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Wilson Sophia

I have been looking at stepping up from my B&W 704s and heard the 802Ds, the Naut 802s and the Wilson Sophias. I was all set to spend the 4500 on a pair of used 802s but then I heard the Wilsons. All I can say is that the Wilsons absolutely spoke to me. My problem is that this is a huge investment for me and I think that I must be crazy to even be thinking about this purchase. Even more so, because I live in an apartment building and cannot "crank up" my system to massive volume levels.

My question is-am I going to be able to truly appreciate these speakers with my McIntosh MA 6500 integrated and my Lector CD player? There is not going to be any money in my budget to even consider other changes for a long time. Wilson's were set up with mid level Naim gear.

Are there any risks with buying the units off the floor if I can get a deal?

As always thanks for your input.

John
jhorton19
larryi
3,962 posts
 
Jhorton 19,

I heard the WP7 system set up with Halcro amps at CES this year. It was one of the worst sounding combinations at the show -- shockingly bad: tinny, harsh, brittle, and very mechanical sounding.

Having heard the WP7 in other systems, I suspect it has to do with the lack of synergy between the Halcro and Wilson speaker. On the other hand, a friend who has had more experience with the Halcro said it made him nostalgic; it sounded so much like Crown or Phase Linear (I can't remember which he said, but you get the picture).
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
Does anybody know if there have been upgrades to the Sophia's? (I see the price has gone up since '02) I see in Feb/03--on page 73-- it says retail is (was at that time 11,000.) might also say; used these go for 90% of retail--ouch!!
jhorton19 OP
24 posts
 
HI Avguygeorge

I actually looked into this as I bought an older pair of Sophias. I spoke with Wilson and no changes have been made since the Sophias were introduced a few years back... I believe you should be able to do better than 90% of retail as I paid quite a bit less than that for mine and received the 5 year warranty too.

John
jungsan
38 posts
 
Isn't it $12700 now? but was 11700 before???

btw, John, what do you think about the bass performance of the Sophia?
jhorton19 OP
24 posts
 
That is correct, Jungsan but that was simply a price increase not a change in the speaker...

Bass performance is outstanding well defined and deep. I had a bit of bloom with mine when they were set up initially but the dealer then came by and we were able to fix this...These speakers are not nearly as directional as the B&Ws but you will need to experiment with placement.

John
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