Review
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Wilson Audio Alexandria XLF – Loudspeakers – Eur 225.000,00
Per ascolti e infoemail: sophoshiend@gmail.comBruno Fazzini – tel. + 39 347 1402138 |
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Google translator is available
By Bruno Fazzini
Graphic Massimo Piantini
Wilson Audio – Alexandria XLF fanno parte, a pieno titolo, di quei “Magnifici Sette”, di quei migliori sette grandi sistemi di diffusori per la riproduzione audio a livello mondiale. A questo gruppo appartengono altri grandi nomi del panorama dei diffusori top, come le Genesis 1.2, le Avalon Sentinel, le Goldmund Aplogue Anniversary, le Wilson Audio WAMM 7, prodotti questi di cui abbiamo già parlato nella nostra rivista.
A breve parleremo anche degli altri Mostri Sacri, di quei sistemi di diffusori che ogni audiofilo ha sognato di possedere almeno una volta nella vita.
Questo grande sistema della Wilson non sembra particolarmente innovativo, poiché il progettista Dave Wilson ci aveva già abituato a prodotti simili come il noto X-2 Serie 2 che ha una simile struttura e una simile impostazione costruttiva.
Con le Alexandria XLF, però, siamo in presenza di qualche cosa di più: qui vi è la possibilità di aprire una porta di accordo per la gamma bassa, in maniera che, nel caso si debbano avvicinare molto i diffusori alla parete posteriore, l’accordo posto sul retro eviti di creare fastidiose interferenze ambientali. Il sistema, denominato Cross Load Firing Port System, permette, in sostanza, di scegliere la configurazione di accordo dei diffusori.
Il famoso tweeter frontale che già conosciamo, secondo me vero cuore del sistema Alexandria, è stato ulteriormente migliorato. Dave Wilson aveva impiegato da anni il tweeter Focal a cupola invertita, ma per i suoi top di gamma voleva qualche cosa di più.
Ecco allora che la collaborazione con gli ingegneri della Scan Speak e quelli della Wilson Audio ha portato alla realizzazione di un nuovo trasduttore, un tweeter a cupola in seta da 2,5 cm in grado di salire fino alla frequenza di 35.000 Hz, unitamente all’assenza di distorsioni e con una grande capacità dinamica. Scan-Speak produce la cupola, il magnete e la flangia su specifiche Wilson Audio, mentre Wilson Audio produce tutti gli elementi posteriori del driver.
Altro elemento particolare di questo sistema è la possibilità di regolare, tramite semplici viti meccaniche, la struttura nelle angolazioni delle sue parti, così da indirizzare perfettamente il suono verso il punto d’ascolto.
Infine, come è ben visibile dal pannello posteriore, si possono regolare la fase dei midrange e il loro livello, oltre a poter regolare il livello del tweeter frontale.
In conclusione con le Alexandria XLF siamo in presenza di un progetto denso di ingegnerizzazione, con una assoluta qualità nella ricerca dei materiali e con un alto livello di tecnologia. Quasi 300 Kg di diffusore non passano certo inosservati, e non solo per il peso. Con queste casse acustiche Dave Wilson ha realizzato un prodotto all’avanguardia della tecnica e del suono. 225.000 euro per una coppia di Alexandria sono una cifra certamente impegnativa e risulta difficile stabilire se il valore sonico offerto è congruo con la cifra richiesta. Ma qui siamo, per l’appunto, nell’Hi Fi Dream. Qui tutto è estremo. Qui tutto è possibile.
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Alexandria XLF joins the Alexandria family, not as a replacement for the Series 2, but as its measurably more ambitious sibling.
While maintaining the recognizable Alexandria form factor, it is physically larger, with 14% greater bass volume. Thicker cabinet walls and added bracing for an even more inert enclosure.It introduces passive bass management technology unique in the audio world…...see more
What Fifi
Wilson Audio rather modestly claims that its flagship Alexandria XLF model is “the world’s best speaker”
It’s not often that we get invited to the launch of a £200,000 pair of hi-fi speakers.
But that’s exactly where we were this morning. Wilson Audio, and its UK distributor Absolute Sounds, selected the so-recently-refurbished-it-still-smells-vaguely-of-paint KJ West One store in the humid heart of central London for today’s European launch of its extraordinary Alexandria XLF floorstanding loudspeakers……see more
Stereophile
The Wilson Audio Specialties Alexandra XLF costs $200,000/pair. So does a Ferrari. Perhaps if Wilson Audio Specialties sold as many pairs of XLFs as Ferrari sells cars, the price might drop. For now, $200,000 is what you pay.
