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What Wilson to Buy?

I owned a pair of WP5.1's for many years. While there were many things I liked about them, ultimately I felt their upper midrange was simply to hot. Over the years I've moved more toward classical music. Massed strings were edgy on too many recordings. While perhaps the Wilson was simply revealing flaws that were embedded in the recording, I decided I needed something that didn't emphasize the flaws quite so much. In short, strings sounded much better on my old ESL-63's.

Now that I've sold the Wilson's I miss their dynamics, bass slam, soundstage and resolution. While I don't expect the newer Wilson's to make strings sound as sweet as my Quads did years ago, I was hoping they've improved enough where they aren't as ruthless as the 5.1's. Most of the reviews I've been reading of their newer models would indicate that Wilson has moved in this direction.

The two models I've been considering, used of course, are the WP8 and the Sophia 2. I might be able to swing the Sophia 3, but beyond that is out of my price range. I'd appreciate comments from Wilson owners. Particularly those that at one point owned 5.1's. Has the move from clinical to more musical been material? Can you listen to massed strings on the newer models at higher SPL's without ear bleed? I'd rather have sweeter string tone than a stronger low end, would the Sophia be a better fit for me than the WP8?
egrady
kkurtis
43 posts
 
A quick point of view. I've owned and loved 63's and have WP 7's. Both speakers sound different with tubes or ss. The 8's are "more" than the 7's of what you discribe looking for BUT the 7's with tubes are more "musical" than the 8's on ss (in general). I have used the 7's with a ML 23.5 and they sound fine. I use the 7's with Sonic Frontiers Power 2 and the result is fare more involving and for lack of a better word, "musical". This is a consistent opinion of the vast majority who have listened to my system. The tubes also give you the option of different power tubes ie 6550 vs KT88 or even the new supertube KT120. You can taylor the midrange sound to your preference. The WP's are not easy speakers to drive but good tube amps do make them come alive and avoid most of the clinical Wilson sound. The newer the Wilson, the less clinical the sound. The new Sasha's are a world away from earlier WP's. They would be the speaker that would most probably finally move me past missing what the 63's on tubes did best. Fortunately, I'm retired and no longer can afford to chase the fantasy or I'd be hard pressed to avoid the Sasha's. Only heard the Sophia's newest briefly but they even sounded wonderful on ss.

While there are many and vocal detractors to the old Wilson sound, most of us satisfied owners would qualify for a Wilson 12 Step group.

TRY TUBES before you decide.

Denny
rgs92
974 posts
 
Isn't that Focal Titanium tweeter the source of the edginess that I also found to be my old Watt Puppy 6's downfall?
(I actually loved the speakers except for that edgy, razzy, scratchy sound on strings and especially vocals.) I always wondered why Wilson never tried another tweeter type all these years and versions later. Really love that Wilson transparent bass...
I heard this scratchiness on WP8s at a show a year or 2 ago, so I know it's not just my system.
rumadian
152 posts
 
My 5.1's have been freshly updated (all new parts) and are currently hooked up to an all tube set-up consisting of an AMR CD-Player and the incredibly inexpensive Vista Audio i34. I gotta say, this combo on the 5.1's is killer, and showcases this speaker in a whole new light. Originally I was thinking about ditching them in favor of something else, now? Psh, forget it. :D

So all I can say is: Try tubes. Good ones. You may find that the Wilson's have had what you were looking for all along.
nolitan
865 posts
 
Somehow Wilson audio likes the focal tweeters. Someday, they should experiment some soft dome tweeters on their speakers.
I think in most cases, its those focal tweeters that is standing out in their speakers & calling attention to itself.
rgs92
974 posts
 
Yep, Nolitan, you echo my thoughts. I have noticed that the Duette had a soft-dome tweeter (never heard them, though).
I thought that was interesting. Focal moved on to Beryllium, and Kharma to diamond, but Wilson loves those Titaniums...
Wilsons do seem to change a lot with upstream gear. I hear the comments about tubes, but, actually, the best Watt Puppies I ever heard were with Mark Levinson 33Hs (and an ML pre and CDP) 10+ years ago. Smooth as silk, even with old, ordinary CDs. But that was only once.
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