Wilson Audio Sabrina X vs Yvette vs Sabrina (Regular)

I’m not going to be able to answer your questions, but I’ll try to help, even though you may also not like my answers. :)

First of all, Wilson needs A LOT of space to sound very good. I owned the Yvette, and they were very easy to love. Unfortunately, I had to let them go because I learned I could not give them enough room. My room size? 18x23, with a sloped ceiling that went up to 18 feet. Despite the room size, I could only have 3-3.5ft behind the speakers (whereas speaker baffles were 5’ from the wall). With the speakers rated down to 20Hz, it added a bit of congestion. I learned after that the Yvette sounded best with at least 5-6’ between the back of the speaker and the wall.

So my first suggestion is to not go with the Yvette as you will likely not have the room to bring the best out of them.

The Sabrina X on the other hand, is known to have a bit of added midbass bloom to make it sound like a “grown up” speaker compared to its bigger siblings. Whether that is something you enjoy is your call.

The Sabrina X does have newer technologies and design principles and the way they have been updated from the previous version does make them sound much better - better imaging, more resolving. The Yvette has not been updated since it’s release and uses older drivers, damping, etc.

If you can find the Sabrina X at an accessible price point and are able to demo it and enjoy it, that would be my recommendation, or look at other speakers that may be a better fit for the room.

Thanks for the response!

I suspected my room might be too small for the Yvettes :(

Do you think it is too small for the Sabrina's as well?

Don't worry about being blunt, I truly appreciate honesty :)

@jfandr147 I have the Sabrinas. My room is 15x13. With Wilson Audio speakers the placement and room acoustics are critical. It took a while to dial in but once done they sound amazing. You can check my system page for associated gear and some photos. 

I have the Sabrinas too. My room is 16’ wide, 34’ deep, 10’ tall.

I love the Sabrinas. Mine are 5’ off the front wall and 4’ off the side walls.

I’ve been really impressed with their ability to maintain linearity at loud volumes (103 dBC peaks). And they present excellent detail even at very low volumes too.

I’m driving them with an ARC REF 75SE, but have also used a pair of CJ LP275Ms.

I’m not clear on why your room would not accommodate the Yvettes.  If care were given to placement, there’s really no reason it couldn’t work well.  My appetite has been whet for the Sasha DAWs or the Alexia 2.

FWIW, Wilson wants a factory trained set up specialist to do the installation.  I know from countless showroom demos, all the way up to the Chronosonic XVX, that the installation is not always right, and when it’s wrong, the Wilsons sound mediocre (all of them).  David was a fanatic about setup.  

@broadwayjoe the OP’s room is 16x14. I’ve found with Yvette and above, the speakers need at least 5’ from their backs to the front wall. In that size of a room, they would already be close to halfway out in the room. Your room is 34’ deep. You can accommodate them, and it sounds like a stellar sized room!

Yes, 16x14 is a challenge.  I think most speakers do better 4 or more feet off the front wall, and 3 or more feet off the side walls.    But with focused effort, I think it could work,   Of course it’s an expensive experiment with someone else’s money.  The room issues will be present with any speaker.  

Just for fun, here’s what DAW had to say about Sabrinas.  
 

I had my Yvette with 4 feet from the wall to the back of the speaker, and I had bass traps in the corners and directly behind the speakers on the walls. Don't get me wrong, it sounded lovely. Many would have considered it endgame. But it wasn't getting the openness I thought I would and heard in other shows and compared to some other speakers. I tried positioning for months, and at the end of the day, I traded them in for speakers that were better fitting for the space.

Will it sound bad? Not at all. Will it be endgame in the space? Not at all, either.

My music room is 11x11x11, untreated.  I have Sabrina X's about three feet from the rear wall.  They sound great in my small room, and my dealer urged me to get the Sabrina's for my size room over the Sasha DAW, for what its worth!

Thank you!

Yes, I ended up with the Sabrina X and I love it! :)

@jfandr147 Congrats! Room acoustics and speaker placement are critical with these speakers. Take your time with set up and you will be rewarded.