Wilson Sophia vs WP6 vs Revel Studio

Hi Andy,

IMO the Sophia is a better overall speaker than the WP6. Compared to the Revel Studio, Sophia has a very different presentation; you will have to hear both to find out which presentation is for you. Personally I prefer Wilsons hands down over Revels.

I would have invited you over for a listen to the Sophia, but I sold mine a month or so ago. My next speakers, once I build the listening room in my new home will be the Sophia II.

Cheers,
MAK

I auditioned all three and bought Sophias. W/P 6s are bright speakers in my opinion, and the Revels were too stale for my tastes.

Have you considered any Eggleston Works speakers? I've heard from a few people who've heard both Wilson's as well and they preferred the Egglestons. I've never heard any Wilson's so I can't comment.

IMO, Revels are probably among the finest engineereed passive speakers available.

Somebody, I don't remember who, who has heard all three told me he preferred something else. Have you considered that? Whoops! That wasn't part of your question but I hope that tidbit helps you.

Me. I owned WP6s (and earlier WPs), WP7s, WP8s, Maxxes, Sophia Is and IIs, Whams also Eagglestons (years ago). Presently I have the Sophia IIs, the WP8s, and the Maxxes.

I think it would be difficult to actually compare the three you have listed. I think all three don't measue up at all to the current models. The Sophias IIs are a significant improvement over the Is and the WP7s let alone the WP8s kill the WP6s. That said, I would choose the Sophias but I wouldn't feel compelled to trade for them if I owned the WP6s.

You didn't specify whether they are for music or for for HT use. With a powered sub added things would change a bit enabling an external xover to eliminate the dreaded bass hump of the older Puppies.

For $8k you can have custom finish Salk HT3's brand new!

I gotta admit, they do look pretty! ^_^

Now if he could find a pair to audition, it might mean something. :-)

http://gon8.audiogon.com/i/c/f/1164136819.jpg

Once upon a time, i bought speakers and amps purely based upon performance. After many upgrades, re-sale value counts for 50% of my buying decisions now. Nothing like paying 10k for something and then 2 years latter only getting 4k for it . None of those speakers are slouches. If I were on the fence with all three, then re-sale would tip me in one direction over the others. All are great two channel speakers. If you have moved to mostly movie watching. then the company with the best center channel would steer me as well. A lot of companies do not devote enough attention to the quality of their center channels. I have moved to an acoustically transparent screen and just use the same speaker now but in the past it was a deal breaker if the center was inferior.

Andy,

Though I'm a little pressured at work, I am taking the time to answer your question as I have faced this before.

It is a long story so bare with me:

A year ago I was still the owner of the B&W 804 which I disliked very much. The main issue I had with them was concerning low volumes. I listen strictly to HT and due to family restrictions I needed a speaker which performs in low-moderate volumes. I had to raise the volume on the B&W to hear dialogue and then lower the volume during action scenes (I know about different "night modes"....). This drove me crazy.

Anyway, I began this quest for new speakers. I settled for the Dynaudio C2 which I received for a terrific price and they sounded well at the store. Then I made my first mistake.
Just before paying, I heard the system 5.1 for the first time. I was overwhelmed with this speaker, but I couldn't buy it due to the look of the specific speaker which were quite old.

I decided to take the C2 and add a 12" Velodyne DD, thinking the overall package can match the Wilson. I was wrong.
I had the dealer bring over the 5.1 and I A/B them to the C2. The difference (again in HT) was huge.
The wilson sounds like you have 10 speakers in front of you. They are fast, dynamic and dramatic and most importantly they perform very well in low volumes.

Then I made mistake number 2.
I though I'll get a "new 5.1" for a very good price, hence the....Sophia.

The minute they arrived I sensed something was wrong. My dealer told me to be patient and to change cables, power, position and whatever. I just didn't have the same experience as with the 5.1.

To be sure I'm not dreaming this up, my dealer (poor guy...) had the 5.1 delivered to my place once more.
I placed the 5.1 and the sophia in such a manner that neither would have an advantage. The sophia had very expensive "transparent cables" and the 5.1 had very cheap ones.
Booth were connected to my Lexicon.

NO COMPARISON WHEN IT COMES TO HT.
The 5.1 were faster, more dramatic and had this resolution which couldn't be matched by the Sophia.
When I played some jazz music the sophia sounded more refine, more elegant. It was a better choice to my ears.

I then had a chance to compare the Sophia to a system 6 which surfaced (second hand). Once again no comparison when it comes to HT AND the gap which was there listening to jazz became very small (sophia still better).

The dealer was very kind to take the Sophia back and give me the WP6.

There you have it.
I have the WP6 + Velodyne 15" DD (amazing) and I'm thrilled with it, though the WP7 is very tempting.

Hope this helps.

Ran

They are good looking, but the 85db sensitivity would be the killer for me.

The real message is you have to get what sounds best to you.
I have WP7s and I love them. The Revels send me screaming out of the room- a totally different sound. I always found the WP6s too bright for my taste, but for HT they might be OK. For music I would go with the Sophia from your original choices. I don't think the WP8 is a significant improvement over the WP7, but for me the WP7 was the speaker that changed my mind about Wilson, it's that much more to my taste than either the WP6 or Sophia.
The Vandersteens are great for music but I found them a little too laid back for HT (I had 2ce's, and have auditioned the Quattros. A friend has 5's in his HT)

Your kiding, right? The 8s cured at least one major flaw in the WATT/PUPPY series and are a significant improvement over the 7s (the sound is considerably more refined). This doesn't make the 7s any less good than they are and great bargains were to be had in their closeout (about $16000 near their end). The 8s aren't cheap ($27,900 MSRP).

One can not obtain great 2 channel sound in a room prperly acoustically designed for HT. LR HT speakers MUST do things entirely different than what a 2 channel set up should do.

I have designed many HTs using the Watt/Puppies as the font left right and the the watch center. Customers want great 2 channel sound in their HT but I know the HT design takes great 2 channel potential and reduces it to merely very very good. One benifit of a proper HT design for 2 channel use is quieting the walls and providing significant bass absorption.

seems confusing. is refined sound good or bad? if wp8 is more refined while wp7 is better in what way?

at least i have not heard of any wp8 with cracked cabinets but there are lots of cracked wp7 in the far east

Andy -


Interesting observation, but my experience does not support hypothesis.

I am only aware of two pairs of HT3's that have ever been sold. One guy lost his job and needed the money, and the other became an audio dealer and didn't want them in his home showroom (since he couldn't sell them as a dealer).

Because our speakers are rarely offered for sale, they do tend to hold their price quite well. I know in one of the above cases, the orignal owner told me he lost only $200, which on a speaker in this price range is rather remarkable.

Just thought I would dispell any fears in this regard.

- Jim

having spent some time with my own material auditioning Revel Studios vs WP6's, I walked out of the Revel demo after 5 min, and went down the Wilson path after being very satisfied with the WP6... though I did not buy those WP6's, OB got me a deal on X1-3's.

I had a Sophia 1 as a center channel... had to buy a new WP7 as the Sophia kept blowing fuses.

Has anybody here used the Wilson Watch as the center channel, how does it sound.

I often felt the my center channel was lacking.

Any opinions on the Wilson Watch.

Thanks, BK

Just out of curiousity in reference to Andy Lammer's and Jim Salk's comments; is there anyone here who has bought a new speaker and then unloaded it for anything close to the price paid? I know Wilsons seem to hold their value, but that is kind of relative since it seems that AV equipment and speakers are not the best place to put money if low depreciation is a factor. In other words, what has been the experience here of selling in X years for % of cost paid-best and worst.