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But where the System 8 dissected the entrails of the music exposing all manner of audio engineering blunders, Sasha treads a line that would seem paradoxical. Play a badly engineered recording and you’ll still know it’s crap but somehow the Sasha makes it all the more listenable. This is especially true for brutally compressed recordings where the take-no-prisoners System 8 exposed the limitations of congested and dynamically crippled recordings. Sasha does not fully repair the damages of course but manages to separate the instrumental layers and extend the dynamic envelope considerably, providing the recording with a more open sound that shows more breathing space and less constriction.
And then that beauty and palpability from glowing glass atop the amps exposes a depth of tone, transparency and timbre that continues and builds on the Sasha’s own.
Resoulution: Complex mixes do not perturb the Sasha. I suspect something special is going on with the crossover and "anti jitter" technology. The crossover’s self noise or lack thereof makes for such a low level of hash and inter-driver harmonic interaction (or what I might also describe as a trail of inter-transducer overtone delay or smearing) that the tonal character of different instruments is as easily identified as is their spatial relationship to each other. This inter-driver silence is actually quite an important sonic feature that differentiates Sasha from System 8 and indeed just about any other speaker I’ve had through my listening room. |
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If I could draw an analogy it would be the three-lens film projector – one each for red, green and blue or tweeter, mid and bass. If I refer to its predecessor once again, the System 8 as extraordinary as it was ever so subtly misaligned the three colors. Visually it was like object edges had a just perceptible fringe of each color bleeding outwards. Sasha has dead sharp perfectly aligned edges for total inter-driver harmonic silence. I believe that this feature—which is better understood and identified once experienced —probably ties to what Wilson marketing calls anti-jitter technology.
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Coherence, imaging and soundstage: Can a large multi-driver speaker (now larger than ever) not only be coherent but manage to disappear? Yes it can. As Nick found, the Sasha’s four drivers gel together in a tonally balanced and even way that presents the music as though emanating from a point source.
Previous models were criticized for a somewhat uneven and tipped-up midbass that although likeable to some was thought to be a deviation from complete accuracy. Wilson has now expelled that anomaly.
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The Sasha presents a soundfield that throws images beyond the speaker positions with surprising width, depth and height. In doing so Sasha also places within this soundscape focused images in accurate positions within space. Now many speakers can do this—in fact most well-designed speakers at far lower prices can—but few large ones can manage to project such huge expanses of clear precise and delineated images so holistically and in full high resolution while totally disappearing (recording and room acoustics permitting).
What’s more, with the appropriate recordings the laser-accurate images inhabit a soundfield with a palpable organic density. Images have body and they shift and breath in line with the actions and microphone relationships of the performers themselves.
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Conclusion: A big thanks must go to Nick Bedworth for pitching this double-teaming idea to me. Here was a story worth telling - the contrasting comparison of two very different approaches each with its own merit to comment on the versatility of a speaker that's become a high-end reference. What’s more, in my case doing so also highlighted that high-quality low-powered SET amps can belie specs in how they successfully handle a speaker with a brutal ‘on paper’ load.
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So let’s dispel myths and stereotypes and in this case the engineers’ stubborn adherence to measurements and statistics. Yes an 18- and 35-watt SET amplifier should not be able to drive twin 8-inch woofers with a tough 1.8-ohm impedance. Never mind. These weaklings provided unrestricted dynamic contrast and powerful controlled bass. Both in-house SETs do that and more just as Nick’s high-power Odyssey Kismet monoblocks do. And perhaps one day I’ll find out that these outstanding thermionic and transistor amps maybe just maybe are sonically a helluva closer than thought possible.
Nick’s system and mine are total opposites. But I bet there’s as much music in them thar Hawaiian lushly green hills as there is in the sprawling metropolis of Harbour City Sydney. This only confirms the Sasha’s generous compatibility and versatility. She may superficially play hard to get but she’s a friendly and accommodating gal in the end.
And yes, the new Sasha W/P has become the reference for this writer. By owning several versions of WATT/Puppies previously I was lucky to possess invaluable tools for reviewing all manner of equipment and cabling. The WATT/Puppy always revealed and exposed any change and in doing so divulged technical clues that sometimes put the music away at arm’s length.
Not so with the Sasha W/P. What it does is yield generously the technicalities needed for a reviewer’s heady examination into a device’s performance while faithfully and beautifully presenting the musicians' intent as the emotional quotient and poetic purity of music. That makes it a reference on two counts, the mental appreciation realm and that of emotional conviction. |
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Quality of packing: Excellent wooden crates that provide full protection.
Reusability of packing: As many times as needed.
Ease of unpacking/repacking: Castors make it easy to wheel out of crates and into position. All that’s needed is a Philips head screw driver/drill gun.
Condition of component received: Perfect.
Completeness of delivery: Cone/spikes, floor protectors, tools, manual
Quality of owner's manual: Superb leather-bound manual with thorough and helpful instructions, positioning suggestions, general information etc
Ease of assembly: Easy one-man assembly
Website comments: Well designed website with ample product information
Warranty: 5 years
Human or web interactions: First rate. Company representatives were prompt and forthcoming with information requested.
Final comments & suggestions: None at this stage. |
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