Wilson Audio Releases Sasha WP 15

[deacongreg]

We can dream, can`t we.........................

http://www.hometheaterreview.com/av-...y_15004019.php


Wilson Audio Releases Sasha W/P on May 15

* By: HomeTheaterReview.com

* Category:
* Floorstanding Speaker News, News

* Resources & Links:
* Wilson Audio


* May 13, 2009


Dave Wilson conceived and built the first WATT loudspeaker in 1985. He needed an accurate and portable location monitor for the series of audiophile recordings he was making during this time. In a way, Dave began the project out of frustration; finding nothing satisfactory in the market, he went to his garage and came out with the Wilson Audio Tiny Tot (WATT). News of his creation quickly spread through the audiophile community as Wilson used the WATTs to demonstrate his recordings at trade shows. Dave was soon inundated with requests to commercialize the product. Since the WATT featured exotic and expensive cabinet materials (mineral filled acrylic) and hand-tuned and hand-built crossovers, Dave knew the WATT would be a very expensive speaker to build. He was skeptical the market would accept it. Demand persisted and Wilson began production of the WATT. This marked Dave's transition from preeminent recordist to fulltime speaker manufacturer. Despite it's price - nearly twice that of its next most expensive competitor - the WATT sold moderately well.

The real breakthrough, however, came with the introduction of the Puppy - a dedicated woofer module for the WATT. Together, the WATT/Puppy was a formidable - and very compact - full range transducer. Over the years, the WATT/Puppy evolved through several iterations, taking full advantage of Wilson's materials research, driver developments, and crossover evolution. With the Series 6, Wilson introduced adjustable propagation delay - a then-patented strategy to time-align the drivers for a variety of installations. Wilson incorporated technology developed for its other speakers - X-1 Grand SLAMM, Sophia, and ultimately the Alexandria X-2. The latest iteration, the WATT/Puppy System 8 was the most refined and complete WATT/Puppy to date.

Since its introduction in 1987, Wilson Audio's WATT/Puppy has rewritten audio history. With nearly fifteen thousand units sold, it was an unprecedented market success in this price range. However, Wilson is not one to rest on its laurels; we knew that the time had come to rethink the WATT/Puppy concept.

When it comes to a loudspeaker's architectural design, Wilson's philosophy is driven by the notion that a loudspeaker's form is inextricably tied to its function. The unique aspects of correct propagation delay, modular construction, and attention to cabinet resonances have, for decades now, given Wilson loudspeakers their "look." We believe there is an intrinsic beauty that comes from an honest relationship between technology and aesthetic ideals. It is no coincidence, therefore, that many Wilson loudspeakers begin as sculpting clay in Dave's hands; he is an artist, his medium the loudspeaker. This tradition of art following function continues with the Sasha W/P. When it came to preconceiving the WATT/Puppy, the design team had some clear goals. But care was needed; the shape of the WATT has become so well-known over the years, it has literally become iconic - CES has used the WATT/Puppy-in-profile shape in it's signage designating the high-end portion of its show.

Improvements in milling techniques and technology at Wilson have enabled us to build more sophisticated enclosures with improvements in both performance and longevity. In the Sasha design, special attention was given to the upper module. While it pays homage to the original classic truncated pyramid emblematic of the original WATT, the Sasha is an all-new design. It is a dramatically beautiful departure from the original W/P concept, and yet Sasha will be instantly recognized as the WATT/Puppy's lineal descendant. From an engineering standpoint, the primary goal was to further reduce the already very low resonant enclosure of the upper module. To this end, the X-material side panels of the upper module are up to three times thicker. A new internal bracing strategy also contributes to the upper module's performance by lowering resonance-borne colorations. The crown jewel of the new cabinet is a new enclosure material designed in conjunction with the Sasha W/P project. In combination with X-material, this new midrange baffle material reduces measurable and audible noise and coloration in the midrange. This achievement is all the more remarkable given that Wilson's proprietary M4 material established the previous benchmark for midrange performance. The crossover previously located in the WATT has been moved to the bass module in a configuration very similar to that of the MAXX Series 3. The engineers were thus able to focus on the geography behind the midrange driver, where the crossover was located in the WATT, improving the back-wave performance of that driver. The bass module is larger and has greater volume: the extension in the bass has been improved and now is -3dB at 20Hz (Room Average Response - RAR).

New Midrange Driver:
The Sasha W/P features a simplified version of the remarkable new cellulose fiber/paper composite midrange driver developed for the Alexandria X-2 Series 2. During development of the Alexandria upgrade, Dave immersed himself in the study of the experience of live music. He was not just focused on the sound of live music, but also the numinous emotional experience felt when listening to music. It is through a disciplined and rigorous comparison of the live musical experience to music as expressed by Wilson loudspeakers that has driven many technological breakthroughs at Wilson. The Alexandria midrange is a case in point. In the Spring of 2006, Dave was fortunate to attend a rehearsal of the Mahler Symphony Number 2 in the Musikverein Concert Hall in Vienna, Austria. In the second movement, massed pizzicato strings dominate a passage. Dave was suddenly struck by what he was hearing. The music was not loud, but he noticed how the sound leaped from the strings with alacrity he had not heard in reproduced music - including from his own loudspeakers. The dynamic shadings of attack and decay were palpable. He could hear the resonant fullness of the wood of the cellos and double basses. The moment reminded him of how beautiful music could be - and where all loudspeakers Dave had heard fell short, including the current Wilson speakers. This transcendent moment became the inspiration for the development of the new Alexandria midrange. The midrange is now employed in a simplified version in the Sasha W/P.


