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Considering Wilson or Sonus Faber floor standing over my Rockport monitors & Wisdom Sub

Hello All,

I have a pair of Rockport Mira Monitors with a Wisdom SCS subwoofer, driven by Audio Research tube amp and preamp.  I am considering a move to a floor standing speaker.  The Wilson Sophia 2 and the Sonus Faber Cremona M or Sonus Faber Olympica III all caught my eyes.

As it is, I am getting very good bass with the Wisdom SCS sub, and great sound from the Rockports.  What will a move to a similarly classed floor standing model over the monitors and sub give me?  I wonder at the ability of the monitors & sub compared to a singularly designed floor standing speaker.

My room is not dedicated, and the living room where the system is opens to the left to a dining area, and there is an open foyer behind the listening position.  The listening area itself affords about 9.5 feet between the speakers, and an equilateral triangle to the listening position.  The speakers are about 4 feet off the back wall.  The left speaker has the open dining room to the left.  The right speaker has about 3 feet to the right side wall.

My Rockports are relatively insensitive at 85db, so a move to an 89db or 90db speaker would be a welcomed one.

Do you think a floor standing speaker on this level (Sophia 2 / Cremona M / Olympica III) will be a dramatic improvement over what I have?

The details of my system can be seen here: https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/5421

Thanks!
- Mark
marktomaras

Showing 1 response by rcprince

rcprince
3,061 posts
 

While normally I'd agree with John on the descriptions of Wilson speakers as revealing, I don't believe that is as true with the Sophias that I have heard.  They are much more forgiving of upstream components than the usual Wilson speakers (especially the Watt Puppy 7s you are going to hear). 

Quite frankly, you can't go wrong with either of your choices, but I think you will lose a bit of the lowest bass you have in your current setup, since they don't have the bass extension of your subwoofer.  However, an advantage of the floorstanders will probably be better integration of the bass they do put out, as you don't have to dial in a subwoofer to the proper crossover frequency, phase, etc.  Listening to them both will probably let you know which speaker you prefer, but keep in mind that (1) the WP 7 you will listen to is a good deal more revealing and analytical than the Sophias and (2) it is likely that the SF speakers will not be optimally set up (I've never been a fan of the chain stores and their listening rooms).  Both work very well with the ARC amplification you have.  Good luck!

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