Rowland JRDG 501 and Wilson Audio


I plan to buy WP/8 or Sophia 2. Is this a good match?
What will be an alternative speaker choice?
I will keep the Rowlands for amplification.
soundoc
Hi Keith, what was the problem you experienced with 201s? In fairness, the 201s sound quite a bit different from the 501s, particularly for headroom, authority, detail, ability to handle transients bass definition. 201s tend to get 'glassy' very quickly at the first sign of excitement. . . not so the 501s.
I use Wilson-Sophia with Pass Labs X1 & X250.5 and it simply sounds amazing! Jeff Rowland's Class D Amps were NOT a good match for me. I have found PASS LABS (current models) and Krell Evolution to be among the best electronics that I have yet to hear with Wilson Sophia & Watt/Puppy Speakers.
Tusa, what JRDG class D amps did you try with your Sophia speakers, and what specific issues did you experience with them?
Most ICe amps will sound painful in combination with the Focal titanium tweeter Wilson uses. Perhaps the 201/501 would be less bad with Rowland's new outboard power supplies, but I would still think you want an analog amp with Wilsons (PS - What made you decide to buy Wilsons?).
For what it's worth, the only times I heard the
Watt Puppies sound really nice and smooth was with Levinson 33Hs and
Transparent cable at the old Soundex in Pennslyvania.
I think the preamp was Levinson also.
Otherwise they sound scratchy to me.