questions for georgehifi and others about powering my Wilson Sasha2s


Conversation with georgehifiArchive this

George, I read a thread you commented on about amps for Sasha 2s, but the direction got derailed when Troy came in and it deteriorated into the merits of Troy providing insights rather than the content of the insights.  I have seen other posts by you and I respect what you have said. I have been flailing around with my system the last two years. I've been doing my best to ferret out gear that makes sense, and I have made great progress, but its been messy. Synergy though reading reviews is elusive!! I ended up recently with Sasha 2s, sourced only by a Vivaldi Stack, Modwright LS300 (had to get tubes to tame the dCS and Sasha 2 combo) and JC1+ amps, Everest with all Shunyata Sigma V2 and V1 and Alpha V2 power cords. Some gear sits on Townshend platforms, Sashas on Podiums, and IC and SC loom is Townshend F1s. My Sasha 2 amp journey started with the amp I had which was a Naim DR300 NAP which was not very detailed and not powerful enough for the sasha 2s, but a fun amp on my old B and W 801s. I then bought the JC1+s and was very impressed. Wife finally loved the sound of my system again. I did think the JC1+ lacked a bit of resolution, but it was a sweet and powerful sound with a strong lower foundation that was a joy in musical terms to listen to. I then got weak and started to give in to the dogging on the JC1+s that is quite easy to come across.  Last Friday I took delivery of a NIB Luxman m900u. Figuring if it was as musical as everyone claimed I'd buy a second one and be done with my amp search. It's been burning in for about 100 hours now. It's got more resolution, and a deeper soundstage, and while it's bass is musical it's bass light. The real problem is that in my system its too bright on female vocals, strings and piano. Wife wants the JC1+s back but I've heard that resolution and depth and I can't unhear it. Guys a know on line now say its a bad match for Sasha 2s, two guys say I need Ampzilla 2000 V2s, some say Modwright KSE 150, others say the Modwright or two are not good enough. I have avoided tube amps my whole life, but? My budget is around 22K for amps, so two used m900us were perfect. Do you think the Luxman will burn in/burn burn/off the brightness? I am over using cables as tuning devices, but It did occur to me to roll the 7308 Amperex USN in the LS300 for some British warm tubes to compensate. Can you shed any light on my situation? I'm pretty beat up and disappointed right now. Often on this forum I hear about all these product recommendations for products and companies I have never heard of. I don't want Macintosh like brands but also not any  tiny start ups that are not even fully rolled out. Thanks for any help.


128x128wokeuptobose


  Yes that would be interesting, though it was the lighter in the bass, and going direct I feel could be even lighter again going direct without the bass bloom of a tube pre to aid it.
BTW the bias switch on the back of JC1's was it on high???


Cheers George
Yes, for sure. I'm not at all green when it comes to my system. I want all the class A I can get.  I ran my Krell KSA turned on for 28 years straight!!!
I have Sasha 2's but am transitioning to Sasha DAWs. I do not know if this helpful or not. I have used the following amplifiers, and my experiences with each:
1. ARC GS150 driven by McIntosh 275: Not enough grunt;
2. Luxman M900u solid state driven by Luxman 900 control preamp: Too slickly musical for my tastes, I missed the tube grain;
3. ARC 250SE tube monoblocks driven by Luxman CL1000 preamp: Great sound, speakers controlled well - great bass, midrange and treble;
4. ARC 160M tube monoblocks driven by Luxman CL1000 preamp: My dream system, especially after Sasha DAWs arrive next week.

I should add that I do not stream or play vinyl - I use an Esoteric 01-XD SACD player as source with an external 10MHz master clock. All cables top quality. AC power is pure, direct from the transformer. Dedicated, well engineered speaker room in basement of a large house in rural Michigan. The sound now is lovely!
 I ran my Krell KSA turned on for 28 years straight!!!
wow what was your power bill like??