Wilson Sophia 2 vs B&W 802d

Hello.

Just a second opinion. There are a few alternatives which will hammer both of these fine speakers and will cost less or outperform both.

I am a dealer for Escalante Designs. Escalante was started by Terry Budge, who was the lead designer for both Wilson and Talon. They make a $13,000 subwoofer and stand mounted monitor that competes with and betters the WP 7! In a recent review this system was compared to a $30,000.00 Kharma rig and was considered in the same class! Escalantes are like Wilson's huge dyanmics, extremly low bass down to 16hz! and will play at ridiculous volume levels!

Also have you considered the USHER speakers? The new BE 20 will also destroy both the WP 7 and any B&W. The technology behind the Usher's is far superior to what many companies are offering, Ie pure Beryillium midrange driver and pure Beryillium tweeter. These speakers are in the Avalon Eidilon Diamond class yet sell for half of what that speaker sells for.

Also the Dali Euphonia's are terrific speakers which lean towards speed in the bass and a midrange liquidity too die for!

I have been doing this for tweenty years, many audiophiles buy into the hype that runs many of the biggest high end products, if you know where to look you can get fantastic sound for less!

Hey Jetusmc, where is the B&W forum with the 803d thread?

Still leaning toward Sophia II myself also.

Never considered Ushers because I haven't heard them and don't know of any dealers where I can listen to them. I would love to find the sound of Sophia's for less, just haven't heard it yet.

Used is a very good idea, but the II's are relatively new(I think). The 802d on the other hand........definitely maybe.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=19095....I hope posting this link is permissible...If not, I guess you will never see it.

If status is not a hangup for you, please find and the Pardigm S8's with good electronics(not anthem) for an audition. While I haven't heard the 802D or the Sophia's, I have auditioned the 802's and 3's in several setups. For my ears,the s8's are a step up from the std 802 in 2 channel and WAY better in HT. The 803's can't handle HT bass at all. IMO, like the previous post, B&W's don't reproduce from mid-bass on down. I purchased the s8's based on their 2 channel perf, the HT was just a bonus.

Thnaks for the forum link Jetusmc.

I can arrange to listen to the Paradigm for 2 channel purposes. There is a Paradigm dealer a couple hours away. I don't do home theatre unfortunately. I never really considered the 802 or 803 to be lacking much in the bass department(2 channel). But I don't have any experience with them in a home theatre setting either.

Thanks