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Wilson Sophia vs. Piega C10 LTD... Which To Buy?

My present system consists of Piega P10 loudspeakers, Classe CA-401 stereo amp, Krell HTS 7.1 and Mark Levinson No.39 CD player.

The upgrade bug is starting to itch and it's getting expensive to scratch. As I move up the audio chain, I would like to choose between the Wilson Sophia speakers and Piega C10 LTD speakers. I've heard the Sophia's a few years ago and loved them, however, I never heard the C10 LTD's.

My 20'x20'x20' room is difficult for audio and my speaker location requires a "near-wall" placement. That being said, the Sophia's are a rear ported design and the Piega's are not. The C10 LTD's are sort of front ported... with 2 passive front woofer radiators, and no rear port. My thought is that a front ported speaker will help with my near wall speaker placement problem.

I can spend up to about $10,000 or so on the used market for the speakers. Listen to a lot of jazz, vocals & occaisional classical. I like clarity, resolution and a decent soundstage. Does anyone have any comments, suggestions or recommendations. Thank you.
george3

Showing 2 responses by dennis_the_menace

dennis_the_menace's avatar
dennis_the_menace
467 posts
 
I heard the Wilson Sophia 2 with reference level front end gear and to me it did not sound as natural as the Piegas I heard (TC 70 and C8 LTD). The Sophia has an unnatural detail where as the Piega has an openness and detail that sounded much more real to me...
dennis_the_menace's avatar
dennis_the_menace
467 posts
 
It's hard to say, since I heard them in two different systems, but they are very very similar. From what I heard, I'd say they sound almost identical. The bass on the TC70 was maybe a hair tighter, faster, but I heard the TC70 w/ Linn Klimax amps and that could've been it. I also felt the TC70 imaged better. If I had a choice on the used market, I would've chosen the TC70. Would I spend the $8K for the pair now on the 'gon? Not sure, probably would. I was seriously considering coughin up the $12K my local dealer wanted. Although maybe the C8 is better in a larger room, which I have. I do love the C8LTDs a lot. They sound amazing as did the TC70s. I think the TC70 are smaller in size, and their cabinet are made from one piece of aluminum, which is pretty amazing. Pretty sure they use the same tweeter/midrange unit. I had one of the tweeter/midrange units replaced on my speaker (still not sure when/where it happened), and Piega sent it to me and I'm guessing this is the same driver they're using now in the TC70x and other speakers. If you do get them, I would drive if possible to pick them up to be safe, and check the drivers closely, box them up safely in the original packing if possible.
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