i love my sophia 1s, watch center and watch surrounds. i also just for movies have stereo f112 subs. they are off otherwise, the wilsons have excellent bass.
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I have pair of Sophia 2's with a Watch center 2. I also run dual JL Audio F112v2 subs in the room. Your Wilson's will sound magical properly sent up and well integrated, That is probably your first step. I had some help with mine as I had a professional come over and paid him to optimize my system. For me, it was just easier to do, and the result is stunning. The next step is looking at your amplification. I currently run McIntosh 501 amps for the front channels and even at 500 watts per channel, the Sophia's will use every bit of it. I think down the road the amp will be your next upgrade. You have excellent speakers and to get the most out of them, these would be my first 2 steps. Good Luck and enjoy the quest! Mike
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I have two pairs of Sophia's and a pair of Cubs and a pair of Watt-Puppy 7 's and I love them all .....Sophia's are very special speakers in a lot of ways......You will need a minimum of 100 watts of tube power to drive them, a little more power wouldn't hurt.....You will enjoy them.....Autospec
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Are you sure you even need a centre channel?
I also run Wilsons (Maxx2) and the main speakers sound better using a phantom centre - pin point imaging etc. that I elected not to use the centre channel that I have. |
I think Sophia is Wilson's best deal all around, and they sound very special.
Wattage should not be a big issue, and I have run low and high power solid state and also OTL's with fine results.
And hey TooBlue, I have both 1's and 2's. And the 1's are in daily use but the 2's are for sale, although I do not have an ad up currently.
I am not sure why, but the 1's are my clear preference over the 2's also.
Enjoy!
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Thank you rcprince for reiterating that point, I think it is very valid and that I did want that point to be perceived but didn't t quite get it to where I meant to, thank you, and I do believe if he liked his amp before, he will love it now. Tooblue
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One of the better things about the original Sophias is that they sound good even with fairly inexpensive electronics (note tooblue's comment about that old B&K), the first Wilson speaker to really be able to make that claim. I think your electronics should work fine with them. |
Great purchase and I think you will be happy for a long time. One thing I have noticed when upgrading my speakers to better quality is they reflect a light on weaknesses in other parts of your system. It will be interesting to see how your marantz and parasound amps perform with the sofia's. Best wishes. |
Hey norm
Again there great speakers,like i said i have only heard them in a two channel cj set up.I can say your amp may drive them but they would sing if you stepped up a level eventually in your amp section.
Respect ... |
Hi Guys :
Thank you all for your inputs. I appreciate it. Hopefully I have the proper amplifyer the Marantz pre amp mainly because I wanted the 4K pass thru and 2.0 with balanced outputs.(have a 4K TV) Would have liked the similar parasound or Krell or Mac etc, But the price tag with those features is beyond me. But the parasound power amp 5 channel 125W into 8ohm 225 into 4ohm load Should be addequate to drive the sophia I hope.
So Thanks Again for your input
Norm L
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The Sophia 1 is quite special, I have had mine for 9 years and are using them in a two channel system which I have just recently posted on the virtual systems on agon if you would like to see some of the associated equipment I am using them with please take a look. Some notes here, I also had a pair of the Sophia 2s and preferred the 1s which I have kept, have used them with Pass Labs Canary, CJ solid state and settled on the VTLS as you will see in the system and they allowed each application to really shine there strengths but didn't realize how good they were till I pulled a 30 year old B&K ST140 out of my closet to use while I had the VTL rebuilt and was really blown away. The preference for the 1s over the 2s is probably not the general consensus for most but did have both at the same time. Enjoy those bad boys and congratulations. Tooblue
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Norm L
you have an excellent speaker in the Focal 918 BD model. The Wilson is certainly a step-up in all respects- feed it proper amplification and you will be rewarded. Happy Listening! |
Hmm, you typically ask this type of question before your buy. In any event, great speakers, you will be more than happy.
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Very nice. I put up a mod online to replace the Focal Profile 918 tweeters with a Scanspeak Be tweeter. If you are going to keep the 918s its transforming.
Best,
Erik
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Great spkrs imo.I have only heard them in a 2 channel set up ...congrats |
