{"id":29891,"date":"2021-10-19T12:43:49","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T10:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hifi-advice.com\/blog\/?p=29891"},"modified":"2021-11-16T22:47:23","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T20:47:23","slug":"reference-sounds-wilson-alexx-v","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hifi-advice.com\/blog\/specials\/reference-sounds-wilson-alexx-v\/","title":{"rendered":"Reference Sounds – Wilson Alexx V with Dan D’Agostino"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just a week ago, I received an email from Michael Huigen of Dutch Distributor Reference Sounds with the subject “Invitation for the Wilson Audio Alexx V Listening Session”. Well, the first image inside that mail was already enough to make me decide right away to come and listen. I mean, look<\/em> at this beast!<\/p>\n

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The bright orange may not appeal to everyone but of course, in true Wilson fashion, the speakers are available in a wide range of colors, such as the very classy Galaxy Grey finish below.<\/p>\n

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This review will be divided into three sections, the first section on this page covering the new speaker’s technical aspects, the second section<\/a> on the next page covering the Reference Sounds room, its equipment, and the Alexx V’s aesthetics, and the third section<\/a> on the final page covering my listening impressions.<\/p>\n

Alexx<\/h3>\n

In 2016 Wilson Audio introduced the Alexx, a speaker that for many marked an absolute reference that combined the footprint of the legendary MAXX with the accuracy of the Alexandria XLF. Until then, the degree of adjustability and precision in the time domain was reserved only for Wilson’s largest models.<\/p>\n

The key to a convincing illusion, according to Wilson Audio, lies in the time domain; a musical impulse distributed over several drivers can only be realistically reproduced if the energy of those drivers reaches the listener simultaneously and at the correct angle.<\/p>\n

The seat height and listening distance are different in every listening room. That is why a Wilson Audio speaker allows to physically adjust the positioning and angle of the independent speaker head\u00a0so that the drivers are not only time-aligned but also merge into one coherent whole. With the Alexx V, these adjustments can be made more finely and are more precisely adjustable than with its predecessor.<\/p>\n

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Wilson Audio never stops striving for better results and is continuously optimizing every element of a speaker’s design, always with lifelike rendering as the ultimate goal.<\/p>\n

The WAMM Master Chronosonic and Chronosonic XVX are the most recent achievements, pulling out all the stops to develop the world’s most realistic sounding loudspeakers. With that knowledge and the original Alexx as a starting point, Daryl worked on a new masterpiece, the Wilson Audio Alexx V that was introduced earlier this year.<\/p>\n

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Differences between Alexx and Alexx V<\/h3>\n

Below, you can see the original Maxx on the left and the new Maxx V on the right. What you note right away is that the gantry side panels are now vented. While I personally love the open look, Wilson has provided grilles to visually fill in the cavities while keeping them sonically open, if so desired.<\/p>\n

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Despite many improved points, the size of the Alexx V has remained virtually unchanged. Indeed, the improvements mainly take place at a detailed level. Below is a selection of the improvements Wilson Audio has made with the Alexx V.<\/p>\n

Physical<\/h3>\n

The Utah, Salt Lake City-inspired lines reflect a completely new setup of the ‘wing assembly’ – the side panel structures that together form the basis for the individually adjustable heads of the two Midranges and Tweeter housing. The panels are further reinforced with aluminum and are now open on the sides. This setup gives any acoustic energy build-up around the modules a free exit to the outside and provides an immediate and very interesting view of the beautiful adjustment mechanism. To make the correct placement of the modules even easier, Wilson Audio has integrated special LED lighting for an optimal view of the time-alignment mechanism. The open side panels can be covered with a seamlessly fitting grill after installation.<\/p>\n

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Above are the four tweeter incarnations that proceeded the latest version on the right, also shown below, along with the 3D-printed rear enclosure, shown from two angles.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Drivers<\/h3>\n

Wilson Audio’s Convergent Synergy Dome tweeter also found its way into the Alexx V. However, the engineering team has managed to further optimize this tweeter by implementing a 3D printed Carbon housing to connect with the internal air volume. Thanks to all the in-house development, Wilson Audio has also been able to further perfect the frequency range of the tweeter, especially at the bottom, true to its ideal of using the tweeter at the lowest possible frequency. In the loudspeaker assembly, the tweeter is flanked by a 5’75” Doper Paper Pulp midrange on the top and a 7″ Paper Pulp Composite midrange on the bottom. The Midrange-Tweeter-Midrange configuration is chosen with deliberately unequal midrange diameters.<\/p>\n

