Considering Wilson or Sonus Faber floor standing over my Rockport monitors & Wisdom Sub

John,

Good observation!  But there is an explanation to my craziness.

The amp change option was simply a testament to my open mindedness at solving a problem.  In fact, I am very pleased to be keeping my ARC gear.  The search for the noise in my system was very educational.  I did try lifting the ground to no effect.  Dealing with Whest was great, the CEO contacted me personally and gave me a potential solution that will allow me to make an internal adjustment without sending to the UK for service.  I'll be working on that soon.

The noise issue is not related to speakers.  The noise search was simply to remove a small problem.  The monitors to floor standers is a potential movement towards a dramatic evolution in my system that I would like to try.  If it doesn't happen, no big deal, but the timing may be right as I see several wilsons available in my price range, and virtuality no used Rockports on the market may allow mine to sell well.

Having never owned them, I have long since desired a significant pair of floor standers in my system, and when I saw that I can make a relatively cash neutral move to a watt puppy 7, sophia II, I became curious.  I have always admired the beauty of the Cremona M and the newer incarnation, the Olympica III.

I do understand very well that these speakers are from two very different design philosophies, and that is the point of this thread.  As I am in the 2nd hand market, auditions are challenging.  Though my local Best Buy Magnolia has the SF  Olympica III hooked up to a 75 watt Mac tube amp, and I found a dealer with a used pair of watt puppy 7's not too far from me, so I will be able to listen to them both soon.

So, after this explanation, I would love to hear your thoughts on such a speaker change!


JWM,

I would love to buy a larger Rockport, but alas, they are rare on the 2nd hand market and expensive!  My Mira Monitors may go up for sale, just in case you know anyone!


Audio Troy,

My musical taste is very eclectic.  Blues, Jazz, Vocal, Classic Rock, Contemporary Rock, Electronic, Hip Hop, Classical, Folk. I basically listen to about everything out there with the exception of contemporary mass market country, and heart throb teen pop.  Wilsons have a mystique of hard core quality and innovation that I have always admired. The fact that so many reviewers lose their minds over them, and how Audio Research uses them to evaluate their own gear has me thinking that it would be hard to go wrong with Wilsons.  My mother in law has a pair of Wilson's and a stack of Krell - imagine how well the first visit to her house went for me!  I love that woman!!  My budget is $6500 - $8000.  The SF speakers appeal to me in the way I am drawn to tube gear.  I like the idea of the lush musicality that people speak of and I love the design ( I am a very visual person).

But as of yet, I have not heard any floor standing wilsons or SF.  If you had to add one or two speakers in this price and class, what would you suggest?

Thanks !

RCPrince,

Indeed you are right about the setup in the Best Buy store.  I listened to the Sonus Faber Olympica III there today.  The room has a different system on each wall and too many speakers in the room overall.  But I have seen worse.  I had a little time gap between errands and meetings so I went in for a listen.  They sound good, but I would like a more critical listen with more time.  They are driving the speakers with a 400 watt solid state McIintosh amp.  Clearly this is nothing like my amp.  Is that going to throw me off quite a bit?  They do have a MC275 in the store, though it may be challenging to get them to hook it up to the speakers for some reason...

gpgr4blu,

thank you for the insight!  Do you feel the ARC VT100 mkII can handle the Watt Puppy 7?  I am considering the WP7 and the Sophia 2, but I am not interested in changing my amplifier.

if you were in my shoes, and considering the Sophia 2 and WP7, which would you choose for yourself with a VT100mkII?

Hello everyone, thank you for the comments, please keep them coming! A couple of updates.  I think the Olympica III are out of my price range.  They are too new and the ones I saw used for $8k are slightly damaged, hence the lower price, but I have tightened my budget to about $6500 - $7500 and the Olympica III will not fit there.  However, the Cremona M is a possibility.

On the Wilson front, I spoke to a couple of dealers, and Wilson themselves about the WP7 & Sophia 2.  The 3 dealers and the manufacturer unanimously and independently thought that the WP7 is the better speaker, and the ARC VT100 mk II can drive both speakers without a problem.  One of the dealers has both the WP7 & the Sophia 2, so I will be listening to them both in the same space soon!

I haven't found a Cremona in the area to listen to yet.

My Rockports & Wisdom subwoofer are officially for sale!  They are on the market here on Audiogon.  I am not in a rush to sell, so we shall see how this all plays out.

I love resolution and detail, so I believe I will like the Wilsons.  Do you think there is another floor standing speaker in the $7k range that I should add to the list?

Soix,  very good suggestion on the Mira.  I will conduct a search.  Though I have to sell the sub to be able to afford the change.  I made a deal with my wife!  Changing the gear is fine, but with a baby on the way, expensive audio purchases are not in the cards!