 

[GaryProtein]

I have never heard Thor's Hammer but bear in mind not only its cost but also that it is passive and requires extra expenditure on amplification. That plus the fact that most people use 2 subs....well you do the math and compare Thor + amplification cost vs A pair of active Gotham subs with built in amplification.

BTW, when I owned the Wilson XS, I powered it with a Krell 750 Mcx

Why did you get rid of the XS?

 

[audioguy]

Let's assume a Thor is the ultimate sub; best in the known and unknown Universe. In MOST rooms, two well placed subs that are still spectacular (e.g. Steve's subs) will easily give better results than a single sub. Smoothed frequency response is a must have to my ears. I have never heard the Thor but in virtually any room I have ever been in, I would easily take the dual Gothams and never look back. And for the $40K cost of the Thor, Steve could have 3 Gothams, and still be ahead NO contest!! Keep the Gothams.

Just my $0.02

 

[FrantzM]

Let's assume a Thor is the ultimate sub; best in the known and unknown Universe. In MOST rooms, two well placed subs that are still spectacular (e.g. Steve's subs) will easily give better results than a single sub. Smoothed frequency response is a must have to my ears. I have never heard the Thor but in virtually any room I have ever been in, I would easily take the dual Gothams and never look back. And for the $40K cost of the Thor, Steve could have 3 Gothams, and still be ahead NO contest!! Keep the Gothams.

Just my $0.02

+1 + Many .. Word!! Exactamundo... etc!!! And one has to wonder if one single hammer is superior to One single Gotham ... Allow me to have strong doubts ...

 

[Roysen]

+1 + Many .. Word!! Exactamundo... etc!!! And one has to wonder if one single hammer is superior to One single Gotham ... Allow me to have strong doubts ...

It would depend on the amplifier used with the Hammer I suppose.

 

[ack]

I haven't heard it either, but I feel the ultimate sub is passive - look at the top Genesis, Nola Grand Reference and others. I use REL for a number of reasons, one of which is the analog amp. In the end, for the ultimate sub, I feel you do need to be able to select the quality of the bass by choosing the right amp.

 

[Steve Williams]

Why did you get rid of the XS?

I bought a pair of JL Audio Gotham subs

 

[GaryProtein]

I bought a pair of JL Audio Gotham subs

OK, Why? What made you change your mind about the XS?

Didn't it simulate a Richter 8.0 in your living room?

 

[Steve Williams]

2 subs are better than one and I felt that it would be a better sound in my room. It was

 

[Odyno]

I had a chance to listen to the Thor's Hammer in a friend system.

They blended very well in his system.
Eventually I had a chance to listen to a pair of Reel Gibraltar in his system and stereo bass is a must if you are not analog only...

 

[microstrip]

Let's assume a Thor is the ultimate sub; best in the known and unknown Universe. In MOST rooms, two well placed subs that are still spectacular (e.g. Steve's subs) will easily give better results than a single sub. Smoothed frequency response is a must have to my ears. I have never heard the Thor but in virtually any room I have ever been in, I would easily take the dual Gothams and never look back. And for the $40K cost of the Thor, Steve could have 3 Gothams, and still be ahead NO contest!! Keep the Gothams.

Just my $0.02

Sorry, you are really stating that you never listened to the Thor and would never look back? Just consider that the people who own a IBF subwoofer seem very pleased with them, and as far as I know do not built multisub systems ...

The Thor should be used with a controller that includes an equalizer. And most probably Wilson Audio expects that some one buying such a beast has some kind of bass treatment in the room.

 

[microstrip]

2 subs are better than one and I felt that it would be a better sound in my room. It was

Steve,
A review of the Thor was published since you wrote the opening post:
http://www.avguide.com/review/wilson-audio-alexandria-x-2-series-2-loudspeakerthor-s-hammer-subwoofer-tas-218

Jacob Heilbrunn concluding remark says: When it comes to a big system that combines finesse with power, the Alexandrias and Thors are the most beautiful and truthful combination that I’ve ever heard. You have to invite him to listen to your system!

 

[Steve Williams]

I know the review very well.

I just thought that for the money (my money) a pair of Gotham subs could outperform the Thor's hammer. Certainly a pair of those plus amplification could easily set me back 2-3 times what the pair of Gotham subs cost me. I am not knocking the Thor. I am a die hard Wilson fan but for my ears, my budget and my room, I am very happy with the Gotham subs.

FWIW, in the new room that I am building I am probably going with a pair of Fathom F113's

 

[FrantzM]

Sorry, you are really stating that you never listened to the Thor and would never look back? Just consider that the people who own a IBF subwoofer seem very pleased with them, and as far as I know do not built multisub systems ...

The Thor should be used with a controller that includes an equalizer. And most probably Wilson Audio expects that some one buying such a beast has some kind of bass treatment in the room.

Steve is being his usual modest self .. he had the XS, I heard the XS.. It is good .. The Gotham is a step above in my opinion.. I spoke to Steve prior to him acquiring the Gothams. He had heard them at his friend's Marty who had replaced the woofers from his Pipedreams with a pair of Gotham, they were a much , much better blend in Steve's (and Marty's) opinion. Steve could not stop gushing about the Gotham ...
I also heard the XS in another systems.. Good subwoofers... But the Gotham is a different beast ... (Let's not forget the Paradigm Sub 2 (?) by the way another uber sub.
I am very interested in subwoofer and have heard quite a few not the Hammer to be honest but the best subs I have heard so far were not commercial but cost-no-object .. WAF be damned DIY... driven by Pro amps capable of much more power in this specific load than our dearest most expensive amplifiers .. I also believe and there are facts to that , that the best bass possible in most rooms is through the use of multiple subs a la Geddes or Welti-Devantier ... I know this will not be settled .. We will debate for a long time but Audioguy nailed it. You will not hear much from Steve in this debate I don't think he feels any need to move away from the GothamS (two of them!!thus the "S") .. He knows he did nail it with the Gothams, by its lone self one if not the best, certainly one of the 5 best commercially available subwoofer and with two ... Not much else to add except maybe a third JL Audio sub

 

[Steve Williams]

I agree Frantz.

In fact I have been considering either 2 F113's and an F112 or 3 F112's or possibly even a pair of F212's as the new room won't be as big as my previous room