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The 7\u201d midrange is equipped with an Alnico magnet construction consisting of four small magnets around the voice coil, thanks to which the driver gives a phenomenal impulse response, very low distortion, and extremely low energy losses in the motor structure. According to the manufacturer, this gives the Alexx V a breath and openness previously reserved for the gigantic XVX.<\/p>\n

The bass drivers are also a direct descendant of Wilson’s top models. A combination of a 10.5\u201d and 12.5\u201d woofer in one bass-reflex cabinet construction provides the robust foundation for which Wilson Audio is known. Thanks to the revised cabinet construction and external interconnecting cable architecture, the internal air volume of the woofer housing increased by approximately 16%, allowing the Alexx V’s bass to dive even deeper than before.<\/p>\n

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Above, you can see the old Alexx’s cable system which connects to the individual speaker heads while hiding surplus cable length in a special cavity within the bass cabinet. Below, you can see the new Alexx V’s cable system which connects the other way around: from the heads to the bass cabinet, freeing up space inside the latter. Now, the surplus cable can be pushed inside the respective head, after which lockable entry nuts make an air-tight seal.<\/em><\/p>\n

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A really interesting new feature is the possibility to adapt the Alexx V on location from front-ported to rear-ported or vice versa. Just what suits the situation and acoustics best. The crossover has also been scrutinized and fitted with Wilson Audio’s proprietary AudioCapX capacitors for the very best signal integrity and virtually negligible tolerance. Extra attention has also been paid to the speaker’s impedance curve and efficiency so that the Alexx V is slightly easier to drive than its predecessor.<\/p>\n

Cabinet and floor-coupling<\/h3>\n

The absence of cabinet coloration has always been a great asset of many Wilson Audio speakers. From the very first model, extremely rigid cabinet constructions based on phenolic resin composite materials have been used. Over the years, Wilson has been able to further optimize these materials and their application by means of advanced laser resonance measuring equipment.<\/p>\n

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The most recent innovation in that long history is Wilson Audio’s V-material that is extremely difficult to machine, but ideal for building rigid, low-resonance loudspeakers. You can therefore find this composite material in strategic places in the Alexx V, together with Wilson’s X and S Material.<\/p>\n

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The level of engineering expertise also finds its way into Wilson Audio’s new Acoustic Diode. A completely newly developed spike in which Wilson Audio uses the new V-material combination to further help eliminate the last traces of vibration in the transition from speaker to floor.<\/p>\n

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Above, you can see the development of the Wilson Acoustic Diode over the years, with the latest version on the far right. On the left, the assembly’s bi-material construction using stainless steel and V-material can be seen.<\/p>\n

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Here’s a final look at the open architecture gantry first launched with WAMM Master Chronosonic, followed by Chronosonic XVX, and which has now found a home with the new Alexx V.<\/p>\n

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Next: Visiting Reference Sounds to hear the new Alexx V.<\/p>\n

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Visiting Reference Sounds<\/h3>\n

As the summer of 2021 has passed, October marks the moment when we can now experience this magnificent speaker at the recently relocated Reference Sounds showroom in Almere, near Amsterdam in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

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On October 13th, I drove to Almere, where I was enthusiastically received by Michael. As he told me all the ins and outs of the new Alexx V I almost forgot to take some pictures of the reception lobby. It’s a shame as I would have like to better show off this area than I am capable of now. Honestly, Michael’s lobby is larger than many entire stores, and -cough- probably has better sound coming from the custom-designed multi-speaker ceiling sound system than some “proper” HiFi systems.<\/p>\n

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Above, you can see the Sasha DAW’s that I reviewed in a previous Reference Sounds Company Special<\/a> in glorious blue, with a Dan D’Agostino Progression power amplifier in the back, accompanied by a preamp from the latest brand that Reference Sounds acquired, which is another favorite of mine: Audio Research!<\/p>\n