Can a loudspeaker possibly be worth that much? Add $10,000 for speaker cables, and that’s what I paid for my first home in 1992. Today, the average American home costs around $272,000, which is likely less than the cost of an audio system built around a pair of Alexandra XLFs….. see more
The Audio Beat
Do you listen to music or sound? This might seem like a trick question, but it’s not. It underscores a chasm that exists within the audiophile experience — between practice and theory, the end and the means — and the audiophile’s desire to bridge it.
We audiophiles know the wonders of great recorded music and how they’re intensified when they’re the product of realistic sound.
For us, sonic realism makes for greater enjoyment of and involvement with the music, and this is a sign of an audio system’s ability to suspend disbelief, to convince us that the boundaries between live and recorded music have been diminished to a point of being inconsequential, out of the realm of persistent thought….see more
Home & Style
Best of the Best 2012: Audio: Wilson Audio Alexandria XLF
Bailey S. Barnard
JUNE 01, 2012
Dave Wilson has a clear goal when designing his loudspeakers. “I try to make my speakers sound like the real thing,” says the founder and lead engineer of Provo, Utah–based Wilson Audio, which began shipping its new model, the Alexandria XLF, in January.
But achieving this goal is not entirely dependent on the design of the speaker itself: The acoustic environment often plays a key role in the quality of the audio reproduction.
That is why for the new XLF speaker—the latest and greatest addition to Wilson’s widely praised Alexandria line, which the company introduced in 2003—Wilson incorporated an adaptable bass port to optimize the speaker’s performance for small and large listening environments alike….see more
[ultimatetables 6/]
Sound Stage Hifi
To Doug Schneider,
Knowing how you feel about Wilson Audio’s products, I thought you might be interested to know that Stereophile has just posted their review of Wilson’s latest $200,000 offering, which, of course is, according to Michael Fremer, the finest speaker ever produced. John Atkinson’s measurements, on the other hand, tell an entirely different story. They are quite poor for such an expensive product (as are the measurements of every other Wilson product they have reviewed).
I know that measurements don’t tell the whole story, but I would think that any good designer with $200,000 to spend could produce a flat response. Examining measurements from other reviews they’ve done show much better performance from costly designs, such as Magico’s Q5, Vivid’s G1, Revel’s Salon2, and others, as well as more affordable floorstanding models in the $7000 to $8000 range from Adam Audio and Monitor Audio, and even PSB’s and Monitor Audio’s $1200 models.
Even affordable bookshelf models such as PSB’s $700 Imagine Mini, and of course KEF’s LS50 (among others), measure much better than the big Wilsons. The LS50s are unbelievably flat…see more
The Absolute Sound
Wilson Audio invited me to Provo, Utah just a few days before Christmas for an early look and listen to its new top-of-the-line Alexandria XLF loudspeaker. TAS Contributing Writer Jacob Heilbrunn, who owns Wilson’s X-2 Series 2 loudspeakers, met me there for the factory tour and audition. Interestingly, the $195,000 Alexandria XLF doesn’t replace the $168,000 Alexandria X-2 Series 2 but rather extends the Alexandria line with a higher-end model.
Before listening to the XLF we visited the Wilson factory to see the new flagship in production and to tour the factory expansions and upgrades since my last visit three years ago. Despite having toured the factory twice before, I was struck by the extraordinary level of craftsmanship that goes into every production step. It’s really quite an amazing operation….see more
Alta Definizione
Wilson Audio ha presentato la sua nuova linea Hi-End di diffusori audio, che si pongono al vertice dell’intera gamma del costruttore americano: il modello in questione fa parte della serie Alexandria, e prende il nome di Alexandria XLF.
Come si può immediatamente notare dalle foto, si tratta di speaker a dir poco mastodontici: le misure, infatti, sono 178.44 x 50.38 x 70.80 cm (A x L xP), con un peso pari a ben 297.1 kg. Non esattamente il classico prodotto che, una volta inserito nell’ambiente, tende a scomparire, non facendosi notare…..see more
Audio Federation
We listened to them in a nearfield position, I would say about 7 feet from the plane of the loudspeakers.
We heard them with Audio Research 750ish [:-)] amps, Lamm ML3 amps, Audio Research Reference Anniversary preamp, Lamm L2 preamp, Tara Labs The Zero Gold interconnects and speaker cables, Nordost Odin interconnects and speaker cables. Tara Labs Cobalt power cords and Nordost Odin power cords.
