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Wilson Audio- The rest of the story

The rest of the story:
06-05-10 I posted my Wilson Sophia II right speaker had developed a razor thin crack in the cabinet between the top and bottom portion of the speaker. There was much debate within myself as to what course to take. My first option was to return the Sophia II’s and have the cabinets rebuilt with the same drivers. My second option was to return the Sophia II’s and pay additional money for the new Sophia III’s. I decided to return the Sophia II’s and I am now the proud owner of Sophia III’s.
Although originally disappointed with the development of the razor thin crack in the Sophia II, this experience has reinforced why I believe in Wilson Audio. My dealer and Wilson Audio have been above reproach during this whole ordeal. Wilson Audio arranged for the Sophia II’s to be picked-up and returned free of charge. The Sophia III’s were shipped 1 day early. There has been much debate over the cost of Wilson Speakers relative to their performance. I am not rich and it has taken me over 20 years as a music lover to get to this point. Lots of selling, trading, and saving to own Sophia III’s. I love the Wilson sound: the clarity, the pinpoint/life like imaging, and no other speaker I know of has the Wilson dynamics. With proper matching of equipment, the Sophia’s are simply magic to my ears (and my wife). The great news for me is the service matches the quality of the sound. I realize from my own experience and submit that we purchase high-end products for several reasons: sound quality, pride of ownership, expectation of outstanding customer service. Wilson Audio and my dealer has exceeded my expectations of what high-end should be! I’ve only had them for a couple of days, but here are my initials impressions.
Bass- tighter and significantly more impact
Mids- slight haze has been removed
Tweeter- too soon to tell
Overall I can’t see any current Sophia II owner not being extremely satisfied if they upgrade to the Sophia III’s. More to come as they break-in!
My system: Densen B-350 mono-amps, Densen B-250 preamp, Rega Apollo CD player, Kimber Hero interconnect, Clear Day double shotgun speaker cable.
ricred1
77jovian
385 posts
 
4-500%?
bizango1
276 posts
 
Wpines, 4-500% profit? Nope. If the dealer paid around $8K for the speakers and sold them for around $16K that would be only 100% MARKUP, not profit. Gross profit $ would be 50% of the sell price-not 500%. For 100% profit the cost must be zero and it wouldn't matter if the sell price is $1 or $500-still only 100% profit. Then there's cost of doing business to be subtracted from the gross profit $ before arriving at the dealer's net profit. If the dealers were earning 500% profit there might still be a full fledged displaying dealer or two in Santa Cruz.
wpines
93 posts
 
Ah, the overachiever in class with his hand up waving wildly. Okay, I'll call on you.
You are correct. I should have said 4-5 times markup from manufactured cost to end user.
I was speaking conceptually, but you knew that......
ricred1 OP
1,974 posts
 
Wpines,

No company or manufacturing process is 100% perfect regardless of cost! There are problems with million dollar homes, expensive cars, and yes expensive speakers. It's my understanding the defect was the result of faulty glue from a supplier. It's impossible to know what the profit margin is, because I don't know the manufacturing cost, research, advertising, and other intangibles expenses that go into producing Wilson products. There are many companies that build expensive products with horrible customer service. My point is that Wilson Audio provided outstanding customer support to me and it was important for me to recognize their efforts, just as I recognized the defect!
kettle7830
31 posts
 
A true test of a manufacturer is not when everything is going well, but how they react when something goes wrong. It looks like Wilson did what was needed, and turned an unhappy customer into a very satisfied customer. Maybe even more so then if nothing had gone wrong.

I think it is great that Ricred1 took the time to follow up and share with us the outcome.

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