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The wall-mounted tiles near the main demo room entrance show all the current brands, except for the brand-new addition HRS (Harmonic Resolution Systems). Known to me mainly from American audio magazines such as Stereophile and The Absolute Sound, the brand makes big and heavy racks but also floor platforms (Isolation Bases), feet, dampers, and other accessories. As I would later find out, the Dan D’Agostino preamp and the two mono amplifiers have each been positioned on one of the brand’s Isolation Bases.<\/p>\n

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Here’s another peek across the Reference Sound reception lobby, revealing a Revel speaker in addition to Dan D’Agostino and Audio Research. Incidentally, on the building’s second floor, there is a separate room to showcase the Revel product line, a domotica room, and a dedicated full-blow cinema room.<\/p>\n

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Here we enter the tastefully designed and acoustically carefully treated main demo room, where absorber- and diffusion panels are seamlessly and beautifully integrated into the interior.<\/p>\n

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Especially for this demo, Michael has arranged a dCS front end, supplied by Dutch Distributor More Music. What we have here is the Rossini SACD player and DAC, along with the Rossini Master Clock, with an HRS Damping Plate on top.<\/p>\n

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The dCS Rossini outputs its signals to the D’Agostino Momentum preamp via Transparent Ultra Gen 6 balanced interlinks. The source components are all powered by a Transparent Gen 6 Reference Power Isolator, using Transparent Gen 6 premium power cables.<\/p>\n

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Here’s the Dan D’Agostino Momentum preamp, proudly sitting atop an HRS Isolation Base.<\/p>\n

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Here’s a box of HRS Nimbus goodies. If all goes as planned, I will be covering this brand in more detail in a future review.<\/p>\n

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On a side table in the demo room, I noticed a book, casually opened on the pages showing the Wamm Master Chronosonic, to which the Alexx V owes many of its design features. At close to 700.000 euros,\u00a0 these masterpieces sort of make the Alexx V look almost affordable at 160.000 euros. Well, still not quite, for most of us, alas.<\/p>\n

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And now, we finally arrive at the main subject of this article, the Alexx V speakers in Cranberry Pearl, driven by the gorgeous D’Agostino Momentum mono power amplifiers. The interlinks between the preamp and the power amps are also balanced Transparent Ultra Gen 6 while the speaker cables are Transparent Reference Gen 5 as that turned out to make a better match with these power amplifiers.<\/p>\n

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The Dan D’Agostino Momentum mono power amplifiers are powered directly from the wall outlets, using Transparent Gen 6 Premium Power Cables.<\/p>\n

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No doubt there will be people who think these speakers are overly technical-looking but I personally think they are absolutely gorgeous and magnificently engineered. Seriously, just look<\/em> at the below details and tell me that this does not instill a sense of awe…<\/p>\n

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Next: Listening Impressions<\/p>\n

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Listening Impressions<\/h3>\n

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For my listening session, Michael had also invited another reviewer and had prepared a short Roon playlist that he played for us while we rotated our seating positions for each track to make sure we both got equal exposure in the room’s ideal spot. After the demo, Michael retreated with the other reviewer and handed me the iPad so that I could make my own selections, a privilege that I made use of for well over an hour.<\/p>\n

The first thing I noticed while Michael played the first track, was how marvelously realistic the midrange was. Wilsons always had this special quality in the midrange that made you feel like you were listening to the real thing. It was always a mixture of presence, openness, attack, and dynamics, and the same was heard with the Alexx V, but now accompanied by an amazing level of transparency and focus, an unprecedented level of coherence, zero coloration, and an utter lack of edge. Transients felt absolutely instant and were positively startling but never hard, let alone aggressive. It soon became clear that these speakers do not need to play loudly in order to convey the realism that they are capable of, but they certainly provoke it! If ever I heard a speaker with limitless dynamic headroom, the Alexx V is it.<\/p>\n

But these speakers are not one-trick ponies, far from it, in fact. But what they do particularly well is to convey the lifelike, human aspect of vocals, string instruments, and natural percussion. But they are equally as impressive when playing hard-hitting house or other electronic music. In fact, with the latter, specifically, the Alexx V’s seem to beg the user to turn up the volume just a little more. No kidding, when Michael played dub-techno-y track, I was grinning from ear to ear.<\/p>\n

