Wilson Sophia 2 or Focal Electra 1037 be?

tarsando

Magico mini is not available in my country, bookshelf speakers are not usable in my case since I have 2 years old son.

Cytocycle

I don't have chance to hear it in dealer simply because I live almost 700 miles away nearest audio dealer.
About paint, I prefer wood but I can change sophia's paint work by local Audi work shop since they have original Audi paints:)(dealer has a black sophia and black is not my favourite color)

thanks for everyone. I have requested Sophia 2 from dealer and arriving on monday. If it makes a dramatic change in total, I may keep it as primary speaker and exchange kw500 for it. If it is a wonderful speaker as written by audio industry, I will exchange 1027 be and stick with wilson. If all the things were incorrect about Wilson Sophia 2, basically if it is overrated, than, I will post it back where it originaly came from.
Imo, Utopia range is better but I do expect a change in line before upcoming 2007 fall.So investing on alto utopia be is not logical thing to do right at this moment.

Mcrheist

Things you are telling very serious issues concerning wilson audio's reliability, reputation....
I haven't bought sophia 2 and I will not buy it untill I hear day and night difference between 1027be and sophia 2.

Why don't you bring your speaker to wilson audio factory and demand your right?

on monday sophias arrived, late in the evening, I could manage to put speakers into action by help 0f 3 strong friend. I will post a short review soon.

Now it is my fourth day with sophias and I couldn't find any reason to reposition the speakers or try another amplifier, cable ,...even for state of emergency, dealer brought Nordost Valhalla. But with little effort, we could set the speaker and install the spikes. The trick is not written in black wilson users manual: you need to have a carpet laid down. Rest of the job is push speakers to their positon while speakers laying down in almost sleeping position. But nevertheless this is two man work.
Dealer played his own discs and told me ''perfect'' sound, ''perfect match'' for Pass/Boulder combination. Well, I really don't remember how sophias sounded first night simply because I was half sleeping: I am real life person, I work for my living during the day and sometimes in the nights as well. Dealer slept over night in my place and following day I sent him back where he came from but exept ''sophia'' . She stayed with me.
I don't know why but somehow I removed the protective film next day right after having sent the dealer to the airport. I switched the setup on and..........wow!(world of wonders)....
to be continued.

Kowkow
first we installed spikes while speakers were laying paralell.than we gently slided sophias to their position and lifted up.
Shadorne
I will post review and pictures by sunday due to my trip for weekend. This post done by mobile phone.

In every respect Sophia 2 is a better speaker: amazing bass and control, perfect mids even comparable to Sonus Faber Amati Ani., highs are not overemphasized as 1027/1037be; just in place as it has to be, neither backward nor forward sounding; every single instrument is accurately positioned to listener, just raise the volume a bit or more you get every instruments with full , lifelike textures. These are positive points as far as Sophia 2 concerned. I don't have any idea how series one sophia was but I can guess it was not a bad speaker for money.
In my opinion it is not fair to compare with 1027 be because price is not even similar: sophia 2 is 2 times more expensive than 1027 be.
I think it is more proper to compare design philosophies and overall thinking of two companies.(wilson vs focal, European vs American)
For me biggest suprise is how wilson audio can achieve such a perfect performance with ordinary drivers. It is far beyond of my understanding how come these drivers make a speaker sound good indeed? Personly I wouldn't choose scanspeak drivers and focal titanium inverted dome tweeters if I build my own one. I think its crossover and cabinetry are very succesfull parts of the design. Even I don't know what kind of compound wilson uses for its cabins but speaker, overall very good. It can be last speaker of a normal audiophile. Recommended heartly.

System pictures upgraded...

I love both speakers. I am thinking to amplify SF with a dedicated poweramp in soon future. I haven't decided what to buy for SF.(Pass labs xa-30.5, Nuforce 9v2........)

R_paton
I have already bought Sophia 2 almost 3 years ago. Plaese check my setup