I've listened to most of the W/P incarnations, and have lived with the Sophia 2's for about 10 years now. I love the Sophias. The W/P 8 is a very fine speaker IF you like the Wilson sound. They are more dynamic than the Sophias (although all Wilsons go LOUD if that's your thing), but also more critical of setup, and like all W/Ps (although less than any earlier incarnation) they have what sounds to me like a "hollowness" in the mids. Not a glaring issue, for sure, but I would say more tailored to jazz and classical reproduction. The Sasha doesn't seem to suffer the same hollowness to my ear, and neither does the Sophia. The Sophia is easier to set up and optimize and is less picky about room acoustics in general - it's just a lot more forgiving than W/Ps. I haven't listened to the 8's extensively, but I did choose the Sophias over the W/P 7s at the time. Money no object, I would trade my Sophias for Sasha 2s which to me have dynamics of W/Ps without the midrange issues. That said, I'm very happy with the Sophias, and will likely live with them for another 10 or 20 years - if I live that long. FWIW, I've heard Sophias described as the Wilson speaker for people who don't like Wilson speakers, and to my ears it has some truth to it.
Unless Wilson goes bankrupt, which appears very unlikely IMO, I wouldn't worry about service and parts. They are very good in that respect.
IMHO, they worth it. I have Alexander pair with Coloseum. The best sound that I have ever heard. Very natural and it’s almost like spiritual experience when you listen to it. Money in the bank or even your investment don’t give you such pleasure in life.
Call Jared at Wilson, to find the closest dealer to you if you don't already know. Sometimes you can pick up a really nice pair of demos for less than half price.Yes-to my ears, they are worth it.
Heard a pair of sophias with pass mono blocks. 600 wpc. The sound was stunning. If I could afford them, I’d buy a pair of Sophia 3’s. Matched with my krell pure class A would be awesome.
I picked up a pair of Sophia 1 last year for a great price as the finish had cracks at most of the seams. I called Wilson to ask advice on how to repair. They told me that this was due to a glue defect during a period of production. I paid to ship them to Utah. Wilson completely disassembled my Sophias, repaired the seams, repainted the speakers and added the new foam baffles. They wrapped them in protective film and back into the crates. They even paid for the return shipping back to me! They knew I was not the original owner...they were committed to their product. The rep I worked with said the owner wants every single outbound shipment(new or service)to exceed the customer’s expectations. I am still blown away by their level of customer service. Oh...they sound amazing too! They are so dynamic and play so full range. I have subs but have them crossed over at 43Hz and sometimes they really aren't needed. They really do disappear in my room. I have had various ARC amps and they have been great with them all. They are not the most efficient speakers so you will need to give them at least moderate power. ARC tube 75wpc serves them well.
The fact that Michael Fremer has Wilsons speaks volumes.
ARC also has had them in their listening room over the years as well as Magnepan and Sonus Faber.
I spent the last year listening to bookshelf/monitor size speakers. Not an easy thing to do during a pandemic even though I am luckily enough to have 5 high-end stores around me. I listened to the Tunetots and was not impressed and did not buy them. I even liked the new Totem speakers at $3k, more then the $12k tunetots. But again, these were their small ones and the Wilson’s do have their own sound regardless of size, you need to hear them, you may like them for the money.
Wilson good for a transistor amp. Not so well by tubes. Missed : the “natural” sound, detail, 3D...not my cup of tea. Is hi-fi ,no high-end. (It’s my opinion)
I had the W/P 7 in the front with Wilson Watch, all 3 powered by Mark Levinson 33H. In the rear I had Cub 2s also hooked up to ML amps. I loved them. No problems. Sounded unbelievable playing anything. Ex took them out of storage. Her friend sold them on US Audiomart. Would do it all over again if I could afford it. It is your money and your ears but I don't think you'll regret it.
No doubt that Wilson makes excellent speakers but only an audition will tell you if they are right for you. I don’t like vanilla ice cream, but all those who do, don’t have poor taste, just a different preference.
do you need checkers (taxi)? - or go well ... if the latter, then buy yourself a passive ATC 50 or 150 - and you will be happy ... you will thank me for the good advice for many years.
