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Wilson Sasha W/P amplifier pairing

I acquired a pair of Wilson Sasha W/P speakers this year. They’re Series 1 Sasha’s. Now trying to find great mono blocks to power them. My other system has Harbeth Speakers and a Pass Labs amp, I love the combo and can listen for hours without fatigue. I’d really prefer something warm and non fatiguing for the Sasha’s. 
 

Amps I’ve tried so far:

Pass Labs X350 - too bright and forward, etched vocals, not a lot of sparkle but plenty of authority

Pass Labs INT-30A - much better all around than the X350 but still too bright and forward. Not nearly enough power for Sasha. End result is too cold and thin

Bob Latino ST-120 - this is a $1200 kit tube amp I built. 60WPC. This amp was surprisingly kind of magical with Sasha.  Never fatiguing and full bodied. Unfortunately it went up in smoke because I can’t solder.

 

Mono blocks I’m considering:

Audio Research Ref 160M

Lamm 1.2 Reference

Pass Labs XA100.8

 

Preamp is a PrimaLuna EVO 400. Rega RP3 with Exact cart. Denafrips Ares II DAC streaming Roon via MicroRendu. Any advice welcome. 

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Showing 1 response by rolox

rolox
180 posts
 

Last Sunday I visited some local audio show (here in Brussels). There were two rooms using Wilson speakers. One made use of D’Agostino amps, the other had bigger model Wilsons (Alexx?) driven by a full fledged Nagra system, in a very big room.

The D’Agostino driven Wilsons were warmer, had great bass, but (in that room at least) poor imaging

The Nagra system was very transparent and dynamic but definitely BRIGHT. Well, over defined and tilted up at the highest frequencies. I enjoyed it, because I enjoy hearing everything there is on a recording, but a lot of people I know who visited that room didn’t like the sound at all.

I have nothing but respect for the Wilson Audio brand but I have to say, I believe they’re not for everyone, and I would suspect you might have a hard time adjusting coming from Harbeth!

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