Loudspeaker of 1995
Wilson Audio Specialties X-1/Grand SLAMM ($67,500/pair; reviewed by Martin Colloms, Vol.17 No.12, December 1994 Review)
Finalists (in alphabetical order):
Audio Physic Virgo ($4995/pair; reviewed by Michael Fremer, Vol.18 No.9, September 1995 Review)
Cello Stradivari Master ($30,000/pair; reviewed by Lewis Lipnick, Vol.18 No.7, July 1995)
Energy Veritas v2.8 ($6000/pair; reviewed by Thomas J. Norton, Vol.18 Nos.6 & 10, June & October 1995 Review)
Infinity Composition Prelude P-FR ($3000/pair; reviewed by Robert Harley, Vol.18 No.9, and Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, Vol.1 No.2, both September 1995 Review)
Magnepan Magneplanar MG-20 ($9200/pair–$9895/pair; reviewed by Dick Olsher, Vol.18 No.2, February 1995 Review)
Meridian DSP6000 digital active loudspeaker ($16,000/pair; reviewed by Robert Harley, Vol.14 No.9, September 1991; and J. Gordon Holt and Thomas J. Norton, Vol.18 No.6, June 1995 Review)
Thiel CS7 ($8900/pair; reviewed by Thomas J. Norton, Vol.18 No.10, October 1995) There was never any doubt that the Wilson Audio Specialties X-1/Grand SLAMM was the speaker to beat for 1995's Loudspeaker of the Year. In a field of commendable contenders, ranging all over the price map, it ran away with the category, amassing four times the votes of the second-place entry: over half of the respondents voted for it, with all but one according it their highest rating. X-1 stands for the "First eXperimental" system, and SLAMM for "Super Linear Adjustable Modular Monitor." Can any speaker really be that impressive? Stereophile's writers came away from Miami's 1994 Hi-End Hi-Fi show (where the X-1 debuted) talking of little else, and Martin Colloms—normally the most unflappable of reviewers—positively gushed with admiration, claiming, "Until I heard the X-1, I simply didn't know that it was possible to hear certain qualities in recorded music. The X-1 appeared to achieve the impossible on many occasions."
MC did express some qualms about the upper-bass/middle-C region, as well as the slightest "leanness" in the upper midrange—as did several of the other writers who voted for it—but concluded that this no-holds-barred design had a rare ability to unmask the unfamiliar in his most frequently played reference recordings. Of one favorite, he exclaimed, "I thought I knew how this band played and how the track sounded, but I was wrong."
Priced in the mid-$60k price range, the X-1 is not a speaker that will ever dominate the market in terms of numbers sold, but every audiophile should hear it at least once in order to experience the amazing slam and dynamics that the Wilson brings to the party, not to mention its remarkable rhythm and timing, preternatural clarity, and virtually nonexistent distortion at any conceivable listening level. The Grand SLAMM gives new meaning to the term "Reference Loudspeaker."
Audio Physic Virgo ($4995/pair; reviewed by Michael Fremer, Vol.18 No.9, September 1995 Review)
Cello Stradivari Master ($30,000/pair; reviewed by Lewis Lipnick, Vol.18 No.7, July 1995)
Energy Veritas v2.8 ($6000/pair; reviewed by Thomas J. Norton, Vol.18 Nos.6 & 10, June & October 1995 Review)
Infinity Composition Prelude P-FR ($3000/pair; reviewed by Robert Harley, Vol.18 No.9, and Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, Vol.1 No.2, both September 1995 Review)
Magnepan Magneplanar MG-20 ($9200/pair–$9895/pair; reviewed by Dick Olsher, Vol.18 No.2, February 1995 Review)
Meridian DSP6000 digital active loudspeaker ($16,000/pair; reviewed by Robert Harley, Vol.14 No.9, September 1991; and J. Gordon Holt and Thomas J. Norton, Vol.18 No.6, June 1995 Review)
Thiel CS7 ($8900/pair; reviewed by Thomas J. Norton, Vol.18 No.10, October 1995) There was never any doubt that the Wilson Audio Specialties X-1/Grand SLAMM was the speaker to beat for 1995's Loudspeaker of the Year. In a field of commendable contenders, ranging all over the price map, it ran away with the category, amassing four times the votes of the second-place entry: over half of the respondents voted for it, with all but one according it their highest rating. X-1 stands for the "First eXperimental" system, and SLAMM for "Super Linear Adjustable Modular Monitor." Can any speaker really be that impressive? Stereophile's writers came away from Miami's 1994 Hi-End Hi-Fi show (where the X-1 debuted) talking of little else, and Martin Colloms—normally the most unflappable of reviewers—positively gushed with admiration, claiming, "Until I heard the X-1, I simply didn't know that it was possible to hear certain qualities in recorded music. The X-1 appeared to achieve the impossible on many occasions."
