Watt/Puppy 7 or Sophia?

I realized as I wrote it that my previous post sounded preachy, and would have canceled it had that been an option. The thought of all that expensive equipment in such a small listening environment clouded my judgement. If the speakers are given the space behind them they need for imaging, and if the space behind the listening position is sufficient to avoid boom, it would seem the listener inevitably would be sitting too close to the speakers. I'd at least argue for listening to the speakers in that small room before buying, because I suspect the room will have more of an effect than whatever amp is driving the speakers. A good pair of monitors with a sub might be preferable in that setting, and likely a lot less expensive.

db

Donbellphd,

I appreciate your concern. Believe me, I never thought it would go as far as this. I still have not decided to go as far as the MAXX2 for that room, but it is a consideration and I have seen others use rooms as small as mine or smaller with speakers as large as these. Whether they would work properly is a whole other question and why I am getting Rives involved.
About whether I can pay for this stuff or afford it, I am/or:

a. Work a s--t load
b. Single with no dependents
c. Specialist physician
d. Work a s--t load

I have bought a new house that doesn't have a finished basement. I don't want to do any work to it yet as I don't know what my domestic situation will be in the next few years. So I decided to use my living room as my listening room for now. Perhaps I'll build a dedicated listening room one day, perhaps not. I know that I don't want to go through upgradeitis, so that's why I am considering this equipment. My decision will be based on replies from Rives, those on this site and the aesthetics of such large speakers in my living room (which by the way is not completed and why I have not pulled any triggers on speakers yet).

Vargus,

In addition to Audiogon, I regularly read the Vanguard Diehard board at Morningstar and several of the Motley Fool boards. It's on TMF boards that one encounters the plea from someone five years from retirement with a few hundred $K in savings who, having come to realize it's not enough using a 4% guideline, wants advice on quick portfolio growth.

And I've been down the slippery Ferrari slope -- nothing sounds like a Ferrari V-12. But I also know what it's like to at last have a good income after years of schooling. Next thing after our first house was a Porsche 911.

I've found buying used equipment from other audiophiles on Audiogon a very cost effective way to build a first-rate system that can do both stereo music as well as home theater.

db

Vargas

I have always said that this hobby involves two things--our ears and our wallets

Having said that, if you are looking for a superb entry level speaker the Sophia for the money is hard to beat. But if you can afford them, the WP 7 is indeed in a different league with a much larger and more realistic soundstage. I have owned just about every Wilson speaker made and each one has its own special virtues. I did have the WP 5.1 and the WP 6. My son and many of my friends have the WP 7 and it is the best WP made to date. You owe it to your self to listen. You also must be cognizant as to whether your gear will drive them

Here is a look at my Wilson system

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vaslt&1049587927&read&3&4&

http://homepage.mac.com/imacdoyou86/PhotoAlbum52.html

Hello all,

Thank you for your advice, Oneobgyn and Cytocycle. I will give the 7's a second audition. It will be difficult to hear the type of sound I'm looking for as both dealers who are the closest to me (Ann Arbor and Toronto) run SS systems with their 7's. I may hold off on purchasing till I am able to go to one of the upcoming shows in the new year. I have a feeling my room won't be ready anyways once Rives audio gives me blueprints, I'll probably have to make make some major changes to the room.
If anyone is interested, I listened to the Eben X-3 a couple of days ago. I wasn't expecting much, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. It is very musically coherent and very fast in terms of bass speed. The tweeter is also probably the nicest I have listened to yet. It does play down to 30 Hz, but you don't get the subjective weight of the bass that the Wilson speakers provide. It has a different presentation than the Wilson speakers, but I feel it was no less enjoyable than the Sophia. Of course my listening memory is short, and it is hard to compare these speakers with the Wilson's as it was a completely different set up in terms of the room. I am going to try to see if I can somehow convince the dealer to let me A/B them with my friend's Sophia and BC 204.
Unfortunately I spent so much time with the Eben's, I was unable to audition the Temptations, so it'll have to wait for another day.