Amp/Preamp combo for Wilson Sophia 3's

bo1972, if boulder is so lacking, what SS amps are suitable for your listening standards? (i found the pass XA series lacking control, though they did sound pretty good).

I would choose for the X series and not for the XA series. I will do personal a next upgrade to the X600.5 as well. I prefer drive and speed as well. The difference between Boulder and Pass labs is more than only the sound. The Pass Labs gives a different focus on the different instruments. You hear more easy the difference in the sound of all these instruments. With the boulder it is extremly well controlled, but you miss the different coulor of instruments. Sound realism is a very important part in the world of highend.

then we'll disagree. i've owned both xa's and boulder, and prefer the boulder considerably. i understand why you like the pass. i just don't think you've heard the boulder in optimal conditions; the pass can cover sins, the boulder does not, if that makes sense...the boulder also needs to be warm to sound best, whereas the XA series comes to life quickly.

Boulder is a brand which you find at many shows these days. But also in different settings. And yess you Always listen to all parts togheter including the acoustic room. I loved the control, but these sets never had a lot of emotion which I need to be touched. I owned the 30.5, 60.5 and 100.5 of the XA series. But in the setting I play now I prefer the X series.

To Dave and the rest of the contributors to this thread, my advise is to ignore Bo1972's comments.

Unfortunately, I have stumbled on quite a few threads that went dawn the drain because of this dubious individual. (See the two threads below for some illustrative examples.)

Any bad experience with wilson audio sasha w/p?

Why are subwoofers so polarizing?

Except for the equipment that he is selling, i.e. Monitor Audio speakers, Pass Labs and Onkyo, he criticizes most brands of speakers, subwoofers and amplifiers. His main argument is that they are unable to give a 3-dimentional soundstage and holographic stereo image. However, one should realize that Bo1972 compares the sound in his room (where he uses Audyssey Pro room correction software) to the sound he hears at audio shows, in other dealers' room, or in his clients homes. As an example to illustrate this, here is what he writes in the thread "Why are subwoofers so polarizing?":

What I do is I send clients to shops were they sell Velodyne. It is not my responsibility how they do there demo. This is a very easy way to convince. I never heard a demo of a Velodyne at a show that I was thrilled. …

As most of you know one can draw very little meaningful information (if at all) regarding the merits of any individual components based on such comparisons. Moreover such comparisons are even more flowed when they are used to judge the 3-dimentional sound stage and/or the holographic stereo image of two systems. The reason is that, beside taking care of the bass response, most room correction softwares make sure that the response of the two speakers is as similar as possible. Since this is critical for obtaining a good stereo image and sound stage, any system where any room correction software was used will have a much better 3-dimensional sound stage and a more holographic stereo image than a system where room correction software were not used. (Of course, just because a system has a very good stereo image and/or sound stage does not mean that it also has an accurate timber, and /or it is able to reproduce realistically dynamic variations - qualities that IMO are at least as important).

I apologize for the off-topic comment but I feel it is important that everybody is aware of these facts.