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Audiophiles have long regarded subwoofers as anathema to perfectionist audio systems. Sure, they
provide one thing: deeper bass. But they typically do so at the cost of degrading performance in
a whole host of other areas. The—not unreasonable—argument holds that since very little musical
information occupies the ultra-deep bass region, not much is compromised by reducing output in
the bottom octave.
In reality, though, the ideal subwoofer can reproduce more than the lowest pipe organ note. There
is a wealth of ambient music cues in the deep-bass region. The ideal subwoofer opens up the
soundstage to an extraordinary degree.
The benchmark in designing Thor's Hammer was simple: create a subwoofer that would be, in every
measure, a worthy addition to a music system built around Wilson's flagship loudspeaker, the
Alexandria® X-2 Series 2—no easy task since the X-2 extends comfortably below 20 Hz.
That meant primarily two things: First, the subwoofer had to perform with the same alacrity and
dynamic range as the Alexandria. Slow, muddy, or distorted bass, no matter how subterranean,
wouldn't suffice.
Secondly, it was critical that the Hammer not create out-of-band distortion that would rob the X-2
of its singular glory, which is—arguably—the most revelatory and seductive midrange in the world.
It goes without saying that, having built a subwoofer that integrates seamlessly with Alexandria
(Thor extends X-2's bandwidth down to 10 Hz.), we've made a loudspeaker that will, without question,
enhance systems built around MAXXs®, WATT/Puppys—or even, if you're into physical extremes, Wilson
Audio Duettes™! Thor can even be custom ordered for horizontal placement.
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