Wilson Sophia II vs. Thiel CS3.7

Tom,
Then let's say, for the sake of argument, that the Duette is overpriced for what it is.

It is a small 2-way bookshelf speaker, designed to operate AGAINST the rear wall. If you move them into the room, the whole bass disappears.

The 3.7 competitor is Sophia 2, which uses different speaker technology and sounds very different to the Duette. If you draw your conclusions on how the Sophia 2 may sound after hearing the Duette - then you are completely wrong and you do not know what you are missing.

I know the Duette was not the best choice but it was what was there. There are a number of hi-fi shops around but none are really "high" end.

As for the comment:

"It is a small 2-way bookshelf speaker, designed to operate AGAINST the rear wall. If you move them into the room, the whole bass disappears. "

This was not the problem. The bass coming out of the "small" bookshelf shook the room. It was big and went deep. They were crossed over for far boundary placement.

I have read a number of times that the Duette brings at least 90% of the Sophia's sound. My dealer tells me the Duette is very close in most aspects. He says the Sophia brings more dynamics to the table but tone, sound stage, etc, are very close. I am still going to make the trip to hear a pair of Sophias before I buy the 3.7s. But I have my doubts about the Sophias being able to keep pace with the 3.7s. I have been shopping for awhile (auditioned B&W, Focal, Tannoy, Paradgim, Marten logan, etc) and the 3.7s are on a whole other level than the rest of the speakers I have heard.

Anyone that has done a direct A/B comparison of the Duette and Sophia care to comment? Again I have not heard the Sophia and the Duette was my first Wilson audition.

Buy what you like.

It matters not what anybody else thinks.

When did the MSRP (US) of the Sophia2 go up to $16K?

A great Speaker, but getting a bit pricey now...

Anyone saying the current generation of Wilson's are bright has not heard them set up correctly. Brightness is a factor of setup and partnering equipment. Listen to Wilsons w. tube equipment and the tweeter axis properly positioned for the listening position & listener height and you will not experience brightness. I have owned Thiels many years ago and they were bright. I have not heard the new generation but they are great speakers.

I would add never listen to a speaker in one system/setup to know if it is bad or not. It is easy to make good equipment sound bad. Listening in different stores or finding someone to let you audition their system will allow you to get a realistic impression.