An Amplifier Change for my Wilson Sophia 2's?


I have an Audio Research VT100 Mk II with 100 watts of tube power driving my newly acquired Wilson Sophia 2 speakers.  The sound is lovely, and the specs seem to be fine, but I do have to crank the preamp pretty high to get relatively loud music, especially when playing analog.  It got me to thinking that maybe these speakers would be better served by a lot more power.  

If I were to make a move here, I would be looking for a price neutral move.  That means selling (or trading) my amp for its market value (about $2300) and purchasing something at the same price.  

My initial research pointed to Bryston power amps, either an older one from the family of 4B Setreo amps or 7B mono blocks.  Either would deliver more than 500 watts into 4 ohms.

Would this much power make a large difference in the performance of the Wilsons?
marktomaras
OP-
a Bryston power amp is a sonic match. You can go back as far as 3B model. These power amps have a magical synergy w/ an ARC Ref5 SE pre-amp.
Hi Mark,

I can’t comment on how much amplifier power is likely to be optimal with your particular speakers, or on which amplifiers are likely to be particularly synergistic from a sonic standpoint.

But I agree with JPerry’s comments, to which I’ll add the following thoughts:

1)The two considerations referred to in my first paragraph figure to be inter-related, such that more or less power may be optimal depending on the design and sonic character of the particular amplifier.

2)The amplifier’s effects on volume control position depend on its gain, not on its power capability. There are many amplifiers that provide a combination of relatively high gain and relatively low power capability, and vice versa, although in general there tends to be a **loose** correlation between gain and power capability.

3)How much power is required is often determined by the dynamic range of the music that is listened to. In most circumstances not a great deal of power is required for most recordings, at least most of the time. But on recordings having a particularly great difference in volume between the loudest notes and the softest notes, such as some well engineered minimally compressed classical symphonic recordings, enormously greater power capability can be required to support their brief dynamic peaks than under most other circumstances, and at most other times during those same recordings.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

Onhwy61,

before the issue was volume and noise with the phono stage.  Now that I changed my speakers, my question is about the amplifier speaker match.
Al,

Very interesting.  So if an amp i choose has more gain, that could be a benefit for the volume issues I have spoken about before.  And if the amp also has more wattage, it can control the speaker better and perhaps provide a better sound with high dynamic range music?

I am noticing that in order to really hear all of the music, I do have to go fairly loud.  Would the increase of wattage of the amplifier allow me to hear the music better at lower volumes as well?

Thanks!
If the issue appears more with analog, you should experiment by increasing the gain on the phono pre even if it's already at 60 or 65db.

Hopefully you have a decent sound meter. If not, a free smartphone app will work for music that's midrange-centric, but the crappy mics in most phones can't capture low freq. at all (Since phone mics are optimized to capture your speaking voice). When you play music to compare the gain settings on the phone stage be sure to listen at the same volume according to the sound meter. Don't fixate on the volume knob on your preamp. Without an equal volume comparison, nothing else matters.
After you do that, report back at what volume you typically listen at. 

Even at a not super-efficient 89db, the Sophias should get plenty of power from your amp. Have you heard Sophias elsewhere with a different amp that sound more like you expected? If so, please describe.
Cheers,
Spencer