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Wilson Audio enjoys a strong reputation with studios and recording professionals. Yet, most of Wilson’s sales are for home use; music lovers, ultimate home theaters, or affluent buyers who simply appreciate the industrial artwork. |
"As great a loudspeaker as the original X-2 is, the new Series 2 takes the performance to another level." "The upgrade is substantial, improving the X-2 throughout the entire midrange, which is the fat part of any speaker's musical spectrum." Read More PART 1: PART 2: PART 3: "Perhaps the greatest single impression I can convey concerning the Alexandria X-2's development is that every minute detail was explored and perfected to the best of Wilson Audio's abilities. I have no doubt they are holding nothing back—nothing was left on the table." Read More "With a system of the finest pedigree, I was able to explore musical realism beyond anything I'd ever heard from an audio system." Read More The World's Best Audio System "Some high-end speakers charms are mostly cerebral they deliver solution and a wealth of sonic detail but the X-2 summons something more akin to a whole-body experience. The speaker so totally engages the listener that it will not let you multitask; you may find it next to impossible to read, cook or do anything else but listen when your X-2s are in their full glory. The sound demands your full attention." Read More "Before letting me loose with my own CDs, Dave demonstrated the X-1 and X-2 side-by-side. It proved to be one of the most disconcerting experiences I have ever been subjected to as a reviewer. Using recordings from Diana Krall and others, we listened to the X-1. It was sublime. I sat there wondering what on earth could the X-2 do that I wasn't already hearing. Using a switch box fashioned by Wilson, I A/B'd the two. To the shock of all present—the Wilson household is not where one uses salty language—I blurted out, after a mere three seconds, a loud 'Bloody hell!'" Read More
"But here and now, to my tastes, the Wilson Audio Specialties MAXX Series 2 stands alone at the summit of overall sonic performance. Given the number of audio critics - and, perhaps more tellingly, audio manufacturers - who use the MAXX 2 as their in-house evaluative reference, I know I am not alone in that judgement. The MAXX 2 really is that good." Read More "MAXX Series 2 has a top-to-bottom coherence, tonally and dynamically, that makes it disappear into the music." Read More " Having heard the MAXX2s in many different venues, every one of them larger than my room, I knew what they were capable of achieving. I just didn't expect to get the full effect in my room. Boy, was I surprised. My usual assortment of listening pals, ranging from casual audiophiles to name-brand mastering engineers, all reacted similarly on hearing the MAXX2s reproduce whatever recording they played first: laughing and cursing, cursing and laughing, expletives not deleted." Read More "No audio product...has revealed more of what's happening on each recording than the MAXX 2. . . Would I buy MAXX 2s? Absolutely. They are the most significant product I've written about in my eight years as an audio reviewer." Read More
"Smooth almost to the point of being laid back, t seduces the ear with its very low distortion, excellent perspectives and stable deep imaging. It is easy to get on with, yet has rewarding levels of detail, and one of the best treble sounds in the business." Read More "But here's the thing: You do have to hear this loudspeaker - otherwise, no matter what speaker you choose, you'll always wonder: Is this as good as a WATT/Puppy System 8"www.hificritic.com "The WATT/Puppy 8 may represent the most radical remaking of the speaker yet, though you would never know it from outward appearances." Read More "The WATT/Puppy 8 is now one of the most cohesive-sounding multi-driver dynamic speakers on the market. In fact, I can't think of one that's better. High to low, the System 8 is steady and unbroken in tonal quality, sounding neither forward nor recessed, warm nor cool, lean nor rich. This makes the WATT/Puppy 8 a speaker for all kinds of music, not one that sounds best with classical or jazz but falls apart with electrified rock." Read More "A book could be written about WATT/Puppy lore, but its past few generations have seen the speaker come into its prime. What’s most relevant to this review is how the 8 differs from the 7, which was a success in terms of units sold, positive reviews, and almost any other measure."Read More "From the outside, the changes are subtle, almost invisible, but under the skin, major surgery has taken place and the results aren't just renewed vigour. I expected the audio equivalent of a hip replacement, what I got was the bionic man!" "From what I hear the Series 8 doing, I accept without question that everything about this speaker system is on sonically solid ground." Read More
" This setup, with a street value of next to nothing, produced astonishingly satisfying sound. . . .Thus, you can appreciate the Sophia 2s with rather modest but well-chosen equipment, and they will certainly respond as the ancillary equipment improves."Read More "Bley features the familiar melody with the reverent hush of a grateful citizen, in others the piece metastasizes into something disturbingly dark and frightful—but it always sounds recognizably present." Read More "When I laid eyes and ears on Wilson's Sophia, priced to sell at a relatively affordable $11,700/pair, at the 2001 CEDIA Expo last September, I began salivating about how they would work in my room and my budget." Read More "Wilson's design objective for the Sophia was to build a single-cabinet, floor-standing loudspeaker that could provide a level of musical enjoyment comparable to Wilson Audio's multi-cabinet speakers." Read More
"Possessing astonishing scale, musical coherence and balance, surprising dynamics and a beguiling tonal beauty, the Duette is a fantastically musical performer." "The Duette stops and starts on a dime, registering hairpin changes in dynamics about as well as Quads, though at far higher overall levels if desired." "Under the least promising of conditions their performance is remarkable; optimized and ideally sited it really is spectacular. . . . In the Duette we have a speaker system that works on many levels: it is a true Wilson, it is a compact that does dynamics. Above all, it does music. What we have here, finally, is the little speaker that can." "In the Duette we have a speaker system that works on many levels: it is a true Wilson, it is a compact that does scale, that does staging, that does dynamics. Above all, it does music. What we have here, finally, is the little speaker that can". Readers in Korea can check the May, 2006 issue of Audio Hi Fi & Home Theater Magazine. "The Duette displayes impressive performance at CES 2006. It's understated looks conceal some intriguing technology." Read More
"I've never before heard such effortless control and pitch definition on the lowest of organ notes." Read More
"...if you've bought into the Duette, you've bought into the Wilson way. The WATCH Dog offers a fantastic upgrade for that speaker, delivering increased bandwidth, transparency, texture, tonal colour and scale to what is already a wonderfully musical speaker. But the real gain is best expressed in musical rather than hi-fi terms." |
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