Amp/Preamp combo for Wilson Sophia 3's

Bo1972, I did not say that you are telling people to buy the brands you
advertise here. What I am saying is that you are misinforming people, i.e. lie
them, by telling only half of the story.

I too live in the Netherlands and I am fully aware of how incompetent most
hi-end dealers in The Netherlands are. Consequently, I am certainly not
blaming you for stealing their clients. In fact, since I also use a room
correction software and therefore I am aware of the advantages brought to
the table by such softwares, I believe that your clients get indeed better
sound for significant less money. However, since it seems that you did not
directly compared most of the brands you are thrashing here on audiogon,
i.e. you heard Wilson, B&W, Ayre, JBL, Velodyne components not in your
current system but in other systems/rooms at different times, I find you
attitude not only very unprofessional but rude and ill intended.

Why is it rude? It is as it is? I am not bashing any brand. I tell just about there properties. The truth can be hard maybe. I hate lies, for it is Always about the truth. Nothing more, nothing less. I met many people in this business which paid a lot of money for stuff which is average or ecen poor. This is something what need to be changed in this world.

Bo1972 -

at this juncture, I have not had any opportunity to compare the Pass gear w/ Wilson speakers. I would like to spend some audition time w/ these guys.

What gear is in your system?

I auditioned many times Wilson speakers. Often very dissapointing. We had these discussions here at Audiogon many times. They are not easy speakers. They need the right stuff and attention. I only heard 2 good settings. One was with Krell Reference and they other one was with my old XA-100.5. I would still go for the X series with Wilson. Because they will have more control. And you still get a musical mid freq. I love the looks of Wilson and how they are build. But the acoustic problems they often give in a normal house situation can become a pain in the ass. The people which I met at there home had all the same problems. Acoustic problems with the low freq. I would go fo amps with a lot of power, ampères and speed. But with a very musical mid freq. I think poweramp SS with tube preamp also will work great with Wilson. You can create a bigger and wider stage. What I said earlier; they have depth and wide, but there are ones which use better crossovers who make a bigger stage. But you can increase the stage still with other amps and pre amps.

Hi Bo ,
An interesting thread and I agree that earlier versions of some Wilson speakers could tend towards being a bit ruthless , if that is the correct terminology . However , recent products , especially the Sophia 2's & 3's , seem to have ushered in a new chapter with easier driving and lower difficulty in component matching , I suspect the Alexias would be the same . I remember a few years ago hearing some WATT/Puppies , I think they were version 6 or 7 & I agree the sound was not to my liking , but was it the speakers themselves , the associated components or the dealer set up ? Who knows ? Build quality is par excellence , as is after sales product support & when making a decision with a long term purchase , all things need to be taken into consideration .