Wilson's new speaker the Sasha is coming.

Sdrenslow -
I think the presentation is very well done. Wilson has put a lot of thought into the redesign. IMO progressive WATT/Puppy's have gotten more transparent and the bass has improved (flatter). With trickle-down technology improvements (midrange and tweeter from Maxx, improved crossovers) the Sasha model is going to be very interesting to hear. I would venture to guess there's a 25% improvement over the WP8. I don't own Wilson speakers but have heard them many times.

It seems clear to me from Wilson's promotional material---the history movie on the website---that the Sasha is competing directly with the Magico V3. The discussion of the Sasha's cabinet materials makes direct reference to Baltic birch plywood with metal baffles, and the price point is almost identical.

Magico strikes back with a version of the V3 with a high gloss black piano finish shown at the Munich show.

There's no doubt any company in a niche field knows its competition and responds accordingly, at least if they wish to stay in business. We benefit from their competition.

Let's wait and hear how the Sasha sounds.

Michael

One thing overlooked in the comments regarding costs , the U.S dollar has strengthened someWATT in the last 6 months.

I've auditioned the Sasha yesterday. Driven by all Ayre gear, the C-5xeMP, KX-R, MXRs and Transparent cabling, the speaker sounded surprisingly warmer and slightly darker up top than most other Wilsons. The Sasha sounded engaging and musical and was well balanced top to bottom. I currently own the Sophia 2 and having heard the Sasha, I bought a pair on the spot.

The only unkown to me were the MXRs but I own the Lamm M1.2s and the KX-R so I expect them to be very musical in my own system as well. The synergy between the Sasha and Ayre was great, dynamic, deep, well controlled and nicely articulated bass, excellent imaging and focus, warmer mids and slightly darker top than W/P 8's for example. Great speaker to my ears, job well done. If you didn't like Wilson speakers before, give the Sasha a listen.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd18/PHC1_2007/Wilson%20Sasha/IMG_1075.jpg
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd18/PHC1_2007/Wilson%20Sasha/IMG_1074.jpg

Let me get this straight, the Sasha was "darker on top" compared to your Sophia 2's and the WP 8's so you bought a pair "on the spot"?