Getting BACK to the subject of the Wilson Audio WAMM's, the online review from the Absolute Sound is out, and it is (no surprise here) filled with superlatives.
They even love the design without the slightest reservation, which i find a bit odd. I was also VERY impressed at how the original WAMM's separated all the orchestra instruments so well. The underlying subject is not that they will cost $685K/pair (although i was predicting something like twice the Alexandria-XLF), but the room they were placed in, and the best-of-the-best music sources they were reviewed by. Given an average classical LP, or a good-but-not-great-CD (like a Blue-Note for ex.) you haven't completed the ideal chain envisioned by this kind of an engineering effort. Kind of like putting skinny tires on a Ferrari and driving at 150 mph. David Wilson lives in an environment of state-of-the art recordings, many done by himself, plus master-tapes, the best digital processing yet available, etc. Or he goes to Vienna to listen to an orchestra in one of the best halls in the world. He then decides to design no-holes-barred speakers to achieve that level of sonic realism.
IF you share his vision that's fine, and you will be happy with the voicing he builds into his speaker line. There are however other ways to bring a smile to your face when listening to music, whether it's audiophile-grade or somewhat average-to-pretty-good quality.
I still don't get the new WAMM's bass-modules (non-directional frequencies, right?) not being in separate enclosures. Maybe they did it this way to cut costs...!
