If you have your heart set on keeping the Sophias, my suggstion would be to look for a smooth-sounding amplifier to go with them; they can be rather unforgiving of any edginess.
I've heard other Wilsons sound great with large VTL amps; Kleech's suggestion of a beefy push-pull tube amp makes a lot of sense.
In solid state, you might consider older Jeff Rowland gear, Accuphase, or GamuT (disclaimer - I peddle the latter).
If I may venture an observation... if you find 200 watts to be insufficient with the Wilsons, then 300 watts isn't going to be a very significant improvement. Four hundred watts is only a 3 dB increase in dynamic headroom, and now you're edging into the territory of frightfully expensive amplification, assuming you go for high quality amps (and the Wilsons probably won't let you get away with anything less).
You might want to consider a speaker of higher sensitivity and perhaps even higher impedance. The Sophia has a sensitivity of 86 dB with a 2.83 volt input (according to Soundstage's measurements), and into its nominal 3-ohm load 2.83 volts translates into 2.7 watts - so in other words, the Sophia is a rather difficult and power-hungry little beast (I specialize in speakers that are even worse!).
One other thing - low-efficiency speakers generally suffer more from dynamic compression than do high-efficiency models, so with a more efficient loudspeaker you wouldn't have to turn it up quite as high to get the same level of excitement because you'd have greater dynamic contrast.
For example, if you switched to the Classic Audio Reproductions T-3 and drove 'em with a 50-watt tube amp, you'd get more headroom than driving the Sophias with 1,000 watts.
Best of luck to you whatever you decide on!
Duke
I've heard other Wilsons sound great with large VTL amps; Kleech's suggestion of a beefy push-pull tube amp makes a lot of sense.
In solid state, you might consider older Jeff Rowland gear, Accuphase, or GamuT (disclaimer - I peddle the latter).
If I may venture an observation... if you find 200 watts to be insufficient with the Wilsons, then 300 watts isn't going to be a very significant improvement. Four hundred watts is only a 3 dB increase in dynamic headroom, and now you're edging into the territory of frightfully expensive amplification, assuming you go for high quality amps (and the Wilsons probably won't let you get away with anything less).
You might want to consider a speaker of higher sensitivity and perhaps even higher impedance. The Sophia has a sensitivity of 86 dB with a 2.83 volt input (according to Soundstage's measurements), and into its nominal 3-ohm load 2.83 volts translates into 2.7 watts - so in other words, the Sophia is a rather difficult and power-hungry little beast (I specialize in speakers that are even worse!).
One other thing - low-efficiency speakers generally suffer more from dynamic compression than do high-efficiency models, so with a more efficient loudspeaker you wouldn't have to turn it up quite as high to get the same level of excitement because you'd have greater dynamic contrast.
For example, if you switched to the Classic Audio Reproductions T-3 and drove 'em with a 50-watt tube amp, you'd get more headroom than driving the Sophias with 1,000 watts.
Best of luck to you whatever you decide on!
Duke