One expects great bass from speakers this size, and naturally, that is what they deliver. The bass goes as deep as any note on any of the tracks that Michael or I played, and probably considerably lower still and at full force. But don’t think for a minute that these big boys produce ploddy or overblown bass. The Alexx V’s are very fast speakers, and their bass sections remain strictly within that concept. There is a silent force and superb grip behind the woofers but never in an excessive manner. If I were to be guided in this room blindfolded, I certainly would not have guessed these speakers’ size, judging from the sound of the bass. And that is honestly one of the biggest compliments that one can give to a large system like this.<\/p>\n

There is simply none of the lingering flabbiness that is sometimes associated with big bass drivers in large cabinets. Nope, the Alexx V bass section starts and stops every bit as instantly as that of the Sasha DAW’s and I’m under the impression that it is even better integrated with the rest of the frequency range. Perhaps that’s another benefit of these speakers’ super-accurate time-domain adjustment capabilities.<\/p>\n

Something else that I noticed was that while the speakers at 161cm are physically quite tall, vocals are not projected as high as you would expect given the drivers’ positions. I made sure to listen to this aspect with my eyes closed so as to not allow my mind to play tricks on me based on the visual input, but sure enough, I heard it right. Maybe one would expect a singer’s voice to be located on a virtual line at a height across the upper midrange drivers but that’s not the case, and neither is the voice located on the tweeters’ horizontal level. Actually, it is projected at the same height as the lower midrange drivers, which is spot-on perfect as far as I am concerned. This is not a deficiency or downside, but again actually the biggest compliment that one can give to speakers of this size. When discussing this with Michael he smiled in recognition and went on to explain that this is another benefit of the fully adjustable speaker pods and how the top two are slightly tilted down.<\/p>\n

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Of course, I paid special attention to the integration of the 5 drivers but try as I might, I could not detect the crossover points, nor did I hear an inherent character in any of the drivers. The speakers simply sounded as one. The only valid conclusion that I could reach (again, with my eyes closed just to be sure) is that you can indeed hear that these are large speakers, not because of image focus height or a lack of coherence or integration but simply because they have a large radiating area.<\/p>\n

I know there are people who swear by two-way speakers for their simplicity, preferably even with a coaxial or a full-range single driver, for their resultant purity and intimacy, and no doubt these people would see their opinions validated when listening to these speakers. I heard a similar effect with the very tall Magnepans and Apogees that I used for over a decade but this aspect never bothered me. My current Magico S1 mkII’s do indeed image on a more narrow horizontal plane and I can see the allure of this, but this effect is hugely overshadowed by how massively<\/em> better the Alexx V’s are in terms of imaging.<\/p>\n

First, I should note that the sharpness and precision of focus between the speakers with the Wilsons are more or less on par with what I am hearing at home with the simple Magicos. While that may seem like faint praise it is actually a huge<\/em> accomplishment for the Wilsons. After all, with so many drivers, there is all the more opportunity for phase errors. But more significantly, the Wilsons simply walk all over the Magicos, not only the S1 MkII’s but any<\/em> model that I have heard, in terms of soundstage depth, spaciousness, and layering.<\/p>\n

There are speakers that always sound wide or deep but this is not what the Alexx V does. Rather, these speakers follow whatever is in the recording and can sound utterly monoaural like a single speaker or like a fully-equipped surround theater, just as easily.<\/p>\n

One of the recordings that Michael played was eerily spacious and razor-sharp in imaging at the same time. It contained certain mono sounds that were portrayed smack in the middle and right in front of me with great clarity and certain other sounds that seemed to have been recorded out of phase. These latter sounds did not simply float somewhere besides my head but they converged behind me and with the same razor-like precision as the mono sounds in front of me.<\/p>\n

In the field of resolution and precision, as far as I can tell from the last time I visited the Reference Sounds room, the Alexx V’s are at least on par with the DAW’s but I can’t shake the feeling that these big boys are even more linear and transparent than the DAW’s which were already great in these departments.<\/p>\n

Room Acoustics<\/h3>\n

There’s one thing that one should keep in mind, which is that Wilson Audio speakers are designed in the USA where they are almost always used in rooms with walls of wood and sheetrock construction. In many parts of Europe and the Netherlands in particular, our houses are made with thick concrete floors and walls and are often smaller than in America.<\/p>\n