I sold my Tekton Enzo Xl that I was going to trade in on a pair of Moabs. I don't like to wait for things. Moabs might take 6 months to get because of supply problems. Plus I just decided I really don't want that big of a speaker. I may still get them but I am looking at other options. If they had a pair in stock, I probably would have them already.
FWIW, I had a pair of original Sophias a few years ago. At the same time in house I had a pair of Piega P 10s and Green Mountain Audio Continuum 3s. When the dust settled I kept the GMA speakers and sold the other two. And the Sophia came in third in that horse race.
The good news is that I sold the wilsons for what I paid.
@celtic66 Do you really think the people marketing range rover, rolex, bose, etc. had some exceptional marketing strategy that sustained these brands for this long? Can't be true. How could it be? They're more evidence of the inability to differentiate and bad taste of rich people. Once something has been popular with them for a long enough time it's permanently respected no matter how silly it is.
The only person that can decide if Wilson’s are worth the money is you. I believe they are. I also believe that Sonus Faber, MBL and Vandersteen are. But ultimately their worth is a function of how they sound to you. It certainly isn’t a function of someone being a sore loser if they cannot afford them. Depending on what you like, either of the brands I mentioned are excellent speakers regardless of cost.
When I was last shopping for speakers, before demonstrating a pair of Magico floor-standing speakers, the salesman asked if I prefered "analytic" or "musical" speakers, an interesting way to put it. In my case "musical" was my preference. I found the Magico's were highly resolving and excellent in their own right, but not "my cup of tea".
When I visited my then local Wilson dealership, I found them also not "my cup of tea". I thought they also were highly resolving and there was something about the highs, with my hearing, that prevented me from being able to listen to them for very long.
I don't think it's a "good" or "bad" issue. I have friends who really enjoy their Wilson's, I just prefer something different.
My only advice is that prospective buyers take the time to fully audition speakers and listen to the music they like to enjoy at home, not the typical sources the dealer selects to show off the equipment they sell.
I heard some older WPs years ago not sure the model. I thought that older Focal tweeter was not great. I’m sure the new ones with soft dome sound much better but are also magnitudes higher in cost.
I have Wilson Sasha 1. They are excellent; accurate, natural, coherent from top to bottom. Positioning and powerful amp needed. I prefer Wilson’s to Sonus Faber , Vivid Audio , B & W , DeVore, Van der Steen , Kef , Monitor Audio , MBL , Focal , and Harbeth. The above have their strengths but i prefer Wilson’s.
Have listened to Wilsons, including most recently the Chronosonic model and never found the magic. With the $680k model I felt like I was hearing 5 different speakers at once. Is that coherence? This dealer powers them with MSB Mono blocks at $160k/pair in a large theatre room. On the other hand many reviewers own Wilsons and logic dictates they hear pretty well and have even more choices. Does Wilson offer 1/2 price deals to reviewers or something?
A friend of mine who is a musician and retailer sells both Wilson and Sonus Faber. He owns Sonus Faber Amatis.
Everybody hears differently. My ears are old, worn and limited so I have no idea what the 10k-20K sound is about.
If you can't wait 3 months for a product you may not be very sold on it.
there were a pair of Maxx 2 in California for sale asking price 13 grand. I thought about them, then realized I live in a 1200 square ft hi rise in Las Vegas and cannot accommodate speakers of that size. I'm looking for sophia or watt puppy sized speakers that pack a punch. I do not like laid back sound. I want a lively bright loudspeaker.
I used a 1000sq ft. Apartment in NOLA a few years ago and they sound amazing. Believe it or not, your footprint is almost the same. The Maxx speakers can angle perfectly to the seating position you want VS the others don’t do as well. Why hear some of the visit when you can hear it all. You will always chase around speakers until you realize what you are missing. Also by no means the Wilson Maxx are layback sound by the way. There bass will knock you off of your feet. I’m happy to give you a demonstration if you like. I’m in the LA Area
My listening room is 14.5 by 17 leading into a kitchen and dining area which would make it 14.5 by 27. 9 ft ceilings. its a good size room. I prefer MAXX 2's. MAXX 1 is too old.
