A brutal review of the Wilson Maxx

Wow just read it. Very interesting. Never heard the Maxx2 but did audition the Sophias and WP7s before settling on my Kharmas. The Wilsons were driven by Spectral amps at the time. At the time my impressions were largely in tune of what the reviewer is saying: I came away thinking incredibly good at transient attack but less so on decay, and mid range was somehow "bare" sounding. I was unsure whether it was really an issue of a poor match with the amps but the dealer obviously thought it was good match and they have been matched as at various trade shows in the past. I did think that one RH's conclusions when reviewed the Sophias rung true: they would be better served with tube amplification to get that mid range better.

I'm pleased to see a review that isn't just gushing.

Personally I've only ever heard WP6 / Sophia and now own Sophia. I disagree not with his arguement, but with his conclusions. Like many here have argued, I have listened, I did like, so I bought.

If an opposing view is stated by someone who doesn't have a stake in the outcome, then that's good for the debate. I can't remember last time I read a bad thing about any audio product unless it was written by an amateur, so hat's off to him for his boldness.

Often the best reviews are in the 'gon, except when they start to read like the pro's - probably deliberately.

It would seem that most reviewers would need very big homes since most things they hear are "unmatched in the all important (insert area of choice here) area". So they must own an awful lot of kit!

I would like to read more back to back reviewing - two products in the same system no other things changed.

Just my 2p

Hmm from my experience with the Wilsons, which is very limited, once again it all comes back to room and system. The reviewer likes the Sophias but the system i heard them in was unmemorable to say the least. They sounded like bodyless boxes. I didn't spend much time with them because there was zero happening with that set up i could like. The maxes on the other hand blew me away but they were in a very nice home theater type display room (which had no seat located in the sweet spot...tooo odd). They were driven by enough electronic bucks to buy a lot of peoples houses (halco amps at about 30 large, transparent opus at about 15-10 k for an 8 ft pair, VTL 7.5 pre and some high dollar CDP at over 10k). It sounded awsome. the sence of room generated from the recording was better than anything i have heard to date.

Second in line for soundstage presentation was the Audio Video Logic room in Des Moines where i auditioned the Dunlavy Athenas with and ARC vt 100 and a Wadia 850 CDP direct into the amp. There is a huge cost gap between those two systems. In the Max set up was it the speakers, the electronics, the room, the well chosen demo disc than made everything so cool? Given the differences between my experiences with the Dunlavys in the AVL room and in my room i have to put in a huge vote for the room.

Thanks for taking me to this well written review of the Wilson Maxx2 speakers.

What do guys like RH, MF, MC know about audio?

I am hoping that some of the Wilson Maxx2 speaker owners will see the light and sell their speakers for a good price. I would love to own a pair!

Now I'm off to clean the carriage.

Steve

Splaskin: "I am hoping that some of the Wilson Maxx2 speaker owners will see the light and sell their speakers for a good price. I would love to own a pair!"

Well Put! Go ahead and please contact me directly to get rid of you Maxx 2's because of a review... I buy based on what I heard, not reviews.. I learned that the hard way about buying based on reviews and hense sold a lot of gear on Agon.