Amp/Preamp combo for Wilson Sophia 3's

Bo1972 -

at this juncture, I have not had any opportunity to compare the Pass gear w/ Wilson speakers. I would like to spend some audition time w/ these guys.

What gear is in your system?

I auditioned many times Wilson speakers. Often very dissapointing. We had these discussions here at Audiogon many times. They are not easy speakers. They need the right stuff and attention. I only heard 2 good settings. One was with Krell Reference and they other one was with my old XA-100.5. I would still go for the X series with Wilson. Because they will have more control. And you still get a musical mid freq. I love the looks of Wilson and how they are build. But the acoustic problems they often give in a normal house situation can become a pain in the ass. The people which I met at there home had all the same problems. Acoustic problems with the low freq. I would go fo amps with a lot of power, ampères and speed. But with a very musical mid freq. I think poweramp SS with tube preamp also will work great with Wilson. You can create a bigger and wider stage. What I said earlier; they have depth and wide, but there are ones which use better crossovers who make a bigger stage. But you can increase the stage still with other amps and pre amps.

Hi Bo ,
An interesting thread and I agree that earlier versions of some Wilson speakers could tend towards being a bit ruthless , if that is the correct terminology . However , recent products , especially the Sophia 2's & 3's , seem to have ushered in a new chapter with easier driving and lower difficulty in component matching , I suspect the Alexias would be the same . I remember a few years ago hearing some WATT/Puppies , I think they were version 6 or 7 & I agree the sound was not to my liking , but was it the speakers themselves , the associated components or the dealer set up ? Who knows ? Build quality is par excellence , as is after sales product support & when making a decision with a long term purchase , all things need to be taken into consideration .

I have heard the puppies 7 two times good. So it is possible. But it ain't easy. I also heard the 8 version. Here it also had a lot of acoustic problems. They adapted the type of music caused by the issues. You Always need to have the freedom to drive all music you love.