Wilson Speakers & Reviewers

I did not like the "Wilson sound" at all up to and including the Watt Puppy 6. They sounded hollow in the midrange as kiethahughes says above. But I loved the change in sound first appearing in the Sophia (which were my first Wilsons) which was warmer and more natural than the WP6. The WP7 (my second Wilsons) also had the newer, more natural, but still reasonably transparent  sound (although not the very last word in transparency), followed by the Sashas (my third) and now Sasha2 and Alexia2 (my fourth). I think the Alexia v2 was a big step up the transparency ladder but is unmistakably Wilson--natural, front stage yet dimensional and dynamic. Wilson makes a great product WHEN SET UP CORRECTLY. Set them up in a random fashion--and lose at least 60 percent of the characteristics that make them so popular.

I've auditioned virtually every high end speaker available in the US market over the past 20 years--and some have come close to the overall Wilson presentation for me for various reasons (Eggleston, Rockport, KEF, Revel, Vandersteen, YG, Lawrence Audio, Raidho) and others have proven superior to me (MBL) but require a much bigger investment in ancillary equipment to be driven properly.
However, I'm with other writers who utilize Wilson as their reference in addition to those mentioned above like Jacob Heilbrunn, Jason Victor Serinus, Edgar Kramer, Anthony Cordesman (one of 2 references) and manufacturers like Audio Research and Dan D'Agostino both of whom used Wilsons to voice their equipment (although ARC currently uses mainly Sonus Faber for obvious reasons ). Wilsons are by no means everyone's favorite and I understand the reasons why anyone could prefer any of the above brands and many more. BUT--they are a popular choice in the high end among audio reviewers and the buying public and like all popular choices, they will be subject to sometimes intense criticism by those who prefer other brands. That's life.  

Cordesman uses the Legacys and Alexia 1s as his 2 references. Check out his reviews of both.