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.


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I shared your experience with the Luxman M900u.  It has some great appeal with the clarity of the soundstage and the musical info that it digs out, especially compared to the VAC Phi200 and then the PS Audio BHK 300 mono's that I had been using to drive my TAD CR-1's (4 ohm minimum in resistance).  There was so much to like in the Luxman that I wanted to keep, but it did show up "bass light" in my system.  The TAD's need some warming up, so "bass light" is a move in the wrong direction for me.
I moved to a D'Agostino S250 stereo amp and I love the match with my TAD's.  I bought a used one for ~$21k, which squeezes into your budget.  It has grunt and bass foundation, without doubt, but it also surpassed the Luxman in terms of musical info and soundstaging, just being more convincing overall.  And its midrange is very good for any amp, and the best SS that I have experienced.
I don't know the Wilson Sasha 2's, but my general impression of Wilson speakers is that they, too, benefit from a warmer rest of the system.  I know they are famous for unforgiving impedance curves, which probably exacerbate the issues with the Luxman's bass.  D'Agostino could address these concerns nicely.
Wow, you just nailed it! I am smitten with parts of the Luxman, but the match with the Wilsons is not what I want. Yes, the Wilsons in my room need a warm support system. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience, as I am confident in what I hear, but it didn't jibe with what I read on line about the m900u "sound". Thanks for your insight!
I had an ARC Ref 6 but moved to a Boulder 2110 preamp. It wasn’t close. The Boulder is in a totally different league. Even the 1110. The ARC is good, but I felt like it didn’t have the resolution that the Wilson are capable of. Btw, I am using a dCS Rossini for digital. I couldn’t be happier with the dCS/Boulder/Boulder/Wilson setup.