Wilson Sophia 1,2, or 3?

I owned a pair of Sophia 1's and have heard 2's and 3's at dealers and shows. I have always considered the Sophia as the most coherent of the Wilson speakers, at least until I heard the Sashas at the Newport Beach Audio Show. Each Sophia model has gains in immediacy, transparency, and soundstage size, as well as coherence. That being said, I am not sure how to put a value on each version's improvements. There certainly is a family resemblence in all 3 models so if you like what the Sophia does, you cannot go wrong by purchasing any of them. It seems on the used market there is about a $4K increase in prices, i.e. a used 1 goes for about $5K, a 2 about $9K, and 3 around $13K. Another nice thing about the Sophia is that it is a relatively easy load and can be driven by decently powered tube amps; in fact, I thought my Sophia 1's sounded best when driven by big tube amps like Audio Research and Conrad-Johnson jobs.

Rlawry,

I think you make my point with a 4K difference from 1's to 2's and from 2's to 3's, with an 8K difference from 1's to 3's. That's why I feel the 2's are the best value, but the 3's definitely sound better to my ears. It dependends on what is comfortable to spend for the buyer.

i own the sophia 1s and think that i like their basic sound and for the first time think i have a speaker that is right for my room. i also dream about better wilsons perhaps the 2's or 3's if my ship comes in. I have concentrated on tweaking my gear by doing some tube rolling and chryoed my hovland 2 phono cable, any improvements you make upstream will be heard. i think the 1s will go down in price less then 2s or 3s when the next generation comes out. but if you get the 1s sell them and get some 2s you will have more shipping expenses.

Anyone know the new midbase on the Wilson Sophia 3's?
I know the Sophia 2's used the Scanspeak revelator midbase.

I would check out a used pair of Revel Studio 2 also. I feel they are margianlly better speakers than the Sophia 3 and they sell for $8000 on here (save 3k and get better gear...)

By better it is, more coherent with better highs, with more natural timbre (IMO). Sound stage also seemed deeper and more stable.