Upgrading from Wilson Sophia 2's?

Thanks for the detailed post, Blindjim; it gives me lots to consider.

No prob... curtains too remind me of younger days when theaters were theaters! Very opulent & richly outfitted with thick carpeting, textured wall papers oversized banisters leading up to actual balcony's and with huge screens.

Curtins always were raised or separated to show the screen. Sometimes a few were opened to fully reveal it.

The sound sometimes wasn't on par, but the experience and memories remain.

I still think that's a very cool way to introduce a viewing session. I wanted to recapture as much of that novelty as I could in my room.

Last week I listened to the most recent sophias and watt puppy sashas. I found the sophias brighter and fatiguing, and heard nothing fatiguing on the watt puppys on the same recordings. However, the sophias were driven by an ayre integrated, while the watt puppys were driven by McIntosh 300W tube monoblocks.

I preferred the watt puppys and left with the conclusion that watt puppy's have sweet highs, and are very musical. Sophias - I don't know if it's the speakers or the system, but they were harsh on harsh recordings. I have lots of harsh recordings, I don't want them to sound harsh when I play them.

By the way - alot of live unamplified music is harsh too - some chamber performances and symphony performances I've been to come to mind. Just because a speaker is producing a harsh sound doesn't mean the recording or the speaker is bad, it could just be that the live event was fatiguing, and they're doing a high fi job.

Hi!

I have Wilson Audio Sophia 2, and have not experienced any bright sound / fatiguing sound. However, the speakers are sensitive to fx. loudspeaker cable static electricity. You hear what you put into them. And I listen to all kind of music styles, and all kind of recordings, as I am a talent buyer within the festival scene. I have Burmester amps and cd player.

Cheeeers! Toffen, Norway

Upstream could be a factor, cables, amps, source. Ears could be a factor too, some people have different, not better or worse, just different sensitivities. They don't seem like the kind of speaker that will sugar coat the signal going into it. Don't get me wrong, they're nice, I just found the sound of the sasha setup more livable.

regards,

robert