CAT
preamp: "your current view"?
September
24, 2017
Marc,
I've
never been a huge Wilson Audio fan, but I think the Alexx is quite good in comparison to some others, and I enjoyed your
perspectives on the line and the speaker. The first high-end speaker I ever heard was a
WATT/Puppy about 25 years ago, and that started me in this hobby.
My
real question for you is about your preamps. I see in your associated equipment both a CAT
and a VTL. I've owned both over the years, and I am now using an Absolare, but I am
considering a return to CAT. What is your current view between your CAT and your VTL?
Mark
Somerstein
I'd
like to answer your question, but I can't, because a CAT SL1 Legend you buy today would be
very different from the SL1 Legend that I have, which is the unit I reviewed over eight
years ago. Ken Stevens has made various upgrades to the preamp, including, and most
significantly, the inclusion of his Black Path capacitors. You can also now get the preamp
with sets of XLR inputs and outputs, which my preamp doesn't have. I can say that I like
the SL1 Legend that I have a great deal, and if I can get it into to Ken Stevens' update
queue, I will write about his latest and greatest model at some point in the future.
-Marc Mickelson
Alexx
questions
September
16, 2017
Marc,
I
just read your great review of the Wilson Alexx speakers. I had been
eagerly awaiting your review as these are on my shortlist for future speakers, along with
Vivid Giya Spirit, Stenheim Reference, Avalon SAGA, etc.
I
wonder if I could ask some questions, given your extensive experience with these and other
Wilson speakers.
1.
How did Alexx perform at low to moderate volumes of say 60-75dB in terms of
microdynamics,vibrancy, image height and retaining overall musicality and musical detail?
2.
How far from front wall are they placed in your room and how far away is your listening
seat? I have noticed that most Wilson speakers are set up relatively close to front wall,
and I have never seen them set up in a more open field, away from the front wall, or
relatively close to listening seat for a more nearfield position. This seems to suggest
that their bass is tuned for this positioning. Is this your experience as well?
3.
I notice you have an Audio Research Reference 75 SE listed in your equipment. Did you get
to try this amp, and if so, what were your impressions? I believe Alexx is a more
difficult load than Wilson's Alexandria XLF.
Any
feedback you can share would be much appreciated. Thanks again for a very informative and
helpful review.
Ash
Varma
I'll answer your questions in sequence.
I
do a lot of listening at lower volumes, often while I'm sitting in the near dark or at my
computer in the next room, and the Alexx does as well at low volumes as any speaker I've
heard in my room, including the larger Wilson models. The full palette of traits I note in
my review were on full display. Because of all the work done on the cabinet and the
corresponding inherent blackness the speakers convey, Wilson speakers sound at low levels
just as they do a higher volumes. The music doesn't recede and shrink.
In
my room, the Alexxes are roughly 52" from the wall behind them, and I sit about nine
feet from them. However, because of their front-or-back port alignment as well as the
design, which gets the time-domain performance right in any room and for any listening
position, you don't really have to worry about placement with the Alexx, as you do with
other similarly large speakers. The Alexx caters to you, not the other way around, even in
rooms much smaller than mine.
Yes,
I did use the Reference 75 SE with the Alexx, and it drove the speakers very well. In
fact, it was with the Alexx that I really came to understand what the Reference 75 SE
sounded like. I didn't find the Alexx to be a particularly finicky load, although I
suspect that while a Reference 75 SE and a pair of Lamm M1.2s can drive the speakers
incredibly well, more muscle, in the form of VTL Siegfried IIs, for instance, would
certainly pay dividends. The Alexx will get the most from whatever amp(s) you use with it,
even vintage amps like the Kenwood L-07M monoblocks I sometimes use. -Marc Mickelson
Reference
6 tweaks
September
11, 2017
Marc,
I
noticed within your Wilson Audio Alexx review, in the associated components
list, that you are using an Audio Research Reference 6 preamp. I, too, am running a Reference 6.
I've found it to communicate an unsurpassed level of presence and three-dimensionality
while remaining tonally neutral. Class A all the way -- with only some reservations in the
high frequencies: a slight lack of richness and sparkle, most easily heard with piano.
I've
found several tweaks, when used together, enhance the high frequencies of the Reference 6:
first, a Synergistic Research Black Quantum fuse; and second, a Sain Line Systems Pure
Current power cord. Those two tweaks on the power-supply side get you 80% there. As a
final note, I swapped in a set of matched, cryogenically treated, low-noise 6H30 tubes
from Upscale Audio and an NOS Winged "C" 6550C power tube. Now, class A ++, with
no reservations.
John
Leosco
Room
treatments
September
5, 2017
Vance,
In
"Facing
What You Don't Know," you mention that Stirling Trayle completed his work in your
room without adding room treatments.
Did
that have to do with your room specifically, or because Mr. Trayle believed he could get
the best sound from your system without resorting to treatments (which would be fine by
me!).
David
Salsberg
Great question! While Trayle does not oppose room treatments, he believes that
they are frequently overused. In his experience, room treatments are frequently applied in
an effort to overcome challenges like a skewed tonal balance, which would be better
addressed by the proper setup of equipment.
One
of the maxims Trayle stressed to me was to avoid "killing the natural energy and
dynamics of the room." Trayle's ability to work with a room, as opposed to
conquering it, is one of the reasons I (and others) find his work to be so exceptional.
-Vance Hiner
Cable
mixing
September
2, 2017
Marc,
I
noticed that you are using three brands of interconnects and speaker cables: AudioQuest,
Nordost and Shunyata Research. Do you use only one brand at one time to connect all of
your equipment or mix them up in different locations to achieve a better sound?
Kelvin
Tam
This
is a very good question with a mundane answer. I use only full sets of all of those
cables, because experience has taught me that the full-loom approach is the most direct
way to achieving the best sound a system is capable of. It's difficult enough to match
amps and preamps from different makers; cables are such a huge variable, given the signal
and AC needs of an audio system, that mixing and matching cables from different
manufacturers only complicates matters. -Marc Mickelson
Reader
list
September
1, 2017
Marc,
Please
add me to the reader list, and thanks for a really interesting read.
Rod
Thorogood
You're
on the list. To join TAB's reader e-mail list and find out about new articles
first, send e-mail to rl@theaudiobeat.com.
-Marc Mickelson
