MAGAZINE
Immediately following the completion of the Chronosonic XVX project – Wilson Audio's most ambitious and complex loudspeaker development to date – Daryl Wilson and his team turned their attention to Wilson's smallest floorstanding loudspeaker. The SabrinaX is a fundamental redesign of the Sabrina. Just like the original Sabrina, the new X-version is intended to be a successful combination of traditional Wilson trademarks such as bass authority, dynamic resolution, beauty and integrity of the midrange, all combined with a sense of musical "correctness". Wilson's goal was to create a loudspeaker that could prevail against significantly larger speaker systems and, like its great idol Chronosonic XVX, provide the dynamic contrast and harmonic expression typical of Wilson Audio.
X-Material Cabinet
X-Material has long been a cornerstone of Wilson's composite technology. Its third generation is also described by the manufacturer as unbeatable in terms of rigidity, inertness, intrinsic damping and extreme hardness. The original Sabrina used X-Material only in the baffle and base plate. The outer enclosure of the SabrinaX is now completely made out of X-Material. With additional bracing, SabrinaX comes significantly closer to the ideal that Wilson has tirelessly pursued for decades. According to the manufacturer, the music emerges from a blacker background, bass transients and overall clarity are significantly improved and listeners experience a superior "silence between the notes", which is said to improve rhythmic timing and tempo, among other things. The new cabinet of the SabrinaX is designed to further improve all of the above sound characteristics by further reducing cabinet resonances. As with all modern Wilson loudspeakers, the engineers used laser vibrometry to determine the optimal cabinet geometry.
Similar to the XVX midrange modules, a new low-turbulence vent replaces the aluminum unit used in the older model. The vent is milled directly into the X-material enclosure. The internal strength of the X-Material allows complex valve shapes to be used to improve flow, aiming to improve musicality and overall sonic presentation in the midrange.
Tweeter from the XVX
The tweeter chosen for SabrinaX is the Convergent Synergy MK5, which Daryl and his team originally developed for the limited edition WAMM Master Chronosonic. Later, the MK5 became an integral part of the Chronosonic XVX design. The Wilson tweeter is designed to combine ultra-low distortion, exquisite micro and macro contrast and ultra-high resolution, all of which, according to the manufacturer, are accompanied by a sense of ease, accessibility and superior musicality.
The 14.6cm midrange driver is remarkably smooth over its entire bandwidth (which extends linearly up to 2kHz, facilitating the transition to the tweeter). The manufacturer describes honesty, resolution and beauty in the midrange as the most important characteristics of all Wilson loudspeakers, which the midrange driver of the SabrinaX is also supposed to bring. The crossover points allow the driver to work optimally in the "sweet spot" of its range.