Source was a Basis Inspiration with their Vector arm and a Lyra Atlas. Phonostage from Ypsilon, with external stepup transformer. Everything was on HRS M3X platforms and MXR equipment rack.
Because we never heard the system in an entirely familiar configuration [there were always Tara Labs interconnects in the signal] and because we listened in quite a nearfield position to such large speakers, we cannot do an exact comparison with the previous model: the Alexandra X2 [2nd update] speakers….see more
Bornrich
The imposing Alexandria which can grace any art gallery for its aesthetic appeal, can adore your living room equally well with dignity and grace. Mere sight of it makes you wonder whether it’s the Godfather of all speakers for the sheer size and aura that surrounds it and of course, not to mention a very hefty price tag.
The XLF Continues the legacy of Wilson Audio, well-known for its high-end audio like the Sasha loudspeakers and the MAXX series, we had earlier told you about.
The latest Alexandria XLF improves upon the performance of the X-2 series which is no less in might and beauty. You’ll simply fall in love with these beautifully crafted floor-standing loudspeakers that offer more than just excellent quality sound….see more
Ljudmakarn
Från tillverkarens hemsida:
Alexandria XLF joins the Alexandria family, not as a replacement for the Series 2, but as its measurably more ambitious sibling.
While maintaining the recognizable Alexandria form factor, it is physically larger, with 14% greater bass volume. Thicker cabinet walls and added bracing for an even more inert enclosure.It introduces passive bass management technology unique in the audio world.
It introduces a new Convergent Synergy tweeter, a new crossover, and a host of parts all chosen through sedulous listening trials.
From the time he started building loudspeakers in his garage, Dave Wilson had one motivating passion: to make the reproduction of music sound as much like the real thing as possible. Although he is acutely aware of the limitations imposed on his dream by available driver technology, cabinet materials and the laws of physics, the goal remains the same. Dave is an idealist….see more
AnnuarioAudio
http://www.annuarioaudio.it/hifi-da-sogno/diffusori-parte-3/
New Audio
Da quando ha cominciato a costruire diffusori nel suo garage, Dave Wilson ha sempre avuto un obiettivo ben preciso: una riproduzione del suono il più possibile vicino alla realtà.
Sebbene consapevole dei limiti delle tecnologie dei driver, dei materiali tradizionali che venivano solitamente utilizzati per cabinet e non ultimo dai limiti imposti al suo sogno dalle leggi della fisica, gli obiettivi rimanevano gli stessi.
Ha quindi passato gran parte degli ultimi trent’anni alla ricerca di soluzioni efficaci, tenendo sempre presente che la validità di ogni tecnologia o metodologia di progettazione deve essere sempre verificata solo attraverso rigorose sperimentazioni ed ascolti oggettivi ed è da questi test che vengono alla luce quelle tecnologie che contribuiscono a rendere ancora più realistica l’esperienza musicale: solo quelle possono essere poi implementate in un prodotto Wilson Audio.
Alexandria XLF L’ XLF entra quindi di diritto nella famiglia Alexandria ma non come una sostituta della X2, piuttosto come una sorella ancora più performante ed ambiziosa ed anche se esteticamente assomiglia…see more
Wilson Audio Alexandria XLF – Loudspeakers
Specifications
Woofer: XLF Port, adjustable rear or front firing
Midrange: Rear Vented
Tweeter: Sealed
Woofers: One – 13 inch, (33.02 cm)
One – 15 inch, (38.10 cm)
Midrange: Two – 7 inch (17.78 cm)
Tweeter: One – 1 inch silk dome (2.54 cm)
Super Tweeter: One – 1 inch silk dome rear firing (2.54 cm)
Sensitivity: 93.5 dB @ 1 watt @ 1 watt @ 1 kHz
Nominal Impedance: 4 ohms/minimum 3.2 ohms @ 1 Hz
Minimum Amplifier Power: 7 Watts per channel
Frequency Response: +/-3 dB 19.5 Hz – 33 kHz
Overall Dimensions: Height – 70.25 inches, (178.44 cm)
Width – 19.8125 inches, (50.38 cm)
Depth – 27.875 inches, (70.80 cm)
Approx. System Weight Per Channel: 655 lbs each (297.1 kg)
Total Approx. System Shipping Weight: 1910 lbs pair (866.36 kg)
Price: $195,000/pair. Eur 225.000
Per ascolti e infoemail: sophoshiend@gmail.comBruno Fazzini – tel. + 39 347 1402138 |
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