On occasion, I’ve been at demos, although never those organized by Michael, where Wilson speakers were crammed in small demo rooms where they excited room modes to the point where they were impossible to ignore. Alternatively, or sometimes coincidently, Wilsons can sound overly bass-heavy, in non-sympathetic rooms. Often, that means small<\/em> rooms or fully concrete rooms, but the exemplary bass performance in Michael’s Reference Sounds room is actually proving this statement wrong.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, I have first-hand experience with the Watt\/Puppy 8’s in my own listening room that was at that time plagued by multiple issues and which is why I moved to Martin Logans (with active and adjustable bass) and more recently small Magicos (with a closed cabinet), before finally fully optimizing my room very recently. Suffice to say, if your room is too small, or has acoustic issues, some speakers can actively or passively fight against this but Wilson speakers will not ignore the issues. Rather, they may make them worse.<\/p>\n

However, as I’ve noted above, these issues are not present in the relatively small Reference Sounds room. This is because Michael has made sure to fully optimize the room using in-house expertise and a variety of techniques, calculated by Michael and his team and executed on their specification by their interior builder, obviously with excellent results.<\/p>\n

Is there anything the Alexx V’s can’t<\/em> do? Well, there’s one area where I noticed something, but that’s admittedly splitting hairs. It’s that although the Alexx V’s bass section has superb grip and authority, and it goes deeper than required by even the most insane dub-techno tracks, there seems to be a mild dip in the speaker’s low bass response, after which it happily continues at full power into the sub-bass terrain. Not being sure if I was hearing room-induced effects, I discussed this with Michael and he explained that Wilson Audio has indeed deliberately chosen to let the woofers’ direct output roll off slightly before taking over with the reflex port. Apparently, it was the slight dip at the takeover point that I noticed. This has been done to make the speaker work better in many rooms and, honestly, I much<\/em> prefer it over a speaker that has an audibly raised takeover point.<\/p>\n

This design decision was the only minor observation that I could make. I wouldn’t even call it a flaw. In fact, if these speakers had any flaws, then I could not detect them. Just as well for a speaker that commands a starting price of 160.000 euros, I hear you say? Indeed, at that price level, one expects perfection. But if I have learned anything during all my years with audio equipment, it’s that perfection is rarely what one gets, even when the cost is no object.<\/p>\n

Indeed, unless one desires the simple purity of a two-way or point-source speaker, and provided that one has the funds to obtain something in this price class, and the room supports them, the Alexx V ranks in the stratosphere where it is joined by only a handful of top-model speakers from brands such as Magico, YG Acoustics, and a few others.<\/p>\n

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It is my personal belief that the perfect speaker<\/em> does not exist. Furthermore, when you move up the product line or a given brand, the higher-tier models often offer certain improvements at the cost of a lessening of performance in other areas. I don’t want to name names, but in my opinion, one of my personal favorite brands starting with M (and ending with agico) steps in this trap where more upscale models routinely offer better bass and in many cases greater midrange clarity but also take a penalty in the fields of purity and soundstaging. The Wilson Alexx V is unique for offering all of the Wilson brand strengths, all to the max, and without taking away anything in any area. Now, the devil in me wonders what more the WAMM Master Chronosonic could possibly offer. Surely, it would be diminishing returns, right? Just as it is (not) when stepping up from Sasha DAW via Alexia 2 to Alexx V… going from my experience with Wilson Audio thus far, I think it’s probably safest not to go listen to any of their higher-tier speakers if you can’t afford them.<\/p>\n

Would you like a listening session?<\/h3>\n

Reference Sounds is not just a distributor, but also functions as an extension of their extensive dealer network, and Michael is always happy to demonstrate the products in his Almere Listening Room by appointment.<\/p>\n

More Reference Sounds<\/h3>\n

HFA Company Special (the old Amstelveen location)<\/a>
\nReference Sounds \u2013 Wilson Alexx V with Audio Research<\/a><\/p>\n

Video on the Hifi-Advice YouTube Channel<\/h3>\n

Wilson Audio Alexx V showcase at Reference Sounds<\/a><\/p>\n

External Links<\/h3>\n

www.referencesounds.nl<\/a>
\nWilson Audio<\/a><\/p>\n

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