On a mission for more BASS


Would biamping Sophia 2's add a substantial amount of BASS (including SPL) from those 10" woofers?
What am I trying to achieve? I need more BASS from those 10's, and lots of it!
Streatch goal: Enough SPL to watch the crumbs on the coffee table bounce like corn in a hot-air popper!

The shop where I got the Sophia 2's demod the Sophia 3's and the BASS (especially in SPL) was very disappointing (or my expectations are too high for my $16,700 Sophia 2's).

Existing equipment:
3 McIntosh MC501 500W monoblocks
Pre-amp should have what I need as its a Tri-Amp (McIntosh C500t)
Audyssee MultiEq XT w/install kit (mic, software)
Sophia 2's

I'm looking for a 1000' view on "how to" or pointers for what to do for/to crossovers (removal/replacement/bypass/hack and so on).

Suggestions on how much wattage for each woofer (under breaking point) and how many McIntosh amps to leverage would be immensly helful. Was thinking about getting a McIntosh stereo amp for the mids and tweeters and then use existing MC501's to drive each 10 (or tri-amp).
joelz
I'm not a big Wilson Audio guy, but I was under the impression that their dealers were particularly well trained for installation. Did your dealer help with set up? If not, perhaps you could talk to them about improvements.
Also, though I realize they aren't inexpensive, the Sophia is only intended to go flat to the low 30s, and in a relatively modest sized room. They are, in affect, a one piece version of a Watt/Puppy, and those required a WOW in order to really move a lot of air. If you need lower/stronger base performance, I agree with most others here, that a sub may be in order... or maybe a change to a more "full range" speaker.
Adding Paradigm Sig Servo 15 and finding a sweet spot made the large impact I was after.

Need to do the pop corn test after strapping down the concrete foundation!

Thanks!
I completely concur with Cathode. This sounds like a room acoustics issue. Dimensions would be very helpful, as well as where you and your speakers are positioned within the space. Subtle positional shifts (less than an inch) can make profound differences with modal peaks and nulls, and how the room propagates them.
I really think the problem has to do with your room and acoustical treatments. What are the dimensions of your room and what kind of treatments are you using?
Peter your not moving air but exiting a wave to form this imparts its energy to the next air molecule and so on. The air doesn't go anywhere the wave moves through the air.
Great input!

Peter, I like your kind of speaker! ( http://pbnaudio.com/speakers/montana-speakers/was-2 )

f113's are in my future, mucho gracias!!
Buy a pro sound powered Mackie sub with an 18" driver...it will massage your internal organs, cause your vision to blur, and you can moonlight as a DJ on weekends.
just buy a good subwoofer. even a used rel stadium ($1K + change) would probably do the trick. bread crumbs will move.
Figure out a way to get a pair of these in your system:

http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/pdf/DTS%2010%20spec%20sheet.pdf
It sounds like you bought a Ferrari and now you are disappointed that it can't pull your motor home.
As others have pointed out, why did you buy the Wilson Sophias? They are a very good speaker, but they don't go that deep and they don't go that loud. It would greatly help if you better defined what you mean by bass. Are you talking about subterranean deep bass, kick drum thumping, cathedral organ rattling, bass guitar throbbing, etc? Is the bass you have now not loud enough or not impactful enough, or both? You should also be aware that hyping the bass will obscure midrange definition and clarity.
+ Jl Audio f113 will turn those crumbs into dust, in fact while watching a movie, one of my shot glass that I collect flew out of my bar shelf and crashed unto my wooden floors, I thought wow my surrounds sound so realistic till I turned around and saw glass everywhere.
Went back to tweaking the sub.
i agree with Edorr. a fast, tight sub will cure what ails you. two fast, tight subs will really make you feel better =).
Not sure why you would buy a pair of speakers with "dissapointing" bass but that is another issue. Forget bi-amping. You don;t need big subs - for integration with the Sophias yoou need fast subs. Get two JL Audio 113's. Additional benefit is you can run the subs through a bass EQ unit.
It really is more dependent on the size of your listening room. For really big bass, you need a BIG room.
Bi-amp won't do it. You need big subs.

Be careful, don't overdrive those 10" woofers in your Sophia, they are expensive to replace.
I tried bi-amping a couple of times with other speakers and the results weren't good because the 2 amps weren't balanced. So depending on which amp I put where, there was either too much bass or not enough. Of course my attempt was half hearted, and to do it properly you need active XOs, or at least the same amps top and bottom.
So I would say it is possible - If you can control the gain of the amps, just turn the amp on the woofers up more than the other amp. How that will sound I don't know, but I assume Wilson kinda knows what they are doing balance-wise when they design their speakers. But you might like it better, who knows.
The shop where I got the Sophia 2's demod the Sophia 3's and the BASS (especially in SPL) was very disappointing (or my expectations are too high for my $16,700 Sophia 2's).

And you bought them anyway?
You'll need subs or another speaker. Check out JL Audio for a sub on par with Wilson speakers.
2 ea. 10" woofers can only move so much air - if you really want to move enough air to

"watch the crumbs on the coffee table bounce like corn in a hot-air popper" there is only one way to do it. :-)

http://pbnaudio.com/speakers/montana-speakers/was-2

Or the next one up.

My own super biased opinion :-)

Good Listening

Peter