I know that some of you guys are going to laugh at this, because it is nowhere near the sophisticated set-ups you have on your racks. But here goes. Back in 1983, I bought a brand new set of Polk Audio SDA 1b speakers. I liked the sound. It was, to my ear anyway, accurate. It avoided the JBL-era thundering bass that tired me out. The SDA technology opened up the sound-stage. I was happy. But gradually, the old girls have gotten unlistenable. I mean, it's been 40 years. So, they don't owe me much.
I started looking. Everything else Polk has made over the past thirty years left me cold. And everything I've listened to in local big-box stores fails to put a grin on my face. It all sucks.
I contemplated rebuilding the cross-overs and replacing the mids and high-end speakers and generally cleaning up and dampening the enclosures. It would probably run me a couple grand.
But I finally found a speaker that is worlds away better than the old Polks (okay, you can stop laughing now). Of course, they are also a lot more money). I really liked the sound of Wilson Audio's Sabrina. Now that the Sabrina 2nd generation speaker is out, I'm thinking I might be able to stretch into a used (or heavily discounted 1st gen Sabrina). Probably going to run me about ten to twelve grand.
Do any of you have any opinions on buying used Wilsons? How often do they need to go back to Provo to be worked on? What do I look for? Should I just bite the bullet and buy new?
Finally, I've begun to understand that Wilsons like to be driven. Means I'm probably going to have to buy a new amplifier. When I listened to the Sabrina originally, they were driving them with the Boulder 850 set up. Any thoughts on what I should consider in that direction?
I look forward to your kind and thoughtful answers.
I've owned Wilson's nearly thirty years, 3 different sets: WP 2, WP 7, and Sasha 1's.
IMO they got better and peaked towards the end of Dave's involvement.
Once Darryl took over the Wilson "house sound" changed rather dramatically. The current line has a warm, soft sound that some find appealing but to me is obviously colored.
I prefer the "older" voicing circa 2012 or so. Models of that vintage would include Sasha 1's, Maxx 3's, Sophia 3's etc. These have the more transparent sound that made Wilson what it is without the harshness of the earlier vintages. But they are unforgiving of the wrong electronics.
BTW as someone chimed in I use an ARC tube preamp and a vintage Krell amp with my Wilson's, with excellent synergy.
I have owned WWP 6’s for 15 years and tried them with a wide range of application and sources. With the right front-end, which I would broadly define as...
1. a tubed preamp 2. a highly dynamic, powerful, solid-state power amp (must be able to double down watts from 8-4-2 ohms) 3. a clean electrical power source 4. a reasonably well damped room
....they are a second hand bargain at around £4,000.
It’s true they can sound bright with some amps and sources, it’s all about synergy and whilst they may be less forgiving than other speakers, when you get it right they are exciting and addictive.
the foams around the bass cones may need replacing.
i blew a mid range cone once and the uk customer service was good.
if i had the money i would go for the Sasha 2’s but the original Sasha’s also look interesting.
This past year I upgraded my 1991 B&W 801 Matrix anniversary model speakers, so I too enjoyed my speakers for a long time. I bought new, but an outdated model Wilson Sasha 2s. I was driving my B&Ws with a Naim NAP DR300 90 watts and thought it would be fine for the Wilsons. (on paper it is!) But the Sasha 2s just didn't sound that great. Two weeks ago I bought Parasound JC1+ monos. I had no idea what the Wilsons were capable of until I gave them the current they needed. Just marvelous. My point is that if you buy a Wilson be prepared to buy a high watt amp capable of high current into low Ohms and you will be rewarded with beautiful sound! Good luck! I'm excited for you!
Wilson is strong used-market brand, and the Sabrina is a charming, very enjoyable model. I have heard them a few times with audio research amplifiers. Wilsons are often paired with Boulder, Doshi and D'Agostino, at least in my area. Easy to find an amp. CPO is a good route for those with trepidations about used speakers.
Agreed. The Sabrina is a great speaker and you can indeed probably find them used at a pretty reasonable price. They sound great with ARC, T+A, Line Magnetic, Luxman, etc.
I found the "early" Wilsons to have hard sounding tweeters that were not particularly well-integrated. That even extended to Wilson's big room at (IIRC) the Golden Nugget at the 1997 Vegas CES. Dynamics, yes. Fatiguing high frequency, yes.
I think someplace along the line, better electronics were used. Crossover improvements along with something other than that semi-awful Audax inverted tweeter significantly helped the Wilson line. Now it's my opinion that the Wilson line of speakers performs up to their price tag.
On a personal note, I ALWAYS thought that Dave Wilson was a very personable guy, friendly and cheerful, conversational and engaging. His passing was a loss to the industry.
Dave Wilson used to demo his Sophia's at shows being driven by receivers hidden from view. He was making the point that they didn't need mega-watt amps to sound good. Don't know about the Sabrina's.
@OP I don’t know your age but if your last speakers you purchased were 1983 I will assume you are no spring chicken so I would go for the Wilson’s if that is what you really like. You obviously don’t make changes to your system very often but after you get the Wilson’s you are probably going to or should make some additional changes as other posters have mentioned. Good luck !
Wilson Sabrina, however fine a speaker they may be (and I have yet to hear any Wilson I would enjoy, even if given to me for free) and however much you may like them, they are awfully inefficient and hard to drive. Do a search, won't take long to find how common it is for people to be searching for the amp that will make them sing. At only 87dB they are a full 5dB below the lowest sensitivity I would even consider buying.
High end audio is hard enough without making it ten times harder by picking speakers that require hundreds of high current watts to sound good. Especially when there are so many really fine sounding speakers that are super easy to drive.
Just being honest here. Look at the comment above. "Keep in mind, you’ll need a little juice to run them as the are somewhat low on the efficiency scale." I'll say. DYODD.
Used Sabrina’s will be fine. For the most part, folks spending that kind of coin on speakers take good care of them. As mentioned, the Sabrina is a fairly new model, it also happens to be one of Dave Wilson’s favorite speakers... that’s saying something! Keep in mind, you’ll need a little juice to run them as the are somewhat low on the efficiency scale. But, you don’t need monster amps to drive them. A solid INT like the Pass Int 60, or even Int 25 would get it done. If wanted to go cheaper the Parasound Hint would be a good choice. Depending on your amp budget there are MANY great amps that will make those speakers sing. You’ll be very happy.
Um, one day you’re running old flabby Polks and the next you want to dive into high-end speakers? What other gear do you have that deserves the Wilsons?
Yep used wilsons are great. Many of them are certified as “new” and come with a 3 year warranty depending on the dealer. Wilson does a great job of fixing them up if needed. The Sabrina are still pretty new and a used pair should last you many years to come. The best thing you can do for speakers is keep them out of the sun and dry.
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