16K to Spend. Help me make the end all Upgrade.

*Posted on my other thread
Ok, things are coming down to the wire. Yesterday I auditioned Wilson W/P 8's and Sophia 2's. Gorgeous, detailed sound. Excellent clarity, soundstaging. I could see how people could say it's not the most musical speaker (W/P 8's) but I loved the sound. The slam, excitement was there. I would say the Sophia's gave 90% of the sound at almost half price. I really liked the W/P 8's but at 28K they're a little bit steep. I'm shopping around right now for a new and possibly slightly used pair of Watt Puppy 8's to figure out how much damage they would be to my wallet. I'm going to take a listen to the Avalon Indra's in the next week or two and finally pull the trigger. Focal speakers are out of the running as of yesterday. For almost the same money I wold go with the Sophia 2's. The final 3 contenders are Avalon Indra's (even though I haven't heard them yet), W/p 8's and the Sophia 2's. Anybody compare these speakers side by side???? I love the dark titanium finish on Wilson's btw. Anybody have any pointers about pricing on these beasts?
I'm not the most experience audiophile in these forums but I thought the 1037Bes delivered great sound for the money even beating out the Revel Studio2s. More musical, better soundstaging to my ears with the equipment I listened to. The high frequencies were better delineated and much better bass than the Studio2s. I can't figure out for the life of me why people are raving about the Revels. I guess Harmon group stuffs the pockets of all these magazine editors.

If you want Watt Puppy 8s, I would patiently check for one here each day. I'm sure one will show up. WPs are constantly traded here.

The JMLabs prices will be sinking I'm sure when the new Utopias come out in the fall (according to another current thread here). When the Utopia Be line came out in late 2002, JMLabs dropped their prices, with the original Utopias going from $30K to $20K (announced in big magazine ads). So if price is important to you and you have some patience and these are the speakers you want, just wait a short time. Maybe pick up some cheap box speakers here in the meantime.
Just my 2 (or 3?) cents.

" I can't figure out for the life of me why people are raving about the Revels."

Most high-end equipment will sound very, very good when used in the right system. Otherwise said, synergy among speakers and electronics is crucial. Taking your experience, the Revels in one system will fail to impress, while their performance in another will explain their excellent reputation. As for my own experience, I always thought the first-generation Salons sounded lifeless, saying to myself "I don't get it", until I heard them run with a top tube amp. I then bought a pair. Getting to the heart of this, one of the most important matches is speakers, amp and speaker cables - some are reluctant to say for commercial reasons, but ask the manufacturer of whatever speaker you buy what amp and speaker cables they are particularly fond of - it will help you avoid a misfire.

In addition, everyone perceives sound differently -- what is your preference in speakers and electronics will not be for others.

If you really want to do it right, demo a pair of speakers in home for a couple of weeks before buying. If you are sold on Wilsons, remember that the Watt Puppies have strong bass (and a notorious midbass hump), and may be too much for your space -- it could be that the Sophias are the better match for an 11' x 19' room. TAS reviewer Tony Cordesman auditioned the Dynaudio Evidence ($85k) and Evidence Temptation - the $55,000 cheaper Temptation sounded better in his room, the bass matching better - he bought the Temptations.

I just noticed your room size and 20Ts won't work. The sophias are the only speaker small enough for that room thats on your list. You might try a sub with them if you want deep bass.

The Sophia should be plenty big to fill an 11x19 listening room, even with some open architecture leading to a dining area. They only look small in a high end audio shop next to the Maxx and Alexandria. On their own, they're pretty big, weigh 160 lbs. each, and provide meaningful bass down to 29 Hz, which IME for 2-channel music is plenty for almost anything you can throw at it.

I also suspect it would be easier to get good sound in your room with the Sophia than with larger speakers which could overload your room.

As for WAF and the attraction to glossy finishes, you really can't beat Wilson Gloss. I think Sophias would stun in any number of gloss colors, such as burgundy, chrome yellow, royal blue, dove grey, etc.