Wilson Audio Specialties' Alexandria X-2 Loudspeaker Debut
by Jeff Fritz

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s career-defining climb to the world’s highest peak, Mt. Everest. Although 15 previous expeditions failed to scale the 8850-meter mountain, May 28, 1953 would be recorded in the annals of history as the day man conquered the summit. Hillary and Norgay would go on to other adventures -- after all, they were adventurers first and foremost -- but neither would again be able to match their greatest feat.

Driving from Salt Lake City to Provo, Utah, I couldn’t help but stare at the mountains surrounding me. Some of the snow-capped peaks were visible, while others -- the highest -- disappeared into the clouds. It’s a natural curiosity to imagine what one would find at the top. David Wilson and the company that bears his name, it could be said, have been living in the clouds as of late, quietly trying to reach a summit of their own.

Wilson lineage

The WAMM (Wilson Audio Modular Monitor) was introduced over 20 years ago and has enjoyed the number-one position in the Wilson Audio line since its inception. It reached its culminating point this year, and Wilson Audio will ship the final pair -- ever -- before you read this. The X-1 (First Experimental) Grand SLAMM (Super Linear Adjustable Modular Monitor) has been in existence for ten years. It shares many of the WAMM’s design traits, most notably the fore-and-aft adjustability that is the hallmark of the company’s Group Delay philosophy. There was, in fact, a short period during the past months where the X-1 was the flagship Wilson speaker, as orders for WAMMs were discontinued and the Alexandria X-2 was not yet introduced. The X-1 is currently in its Series 3 iteration, although an update to Series 5 is coming in 2004. (There will be no Series 4, considered an unlucky number in certain parts of the world.) Half the age of the WAMM, the X-1 still lives and breathes at Wilson Audio.

There is no question that the WAMM and X-1 enjoy status in Wilson Audio lore that their less-expensive brethren can’t match. Wilson Audio has not rested on the backs of these behemoths in the ensuing years, though. Some, perhaps even David Wilson, would concede that the most groundbreaking loudspeaker research his company has done is recent. The MAXX, WATT/Puppy System 7, and Sophia loudspeakers have each received almost universal praise and sold in quantities even surprising to the bean counters in Provo. It’s no accident.

With three recent commercial successes in progress (all three of the above loudspeakers are selling quite briskly) and David Wilson’s previous ascent to the summit of his knowledge over a decade past, the time had come for a new defining statement product. The Alexandria X-2, according to David Wilson, contains "everything Wilson Audio knows about loudspeaker design." The name "Alexandria" itself was symbolically chosen for the Library of Alexandria. Located in Egypt, it was the world’s center of scientific research and all scholarly endeavors until its demise began in 48 BC due to a fire brought on by Julius Caesar during the Alexandrian War.

David Wilson (left) explains a cumulative-spectral-decay measurement to Jeff Fritz and Andy Regan (right) of Florida-based retailer Audio Advisors.	The Wilson Audio factory is home to several listening areas where products of all types and brands can be put through their paces.
Wilson Audio's John Giolas shows Andy and Jeff a MAXX under construction.	Wilson Audio's Peter McGrath captures the writer photographing a Sophia during construction.

The Alexandria X-2

The overview for the Alexandria X-2 ($125,000 per pair) appears similar to that of the X-1 Grand SLAMM Series 3: a four-way loudspeaker with a large double-driver bass cabinet, with adjustable modules mounted on top that contain both midrange and high-frequency elements. Dimensionally the two loudspeakers are almost identical, too. Don’t let this outward resemblance fool you though; that’s essentially where the similarities end.

Aspects of the Alexandria X-2 are directly traceable to the MAXX, WATT/Puppy 7, and Sophia projects. Research encompassing Wilson Audio’s "X" and "M" materials and specific combinations of the two have been key. The ubiquitous "X" material, harder than steel and the most inert building block Wilson Audio has found, is both expensive and very hard to machine. "M" is a composite, constrained-layer laminate and, although not as hard, weighty, or rigid as "X," (but far more so than MDF or HDF), it possesses damping characteristics that have proven key for certain applications. The Alexandria X-2 is constructed of "X" material entirely, with an exception: the two midrange modules. These are mixtures of "X" and "M," which in strategic combination, David Wilson says, is ideal for midrange enclosures. This realization, in fact, led to the first new WATT enclosure ever, seen on the WATT/Puppy System 7. According to Wilson Audio, even the adhesive used to join these two disparate materials has been thoroughly researched and optimized.

