Wilson Audio Owners.....Sophia's

i auditioned the sophia 2's at length before moving up to the w/p 8. the sophia 2s have superb coherence, staging, and excellent transparency overall, especially at low listening volume levels. set up, as mentioned , is critical, as is amp matching. if you choose an amp that is not nimble, the speakers will sound sluggish, but if you choose an amp that is edgy or very aggressive, such as older krell, you may have to go for all tubes upstream. the arc ref amps mentioned previously are wonderful [but make sure you have an excellently resolving pre]. i experienced superb overall liquidity and a great lower end command with pass labs x350.5. i felt it gave much greater clarity and wt than the arc ref 110. i did not hear the speakers with the ref 210. if you go with a s/s amp, you may want to consider a tube preamp. also, do not slight investigation of speaker cables. consider them a component in the speaker+cable+amp triumverate. cheers.

I'm using mine with ARC Ref 110 and it is a great combination.

There's a pair of Audio Research REF 210 monos for sale on Audiogon that would match well with your Sophias.

I currently use an Ayre amp, with wonderful results. I also use an Audio Research ls 26 pre-amp and have found that to be a great match as well. Finally, I certainly agree with all of the positive descriptions about the sound of the Sophias, but acoustic instruments and vocals are particularly stunning. And not just female vocals--pull out some of the 1950s Sinatra capitals on LP and you'll be blown away.

I own the original sophias. They are very revealing of associated equipment.
I find they work well with approx 50-75 tube watts, but when fed high power tubes they create a huge three dimensional stage wonderful tonality and well resolved bass.

I use Audio Research VM220 Monoblocs and the combination is gorgeous.

The sophias, (and all Wilsons) require meticulous set up and room placement. If this is not accomplished, you'll NEVER experience their true glory.

Anyone tried the Krell FPB's with the Sophias?

I owned the originals and upgraded to the two's. I use a CJ 350 ss amp. I love this combo.--(for whatever that's worth.)

You can use Lamm 2.1 for wonderful music.

I tried a bunch of tube and solid-state amps with the Sophias I owned, and I agree, they are a relatively easy load, an easier load than the Watt Puppy 7's I later owned. Tube amps do seem to give the speakers some dimensionality and weight that SS amps just didn't do. If you want the ultimate in bass, a Wilson strong suit, SS amps are the ticket, but I thought some of the more neutral high-powered tube amps from Conrad-Johnson and Audio Research gave a bigger soundstage and instruments with more heft, while only reducing the ultimate bass definition and extension to a small degree. I tried BAT and Jeff Rowland SS amps and I could never get used to the flat soundstage, but finally settled on some Essence amps that were far superior in speed, dynamics, bass, and detail to anything I heard before, while having some of the dimensionality of tubes.

To my ears, the Wilson Audio Sophia is an excellent Speaker. I currently own a pair in Diamond Black, and after owning B&W 800-Series, Focal Beryllium & Revel Ultima Speakers, I find the Wilson's to be quite neutral-sounding, neither bright or dark, forward or laid-back. They do sound very realistic, especially on acoustic music with female vocals.

I've used Amplifiers from McIntosh, BAT and Classe, and found KRELL to be the best for my large (5,200-cu ft)listening room, sonic preferences and budget. I would like to try a Pass Labs Amplifier, which I've heard, sounds very good with the Sophias.

They are beautiful to listen to and look at, and unlike other high-end Speaker lines, listening to the upper Wilson models, while excellent in their own right, don't make the the Sophias sound any less spectacular.

Regardless of the various electronics and cables that I have experimented with, the Sophias have never sounded bad.

I like tube amps to drive Wilson speakers. They are a little too 'neutral' without the added bloom IMO. The Sophia is a very detailed, open and coherent speaker.

generally, they are very neutral, so they will show you what you have, in terms of the recording quality and the 'upstream' gear. since they're 'neutral', they are versatile (good with folk or classical or rock or electronic etc.) and don't draw attention to themselves. they disappear well and are easy to set up.

they're pretty efficient, so you don't need a mega-amp. I'm using a 50W triode tube amp with zero issues

with good upstream gear and a well-engineered recording, they are breathtakingly gorgeous sounding. play a lousy recording and it sounds.... lousy!