Wilson could and should do better and it’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that they bit off far more than they could chew, essentially trying to set up and service eight(!) systems in a day. It’s no coincidence that the exception to this rule (the CH Precision/TechDAS room) the one system that sounded recognisably Wilson-esque – whether you see that as a positive or a negative – was the one system NOT set up by Wilson. The Alexx V and WatchDOGs delivered a dynamic, musically coherent and engaging sound, demonstrating categorically that the M10s really don’t have any problem driving the Wilsons, despite rumours to the contrary. In this case the M10s were driving both the Alexx Vs and the WatchDOGs. In fact, if this system had a problem it was that it tended to be played too loud, especially on the first day. I was fortunate enough to shadow the set up process, and the resulting gulf between this and the other systems using Wilson speakers was as wide as it was instructive. I’ll detail those steps in a separate post, but for now, let’s just note that Wilson didn’t do themselves any favours…
Online darlings Aries Cerat produced a sound so devoid of coherence or integration that you could literally pick the bandwidth of each driver. This system was a hot-mess, rivalled only by an OMA set-up that resembled the bastard marriage of a badly tuned pianola with an Edwardian cocktail cabinet – and looked and sounded every bit as bad as that suggests! I have the highest regard for the Stenheim Ultime 2, a speaker that is so even-tempered and innately balanced that it sounds good just plonked in a room. How DartZeel made it sound this bad is a complete mystery to me – although the new (retro-fitting) cruciform base, with its massive spike and selectable floor interfaces is definitely going to aid both stability and set up. The new YG speakers also failed to deliver, still mired in the dry and lifeless character of their antecedents, while the Martens were similarly blighted – although in this case (and as we shall shortly see) the bulk of the blame probably lies elsewhere…
Meanwhile, several systems bucked the trend. The large Kroma Mercedes delivered an agile, open, uncluttered and engaging performance, in complete contrast to my recent experience in Porto. Compared to the competition, its €90K price tag looks inviting, to say the least. Magico also turned up and put out. Historically, I’ve seldom enjoyed the Magico rooms in Munich, but this year, both the revised S3 and S-subs (driven by Pilium amps) in their own room and the M6s with D’Agostino amps in the Wadax room produced the most musically engaging results I’ve heard from the brand in many a year. Rockport’s new Orion showed enough of what the Lyra delivered last year to suggest it’s worth a longer look.
The ‘second-string’ digital solutions…
Even amongst the brief survey above, several trends are starting to emerge. One is the absolute superiority of the Wadax digital components. That superiority is as obvious as it is shockingly large. They might cost the proverbial arm and a leg, but they definitely put a spring in the step of any system they’re hooked up to. Both Magico and Göbel benefited from their Midas touch while those partnering the digital contenders on the other side of this performance gulf suffered accordingly.
