BEST AMPS FOR WILSON SASHA


hi, i have in this moment a ayon cd5s cdplayer with built in preamplifier , pass x250 amps and wilson sasha speaker ( i love sasha), i want a new and better amplifier, the options are two, pass xa100.8 monoblocks or cary 211fe monoblock, what is the better option for the sasha?, your opinion please
128x128orionpcgames
You could buy a valve amplifier with an output transformer to get the impedance and current drive you need to drive the Sasha. You’ll adore the ’warm’ sound, a.k.a harmonic distortion, and convince yourself it is ’technically pure’, even though the amplifier is technically not capable of fulfilling the requirements of the speaker.

Alternately, you could buy a high current, low damping factor solid state amplifier that is ’technically pure’, but perhaps you won’t enjoy the sound so much.

What does you ear like the sound of?

Listen, be happy, buy it.



I have owned a pair of Sasha's for a number of years.  I had heard them at shows and dealers and just liked the way they play music.  I just upgraded my amps from the Cary 500MB solid state monoblocks to the new PS Audio BHK 300 monos.  (The Carys put out 500 watts into 8 ohms, 1000 into 4 ohms.). The change with the PS Audio amps include greater detail and separation among the instruments, a slightly warmer sound (which I like) and a wider soundstage.  There is no question about enough power, the bass is melodic and very present.  And they're not even fully broken in yet!
I am patiently hoping somebody (singular and plural ) could answer the original question precisely and in a manner that would settle the issue for orionpcgames.  Allow me to repeat his question "hi, i have in this moment a ayon cd5s cdplayer with built in preamplifier , pass x250 amps and wilson sasha speaker ( i love sasha), i want a new and better amplifier, the options are two, pass xa100.8 monoblocks or cary 211fe monoblock, what is the better option for the sasha?, your opinion please"
and i would also benefit
alfs100,
It seems that the question has been answered. On paper the Pass Labs XA 100.8  is the better choice given the documented challenging speaker load impedance characteristics of the Sasha. It has also been acknowledged that actually listening to the amplifiers driving the Sasha is the only way to truly determine which is better sounding.

The OP could prefer the Cary 211 to the Pass once he’s heard both despite the apparent Pass advantage if judged solely on known measurement and specifications and then extrapolating from that information.   What else is there to say? He’ll have to listen to both amplifiers for a definitive answer. What more can a forum provide for a subjective topic?
Charles,