Watt/Puppy 7 or Sophia?

Hi vargus -

The answer to your #2 is certainly YES, the WP7 have a very differnet presentation than the Sophias. Which is better? up to you of course - Most seem to prefer the WP7, I personally prefer the Sophias. Yes, I have compared them in the same room, with the same system. There were no bottlenecks. I would not recommend buying a pair of WP7s based on your audition of the Sophias. You very well may like the WP better, but it would be a shame to buy them and find that you don't like their presentation.

Based on my listening in my dealer's place, both speakers well set up, the general feeling I had was that there is a noticeable difference, the Watt/Puppies are more revealing and go deeper in the bass, the Sophias are decidedly more forgiving of electronics upstream, perhaps a little bit warmer in the upper bass. Both are fine speakers, and the better the sources you have, the better both will sound--Goatwuss is right that neither speaker will be a bottleneck, and I like his advice that you should hear the Watt Puppies rather than buy them without listening to them. Both perform equally well in a room your size, they do not have a significant difference in the ability to fill up that size room. Can't comment on the JC-1s, never heard them.

On your point about the Sophia being a newer design, that's not really true--as I recall, the WP6 was revised to the 7 because the Sophia was so close to the WP6 in performance.

For the same price of the new Sophias, you can own a nice second hand pair of the Watt-Puppy 6.

Go with the 7's. The 7's come very close to the original MAXX in dynamics and imaging. The 7 is by far the best Watt/Puppy series ever. As you upgrade your electronics, the 7's will do nothing but reveal the upgrades you make more apparent. You will not regret the decision.

Rcprince: Said it perfectly that the
The top end on the Sophia is more forgiving. I found the JC-1's will be a little bright (many hours listening to this amp even after the 1500hrs breakin) on the top but your CDP should take care of that edge. The midbass is warmer on the Sophia's. The WP7's require a more time to setup but that's what your excellent dealer will take care of for you! The highs and mids characteristics can be adjusted with a resistor pack from Wilson (The WP7's are amazing with the customizing and flexibility with the setup spikes for the Watt and the Puppy)

The other option is to buy the Sophia's and then buy the Watch Dog and you will be amazed! Or buy the WP7's and then do what I did a 1.5 years later.. I bought the Watch Dog which give you better positing options of the WP's!!

Another Deciding factor was weight as the 160lb Sophia is a lot harder to move around than the 100lb Puppy and the 75lb Watt which can be separated! Important when you don't have your friends around and you tweak a lot, but otherwise let your dealer dial them in!

Now I'm extra Happy! until I can upgrade to the Maxx II's and keep my Watch Dog.

No problems in your room size with either as my room is 12x16 and I ran them in a much larger room also.

Either way you will get an amazing speaker!! that will reveal everything (good or bad )! But your Electronics will present a good synergy.. Oh yeah.. make sure to run the JC-1's Balanced as the design is fully diff balanced and sounds much better, and run it in High bias for Jazz and female vocals and low bias for Techno and Classical (full orch)