Tweeter:
Sasha employs the tweeter from MAXX Series 3. As often happens, each new project becomes a platform on which new ideas are built and then used in subsequent projects. Thus, the tweeter evolution that began with the WATT/Puppy 8, followed by the Sophia Series 2, refined in the Alexandria Series 2, and ultimately in the MAXX Series 3, has come full circle to the Sasha W/P. The team has focused on new technologies and strategies that address time-domain distortions generated by the back wave behind the tweeter diaphragm. All tweeter diaphragms are partially acoustically transparent. Any out phase or time-delayed reflections that make their way out of the front of the diaphragm is heard and measured as noise and distortion. Wilson's tweeter topology dramatically reduces this distortion. The Sasha tweeter, which comes directly form the MAXX Series 3, uses much of the materials and configuration of the Alexandria tweeter. Proprietary materials in combination with proven mechanical configurations are extremely effective at reducing these time-delayed reflections behind the inverted dome, preventing them from corrupting the primary wave. This reduces measurable and audible in-band "noise" heard as artificial texture or grain.


New Woofer:
The Puppy woofer, which debuted in the System 7, has been worked over with special attention to the driver's motor; the Sasha woofer features a magnet structure twice the size of the previous Puppy woofer. The goal was to retain the impact and dynamic shading of the original design, but increase the overall speed, agility, and linearity of the bass. The new woofer also has much greater tonal shading and nuance.

Revised Crossovers:
The midrange/tweeter crossover module, previously located in the WATT, has been relocated to an isolated, reinforced chamber in the rear of the woofer enclosure. To account for the different acoustical signature of the Wilson's midrange driver and to exploit its ultra-high resolution, all crossovers have been modified and improved. The midrange crossover was tailored to the needs of the new driver. As is so often the case, the new midrange and tweeter, with the resultant higher resolution and lower noise floor, allowed Dave and the design team to hear deeper into the crossovers. More was done in the bass region as well. The design team's goal was greater linearity in the bass. The new crossovers are partially responsible for Sasha W/P's sense of dynamic alacrity and speed, as well as an improved sense of space and ambience retrieval - information previously partially obscured is now revealed clearly from a silent, black background. The bass crossover was also changed and improved. Bass clarity and midbass speed and impact have been affected.

Price: U.S. Retail - $26,900.00

Content-based pricing - the policy of basing price on the actual cost of manufacture - is a part of Wilson's commitment authenticity. This tradition continues with the Sasha W/P. The Sasha W/P was designed from the ground up to leverage the increased efficiencies inherent to Wilson's new manufacturing facility. So while the Sasha is more sophisticated and complex in every physical detail, the efficiencies that come as a result of this unprecedented collaboration between engineering and manufacturing have allowed us to introduce Sasha at a slightly lower price than the outgoing System 8.

Upgrade Program:
Wilson has a long tradition of supporting and protecting its loyal constituency of clients' investment in Wilson products. Because of massive changes in cabinet structure as well as the material being used in the construction of the enclosure, it is not possible to upgrade WATT/Puppy to Sasha W/P.

Availability:
First shipments for existing orders are scheduled for May 15. Please place orders for demo and sell-through needs as soon as possible to reserve your shipment position. The orders will be filled and shipped on a first come, first serve basis. Demo orders will be the first priority so all of Wilson's dealers and distributors can begin showing the Sasha. Customer sell-through orders will be scheduled after demo orders have been filled. Check with Jerron Marchant for specific ship dates for your order.

[brandonnash]

I am waiting to see if my local shop gets these in. I would like to hear a pair. I have heard the watt/puppy, the maxx, and the Alexandria before and they are all really nice. I think collectively they are the best sounding speakers I have heard. Of course I feel they are only bought by extreme audiophiles with decent money or people that just have a lot of money. I have also heard their bookshelf speakers and they sound great too, but still with a $10k+ price tag. I doubt I will ever be able to afford any of their speakers, but I would absolutely own a set if I had the opportunity.
Posted via Mobile Device

[deacongreg]

brandonnash wrote:

I am waiting to see if my local shop gets these in. I would like to hear a pair. I have heard the watt/puppy, the maxx, and the Alexandria before and they are all really nice. I think collectively they are the best sounding speakers I have heard. Of course I feel they are only bought by extreme audiophiles with decent money or people that just have a lot of money. I have also heard their bookshelf speakers and they sound great too, but still with a $10k+ price tag. I doubt I will ever be able to afford any of their speakers, but I would absolutely own a set if I had the opportunity.
Posted via Mobile Device

Let me know if your shop gets them. At least you can then audition them!!