But then everything appears to have been optimized in the Alexandria X-2. During my tour of Wilson Audio’s factory I was able to see the X-2 in various stages of construction. One station was set aside for prepping the internal wiring -- a different type/configuration for each driver! Each cable set, an exact length, is twisted a specific number of turns to create a geometry that reportedly perfects the electrical characteristics for each application. Drivers, purpose-built by Scan-Speak for the X-2 or sourced from Focal, are given similar attention to detail. As an example, David Wilson and his engineering staff redesigned the dust caps on the woofers. This attention to detail dictates that the driver be disassembled and rebuilt, then tested and matched -- vertically, to other drivers within the same speaker, and horizontally, to its counterpart in the opposite speaker -- to within 0.1dB.

The matching and testing of sub-components is one key to the Wilson Audio philosophy. For example, each crossover is different from the last because each is built to a tolerance greater than the individual parts allow. The electrical model is first established, and then each crossover is built part-by-part and tested until that ideal is realized. This is far removed from the cookie-cutter approach to loudspeaker building, which Wilson Audio eschews. There are four separate crossover modules, each housed in its own potted enclosure (made of "X" material), in the Alexandria X-2.

The Alexandria X-2 is not just a culmination of design principles first seen in other products, though. Perhaps the most notable advancement that the X-2 employs is what Wilson Audio terms Aspherical Group Delay. Not only is each module adjustable front to back, but the optimal angle in relation to the listening position is created via a spiking mechanism on the rear of each module. Elements of this technology were first seen in the MAXX and WATT/Puppy platforms, but this is the first time this adjustment has been used to create proper module alignment in both the vertical and horizontal realms. The results, according to Wilson Audio, are correct time alignment and perfectly optimized dispersion, regardless of the listening position.

Another first for a full-range Wilson Audio loudspeaker: Note the front port, the research of which was done during the WATCH Dog subwoofer development. According to David Wilson, a 30% reduction in bass-range distortion over that of the X-1 Grand SLAMM was realized. The lack of rear porting also increases placement flexibility in various-sized rooms.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the appearance of the Alexandria X-2. It’s a striking form: angles, curves, bevels, and perfect proportions that at once soften its mass and draw the eye to them. The pictures accompanying this article show it in Grigio Titanio, a Ferrari color added to the Wilson palette for this speaker. In person, the Alexandria X-2 is stunning to look at.

Perhaps the greatest single impression I can convey concerning the Alexandria X-2’s development is that every minute detail was explored and perfected to the best of Wilson Audio’s abilities. I have no doubt they are holding nothing back -- nothing was left on the table.

And so the stage was set.

X-2 versus X-1

The dream match-up took place in David Wilson’s 30' x 40' personal listening room. The setup was optimized such that a speaker from each pair enjoyed a "best" position on either side of the room (i.e., one speaker of each pair occupied the most neutral room placement, with its counterpart placed to perfect stereo operation in relation to the listening position). This was done so that there would be no unfair advantage given to either the X-1 or X-2 from better positioning. A custom-made switchbox was used to toggle between the two combatants. This mechanical switcher, I’m told, employs only the finest but simplest of components, so as to not affect sound quality. The rest of the system included an Audio Research CD3 used as a transport, a Meitner DAC, an Audio Research Reference Two Mk II preamp, and Mark Levinson No.33 Reference mono amplifiers. Cabling -- equal lengths to each speaker -- was from Transparent Audio.

To establish a point of reference, I listened to the X-1 first, a cut from Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum, and then various other selections. It was a sound I was accustomed to, having owned every iteration of the X-1 right up to its current Series 3 status. Everything I know these speakers are capable of -- the crystal-clear midrange, the visceral bass, and the soaring highs -- presented itself in reference-caliber form. I was confident that the X-1 Grand SLAMM Series 3 was still a master, and I wondered if the X-2 could really better it.

When David Wilson questioned me about my impressions of the X-1’s sound I had a hard time criticizing their performance. This made what was to come next that much harder to fathom. As the first notes began emanating from the Alexandria X-2, I realized immediately that a new world was opening up to the connoisseur of fine music in the home. I was stunned at the speakers' realism.

I found it interesting that the X-1 -- only in comparison to the X-2 -- could sound so, well, bettered. The X-1 is a reference loudspeaker in every respect, or so I thought. But oh my, how it has been eclipsed. The X-2 was at once more resolving, yet less hard; it had more clarity, yet was simply beautiful; and it was fuller, yet more agile. And it cast a soundstage the likes of which I’ve never heard from reproduced music. Ever. The speakers disappeared, but so did the room, and more importantly, so did any hint that what we were hearing was reproduced music.

I could go on for days about what I heard, but what’s important is that a new Wilson Audio Specialties flagship has been born. By my measure, it is a crowning achievement, or more fitting perhaps, the highest peak of David Wilson’s career.

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To find out more about Wilson Audio Specialties and the new Alexandria X-2 loudspeaker, visit www.wilsonaudio.com.