Looking for a new speaker. Wilson Maxx II ??

Ellery911,
Sorry I did not keep you informed of my amp selection. I have both a pair of Mac MC501 and Atma-Sphere MA2.

Dear Muslover: I think that you can do a lot better in this way: go for a pair of MONITORS : Revel, JmLabs Utopia, Merlin, Harbeth, Spendor, Legacy, Talon, Dynaudio, Dali, Totem, Proac, Tannoy, Thiel, B&W, Sonus Faber, etc... and a pair of SUBWOOFERS: Wilson, Talon, Velodyne, Revel, Aerial, etc...

In this way you can get a 20K+ very high quality sound reproduction speaker system that is a " full range speaker system ", that can be competitive and can beat speakers that cost 50-60K+ and with many advantages over that very high price speakers:

- Many of the monitors models in a speakers line manufacturer ( between their frecuency range ) sounds better than the full range system, but not only sounds better they have better imaging, focus, less distortion, etc,..

- You can integrate easily the monitors to your room than a full range speaker and you can find the best room place for the frecuency range of your monitors: high/midrange, where the monitors don't have to worried about the low bass.

- With a full range speakers ( in one box/body ) almost always the best room place for the best bass room interaction is not the best place for the high/midrange frecuencies room integration: there are to many compromising issues that degraded the quality sound reproduction. With the monitors/subs fashion you don't have it.

- In the same way you can integrate the two subwoofers easily in your room: these subs are " separate/stand alone " of the monitors. So you can have the best room integration from both worlds: monitors and subs, you can't do this with a molithic speakers.

- Now, your tube amps are now " free " of the great power demands of the low bass frecuencies that now are handle for a dedicated amplifiers on the self powered subwoofers.

If you have time please read these links about:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1117893153&openflup&27&4#27

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1117893153&openflup&31&4#31

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Tell you what, I have recently purchased a Pair of Vr-8's Directly from the factory. I had a cool time meeting the group there.Instead of getting the money and dropping them in the van they hooked them up measured, played, Tweeked,, Xovers measured, tweaked, agian Unitil the crossover guru was A happy camper. ( 3 hours :). My 8's can be upgraded to 9 status. New 15" woofers with dedicated amp/xover unit. New Midbass 10" New midranges, new tweeters. This upgrade is about 7500. add that to the vr-8's used price its a steal. The man who traded in the vr-8's ordered a full blown pair of 140,000 VR-11's, which I watched them build on the tour. These people love thier work and it shows.

Wilson Max IIs are "quite nice." Personally I would want a bit more for that kind of $$-- than "quite nice." If you got the power (and I mean power) and you certainly have the room: Maggie 20.1s. Lots of speaker at a relatively inexpensive price given some of the speakers mentioned. Maggies are quite addicting, once you've had a taste.

Back to your question. The Maxx IIs will make you very happy if you listened to them & liked them. The changes in sound will be based more on the equipment you use with them than anything else. There are lots of great speakers, but the latest Wilson Speakers are truly world class. Your room size will be very important as well. The competing brands mentioned here are also excellent but IMHO the Wilsons will compete with them & do better than most in ease of setup, long term listenability, cost, matching to your room (choose your color), ability to maintain them easily. They will do many things better than the speakers mentioned above. The Wilson sound is a unique sound which has evolved over the years and is really fabulous in the current iteration. To be able to compare the speakers listed you will need the exact same setup. This is almost impossible. Also just as an example often when you listen to a speaker if can sound different in different stores. Sometime the speaker can sound terrible on time & amazing the second time. If your dealer is able to setup the Wilsons well in your house you will be rewarded. Good luck.