Watt/Puppy 7 or Sophia?

Vargus if you are interested in a Pair of Ferrari Fly Yellow WP7's I'll be glad to step up to some Maxx II's?

I've spent too much time listening to my dealers Maxx II's and will be looking at posting my WP7's up for sale. Depending on the sale price will deteremine if I can go to Maxx II's.

If you already made a decision let the group know what you decided on!

Chris

Hi Guys

I've been busy...listening to a lot of speakers!

Where to begin? Let's see- about 2 weeks ago, I listened to the Sophia's and W/P 7's back to back. This was with SS equipment (the Krell stuff I told you about before). I think the W/P goes higher and deeper than the Sophia, but isn't necessarily more musical. It may also be that the W/P was not optimized for that room, as I understand they are harder to set up than Sophia's.
Last week I went to visit an audiophile in London ON, and listened to his Sophia's with my JC-1's and AA Cap Reference. It sounded pretty good till Gilbert Yeung of Blue Circle arrived with one of his hybrid amps in tow, the BC 204. It was then that I heard real music- the combo of the Sophia's and this hybrid amp made the sound that I have been looking for so long. There was so much ease and liquid in the midrange, yet there was very little loss of slam and bass extension. I can see now why Wilson's sound so good with Lamm equipment.
Next up was listening to the Dynaudio Confidence C4 and the Revel Studio, again using my own equipment. The C4 I didn't really care for- it's bass extension was all wrong in the particular room we were listening to them in. They would probably sound good in the right room.
The Studio's were a different story- this is a synergistic combo with the JC-1's. The presentation is more airy and detailed than Sophia, particularly with symphonic pieces. This speaker is now on my short list.
Then I did something I shouldn't have done- I listened to the MAXX 2's for an extended period of time. This is by far the best speaker I have ever heard. Excellent midrange clarity, fantastic bass extension, very detailed and airy at the top, but all of it cohesive. I can only imagine how it would sound with one of those Blue Circle hybrids. Because of this, the MAXX2 is now at the top of my list and the only thing preventing me from going for it is how it will look and sound in my rather small room. My dealer has contacted Rives Audio for consultation in this regard.
Because I am looking at speakers in this price range, I am going to audition the Evidence Temptation next week. I am also going to listen to a new speaker, the Eben X-3. I'll report back when I have listened to them.
Ciao

I'm interested in hearing how you like the Temptations vs. the Wilsons. I like them better than the WP7, and in most respects better than the Maxx2s, though they can't get the deepest bass as well, because they convey the music and the recording beautifully without crossing the line into the analytical camp. You can't go wrong in this choice, all of these are fine speakers, it's a matter of what works best in your room and what you're looking/listening for sonically.

The Krell with the WP7's is not a nice combo if you are partial to the Blue Circle equipment. WP7's work fine in small rooms, and Maxx's work also in small rooms. Just need some bass absorbtion (aka I have a ton of RealTraps Mondo Traps) in my 12x16 room

Do a Search on agon for Maxx's in Systems and you will see a guy running some huge KR amps in a really small room.. Wilsons are designed to be used in small rooms.

Here is how Wilsons should be setup, I've used this with other speakers also..

http://www.tnt-audio.com/casse/waspe.html

Vargus,

If you can afford (not just pay) that kind of money for a pair of speakers, can't you build a music/home theater room that would better suit your needs? I like the sound of both the WP-7 and Sophia, and would be pleased to have either. It's true I could pay for the fly yellow WP-7s that might come on Audiogon, but I don't think I could afford them -- I no longer buy Ferraris either. Unless your retirement already is well funded, I'd let budget considerations enter the decision process. On other sites, you can find those nearing retirement with only a few hundred $K wondering how they can grow their savings to match their needs. As you can see from the previous posts, it's a slippery slope: If the Sophias, why not the WP-7s, if the WP-7s, why not the MAXX-2s. But perhaps you are wealthy, in which case I ask again why limit yourself to such a small room?

db