Weather Maxx 2 or not, all I’m saying is that you should give a listen that’s all. After you hear them, you will be spoiled. There are a few 1 and 2 out there. The 3 is a completely different animal. It sounds slightly better and I do mean slightly better. I have the 3’s as well. That is a completely different price range. You will find them for $30,000 to $35,000. Both of mine are not for sale. My 1’s are converted to Maxx 2. It was the last year before switching to Maxx 2. The change was the the tweeters and the resistors from 1 to 2. Easy to do. My Maxx 3’s are still 3’s. Best of luck on your choices.
Oh, I forgot to ask you. Not sure if anyone had asked. What equipment are you using? Like any other speakers out there, the equipment needs to work well with the speakers.
There was zero reason or need for your snide response to a legitimate question. Take notice, all. This is what you eventually get when interacting with certain individuals.
No worries thecarpathian. I appreciate what you said. At the end of the day, I’m happy with my systems as I’m sure you and others are with yours. Jeffvegas is the one asking for help, and started this thread not you or I. You can lead the horse to the well but you can’t make them drink, lol. At the end of the day, let him figure it out on his own. Based on his comments and supposedly asking for help. He doesn’t need any. Why start a thread when he apparently took positive questions that was design in hopes to give him some good ideas that could help him make a better decision, not tell him what to do (only respectable advice) but instead, It’s basically a washout and we can move on to folks who truly do want advice from people who have had experience with specific products.
Rolls Royce make a Beautiful car too, and it goes forward and backwards but would I pay 500 k. NO But my Toyota does the same thing and the parts are CHEAP TOO!!!! A lot of these HIGH PRICE END speakers make nice LOOKING cabinets,BUT who makes the Drivers and when they get old can you get replacement drivers!!
Heard Wilson Sasha DAW yesterday. The best I've ever heard. blows away Magico, Rockport, B&W . Blows away everything. Wilson is the best. Now I have to convince myself to spend the money. it's a ridiculous price for a pair of loudspeakers.
Absolute conclusions made by hearing different systems in different rooms are marginally helpful. The only way to make such preferential statements with accuracy is to hear the speakers head to head, in the same room, preferably with the same equipment. All other declarations are fairly worthless.
Selection of a speaker is often a highly subjective process. It helps if you really like it initially. :)
for a number of years i did rely on reviews and feedback from others for guidance. and it got me to a dead end of Mark Levinson electronics and Wilson speakers.
There you have it. Wilson are a dead end. Love that quote. Green with envy.
I really like Wilson, the dynamics are incredible which makes a huge difference in sounding real, there are many other great qualities as well which I won’t go into since so many have already said in these forums. . I haven’t heard the Watt Puppy 8 in a long time but remember thinking they were one of the better Watt Puppies I’d heard. I also really like the current stuff they have. I’ve owned the DAW and the Alexx 2, moving up once again soon.
Sounds like if you were able to demo the Sasha DAW and really liked them, then that should be conclusive.. I’m sure you understand they do prefer/require nice upstream components and cabling. But if you liked the strengths and presentation, you should look for pairs within your budget. You can get W/Ps in the $5-7K range, Sophias in the $7-9K range, and Sashas 1-2 in the $10-12K range. Only Wilsons I would stay away from are the much older Witt and the Cub. And some folks seem to think the Alexia 1 had some coherence issues. I have a pair of W/Ps, and the small form factor (as long as there are dynamite dynamics), while not totally determinative, IS important. Big horns, or Maggies, or other obscure shaped speakers - while they may sound more immediate, or live, or ’real’ - are more visually problematic over the long term. Wilsons can get you pretty close sonically, in a much more real-world package that’s a lot easier to live with.
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