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Wilson Sophia

I have been looking at stepping up from my B&W 704s and heard the 802Ds, the Naut 802s and the Wilson Sophias. I was all set to spend the 4500 on a pair of used 802s but then I heard the Wilsons. All I can say is that the Wilsons absolutely spoke to me. My problem is that this is a huge investment for me and I think that I must be crazy to even be thinking about this purchase. Even more so, because I live in an apartment building and cannot "crank up" my system to massive volume levels.

My question is-am I going to be able to truly appreciate these speakers with my McIntosh MA 6500 integrated and my Lector CD player? There is not going to be any money in my budget to even consider other changes for a long time. Wilson's were set up with mid level Naim gear.

Are there any risks with buying the units off the floor if I can get a deal?

As always thanks for your input.

John
jhorton19
jhorton19 OP
24 posts
 
Thanks, Jungsan...They are incredible...Absolute magic with my McIntosh...The search is over-for now.
kleech
122 posts
 
This thread strikes a warm and fuzzy chord with me because I recall stretching my budget on dream speakers during my nine years (don't ask!) of postgraduate training. "Back in the day" I sacrificed a nicer car/apartment for Apogee Duetta II's and never regretted it for a moment. I would not go into debt to fund equipment, however. I can tell you that now that I'm more "comfortable", the upgrades (eg. I recently went from Sophias to WP 7's) don't bring about the same magnitude of joy and excitement as they did before.

Savour those speakers as much and as long as you can. When ennui sets in, judicious upgrades to the rest of your system will be all that better appreciated.
jhorton19 OP
24 posts
 
Dealer came over to my apartment last night...Tweaked my speakers a few inches here and there...Positioning tightened up the bass nicely and widened the soundstage a bit. There is no question that these speakers are substantially less directional than my old B&Ws.

Also, for those of you who have rather small living quarters, these speakers can work quite well. Obviously I would love to have more room to let these things breath but the dealer was pretty blown away with the sound we were able to achieve.

Room is about 12Wx20LX9H. I have some openings in this room so I am a bit limited with placement. Speakers are on the long wall-about 7 feet apart, 1 1/2ft from the wall and 8 feet or so to my listening position which is a pretty deep couch against the far wall. Speakers are about 7 ft from the side walls and they are toed in a bit.

Can't wait to get my Nordost cables back...Will post an update once I get them hooked up.

John
mightyzeppelin8
3 posts
 
Is there anyone who compared the Sofia with the 802D that liked the 802D's better? Looking for an objective viewpoint.

Is it fair to say that most people on the forums like the Sofia better?

Is one more suited for rock music than the other?

Thanks!
Dave
jhorton19 OP
24 posts
 
Hi Dave:

Frankly, I was hoping to like the 802Ds more than the Sophias but it just was not close.

I listen to a pretty wide variety of Music but list Wilco, Mark Knopfler, The Who, Pearl Jam and John Hiatt amongst my favorites. I tested both the Sophias and the 802Ds with all of the above plus some Jazz and with the following electronics-Mark Levinson, McIntosh, and Naim solid state amps.

Again, just my opinion but the Sophias sound much better to my ear.

Have fun with the search!
John
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