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Sophia 2 against a wall, with Meridian processor?

I’m working with a difficult long and narrow room that requires my speakers to be placed on a bookshelf of pushed right up against the wall, on the short side of the room. I have a pair of Wilson Audio Cubs 1 that are currently in the bookshelf and they sound really poor. I went this weekend to listen to the Wilson Duette and Sophia 2. I’m considering the Duette because of the room challenges; I listened to the Sophia 2 because I could. I was quite impressed with both speakers, but not surprisingly thought the Sophia sounded better than the Duette. I’m going to be auditioning the Duette on the Wilson stands at my home and they will be placed right up against a wall.

The dealer is recommending that I go with the Sophia 2 and a Meridian processor with room correction. He said the Sophia 2 has the same footprint as the Duette when it’s on the stand. He said the Meridian would solve any problems I have by putting the Sophia up against the wall.

In all the reviews I’ve read about the Sophia it seems that placement is pretty important and I’m leery of the idea that I’ll get full potential from the Sophia against the wall, even with the Meridian.

So what do you think? Any advice on this issue is greatly appreciated.

Ken
kwilkins
siliab
362 posts
 
You NEED to speak to Wilson. I'm not a dealer so I do not have an enormous amount of experience with this, but I have played around with my own WP7s and they sound nasty when they get too close to the wall in back of them. The congestion, peakiness and bloat that I hear may be related to problems generated by putting the rear-facing ports too close to a room boundary. I can't imagine how a processor would effectively change the radiation of sound from these ports. Again, I'm merely a lowly consumer, so I could be completely wrong. But, I would still check with Wilson before plunking down the sheckels.
mcrheist
130 posts
 
You might consider calling Wilson Audio and ask their opinion. They are very particular about the placement of their speakers in owner's homes for optimal enjoyment.
ozzy62's avatar
ozzy62
3,162 posts
 
Agree with onhwy61. Your room sounds like a sonic nightmare. I wouldn't even consider spending the kind of $$ you are talking about with the constraints you have. If you can't allocate a different room, I would go with something much more modest and just live with the sound. Anything more will be money wasted.

Oz
gsm18439
895 posts
 
There are speakers that are designed to be pushed up against the wall. In particular, the Audio Note line of speakers have been designed for just such an application. They sound best when put into the corners.
septimious211f868
1 posts
 
If your CUB1s "sound really poor", adding Duettes or Sophias will NOT help improve the sound. The CUB Speakers sound amazing when properly set-up in the right room with the appropriate electronics. The Duette is perhaps slightly better sounding. The Sophias do not image as well as the CUBs, but do offer better sonics, mainly in the lower frequencies. I would try the front-ported 2-way Wilson WATCH surround speakers, set-up on a shelf, or wall-mounted. My second choice would be the Duettes, set-up on a shelf. Wilson floor-standing Speakers are developed and intended for use in medium/large dedicated acoustically treated rooms. To shoehorn a pair of Wilsons in a acoustically backwards room is as ridiculous as owning a Ferrari in Harlem.
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