Wilson Audio SabrinaX Loudspeakers
When it came time to upgrade the Sabrina, Daryl and his team faced a conundrum: how could they upgrade a loudspeaker already loved for its supreme musicality? His first goal was to preserve Sabrina’s affability and intrinsic listenability. When looking for ways to improve Sabrina, Daryl drew directly from his last project, the Chronosonic XVX. With those tools in hand, Daryl evolved an already great platform into a loudspeaker with even greater musicality—while at the same time, improving its transient speed, resolution, intimacy, and transparency. Introducing the all-new SabrinaX.
The SabrinaX is a ground-up rethinking of the Sabrina, perhaps the most universally loved of Wilson’s small, floor-standing loudspeakers during the last several decades. The original Sabrina attracted a loyal, almost cult-like following. It was a rare combination of traditional Wilson virtues such as musical authority, dynamic resolution, midrange beauty and integrity, and a sense of inherent musical “rightness.” This list of achievements and qualities would be uncommon in any loudspeaker. When considering Sabrina's compact size and relative affordability, it becomes obvious why so many audiophiles and music lovers admire Sabrina. The design goal with SabrinaX was to preserve the original model's inherent affability, flexibility, and its astonishing technical prowess while, at the same time, elevate its resolution, bass-transient speed, and clarity, and overall resolution and transparency.
Enclosure
The original Sabrina utilized X-Material only in its baffle and lower spike plate. Now, the SabrinaX outer enclosure is constructed entirely from X-Material. The SabrinaX cabinet comes that much closer to the near-silent ideal Wilson has systematically pursued for decades. The music emerges through SabrinaX from a blacker background. Bass transient performance and clarity are vastly improved. Listeners will hear superior “silence between the notes,” which, among other factors, enhance Sabrina’s rhythmic timing and pace.
Drivers
Tweeter from the XVX
The tweeter chosen for SabrinaX is the Convergent Synergy MK5, which Daryl and the team developed initially for the limited-edition WAMM Master
Chronosonic. The MK5 later became an integral part
of the Chronosonic XVX’s design. The Wilson tweeter combines ultra-low distortion, exquisite micro and
macro contrast, and ultra-high resolution, all of which
are accompanied by a sense of ease, accessibility,
and supreme musicality. Technically and musically, the
MK5 is—by a comfortable margin—the most honest
and engaging tweeter we’ve experienced to date.
Woofer from the Sasha DAW
The new 8-inch woofer designed and developed
for the Sasha DAW’s bass module now finds a
home in the SabrinaX. This state-of-the-art driver
is installed into an all-new, exceptionally inert
bass cabinet, which provides the perfect platform
for the driver’s intrinsically excellent dynamic
resolution and transient performance. Together,
these elements contribute to a rich and yet ultra-fast midbass, which is, in turn, supported by
an authoritative bass foundation. SabrinaX’s bass
articulation, transient speed, and bottom-octave
extension will demolish any preconceptions about
the bass quality and accuracy that such a small
loudspeaker can produce.
AudioCapX
The first design to benefit from Wilson’s recent integration of capacitor design and manufacturer into the factory in Provo, Utah, was the Chronosonic XVX. Led by engineer Vern Credille, the design team developed a proprietary multi-wound capacitor specifically for the XVX, which the engineers dubbed Wilson AudioCapX-WA. The team took a similar approach with Wilson's smallest floorstander. Now, SabrinaX's crossover benefits from a version of the Wilson AudioCapX specific to its needs. The new capacitor technology significantly lowers the noise floor to even greater extremes, allowing the listener to hear more detail and resolution.
Hardware
Unlike the plastic items found in many
high-end loudspeakers, Wilson ports have
always been heroic. Wilson machine this critical element from a solid billet of 6061-T6
aluminum. Over the years, we've refined
our port shapes for better performance.
For the SabrinaX, a new geometry effectively reduces already low port noise.
The new model utilizes the same Wilson designed and -manufactured binding post
as the XVX. It is easier to tighten by hand,
and also features a banana-plug option.
This unique Wilson Audio connector resets the bar for reliability and sonic integrity within high-current connections.
The SabrinaX uses the same spike/diode assembly found in the Chronosonic
XVX, which increases the mechanical
impedance path and improves vibration “draining.” The larger diode also
enhances the physical presence and
beauty of the design.