Speaker synergies and the Wilson SabrinaX

I have a relatively small dedicated room which I have measured using REW and subsequently treated with the excellent help of GIK Acoustics. The system sounds good but there are (still) some problems, in particular with controlling the bass of my Sonus Faber Olympica Nova IIs.

My dealer suggested to try some other speakers as he thought the Olympicas were the weakest link in my system now. So I had a home demo of Magico S1 mk II and Wilson SabrinaX.

To cut a long but very enjoyable day short, I have placed an order for the SabrinaX. I donā€™t wish to engage in too much hyperbole but these speakers have pushed my system to a place I didnā€™t think existed, or at least didnā€™t think would ever exist in my home. I am absolutely delighted and any doubts I may have had at times about spending vast sums of money on all this hifi stuff are gone.

I think this is probably the hardest part of the hifi journey - finding speakers that complement the rest of your system AND have synergies with your particular room. Upgrading black boxes is the easy part.

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Congratulations. That should be a fabulous sounding system.

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Lovely speakers, a good improvement over the original Sabrinaā€™s I found, and the originals arenā€™t too shabby!

Nice find. It is surprising the 250 can drive the Sabrina Xs.

Delta,

Congrats on the purchase. The speakers you are referring to are the exact options my dealer is suggesting. Olympica Nova 3/5 or Sabrina X. Interesting in hearing the ā€œhyperboleā€.
My business end of the systems will be a bit down the ladder compared to you NDX2xpsdr,282,hicap, 300 dr, but would love to hear your description of the demo and the comparison.

I was concerned that other speakers would have similar bass issues in my room - that was one reason to try the Magico S1s as they are a closed design of course. They were very good, great top end but quite lean. The SabrinaXs bass was incredible and totally controlled - luckily the room can deal with ā€˜bassā€™ after all!

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Yes, the load is not the easiest but it worked extremely well. I do have a 500DR on order as well though! Anything that brings to the party will be a nice bonus :slightly_smiling_face:

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I too have a 500DR on its way, and your Sabrina Xs will love it.

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The Olympica Nova range are beautiful speakers both from a sound and looks perspective - certainly far better looking than the Wilsons in my view. If that is a consideration then thatā€™s a big plus. Iā€™ve never heard the Nova 3/5 but the biggest issue with Nova IIs was that the bass was a bit boomy and uncontrolled. That was despite room treatment and very careful speaker positioning which made a difference but didnā€™t solve the problem.

The SabrinaXs didnā€™t have any of the bass issues in my room, the bass being tuneful, controlled and with an astonishing amount of ā€˜slamā€™. They were just a step up (several actually) in all departments. But letā€™s not forget that they are also 2.5 times the price of the Nova IIs! Soundstaging was far better as were the dynamics. We played a track of a double bass (I need to find out what the track was) which had incredible realism. Sorry, Iā€™m not good at describing this stuff without falling into cliches!

The lesson for me was that you should - if at all possible - demo speakers in your own room.

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And I think your system is absolutely up to driving the SabrinaXs!

Congratulations on your new system. Are you in the US if I may ask?

Thank you! I am in the UK.

Nothing wrong with the old cliches delta :smirk:
Congrats on your purchase, have always been curious to listen to the Sabrina Xs, as they seem to have had an awful lot of positive publicity. The 500 will be a complete game changer driving them also :+1:t3: Enjoy Peter

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Thanks Peter. Naim / Wilson doesnā€™t seem a very common pairing but definitely worth a listen if you get the chance.

Wondering if there are any Wilson users on the forum?

We donā€™t own Wilson speakers but thought that the Sophia II (now replaced by Yvette in the Wilson range) sounded superb on the end of a Naim 52/SC/135 amp in our living room. They were designed to be an easy load for the amplifier.

Only aesthetics prevented us from buying a pair at the time.

Best regards, BF

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Thanks Delta for the feedback. Do the Sabrinas sound bigger than the Nova 2?

Hi Delta,

Is your 250 DRā€™d or non-DRā€™d?

OA

Itā€™s a 250DR.

Yes, the aesthetics are a bit challenging, and I guess with the larger Wilsons even more so.

Yes, they sound a lot bigger than their size would suggest (and bigger than the Nova IIs).