vander 5A, Revelsalon2, sf elipsa or magico v3?

Given the price diff between the Sonata IIIs and Sophia II, do the Sonatas. the diffs are marginal, and the cost is vast.

Past that tid bit, I'm lost. I make it a habit to not listen to things I would have to shoot somebody for, or sell crack, in order to afford.... although I am buying a few more lottery tickets lately... so who knows?

I'd love to be able to afford the Sofia IIs or IIIs but given I can't I own B&W 803D mains.

They are particular to good high current and wattage of 400 watts/channel or more and like to be bi-wired to get the best bass and overall sonics of out of them. Plus the amp has to be able to handle impedance loads of 2-3 ohms as while nominally rated at 8 ohms, they do dip to the 2-3 ohm range.

If I had the money, I'd choose the Sofia IIs but I imagine they will need more power than your current amp as well.

I have mine mated to a Spectron MK2 Class D amp with the V-Cap option and a McIntosh C2300 preamp and they sound great with the SS and tube combination. I've listened to the speakers with Mac 501 monos and while they sounded rich, there was a lot lost in dynamic impact and overall headroom and bass tightness.

Thnx Onhwy61,

I have a Sony SACD 777 as well which i was going to add. do you feel my Mac mc252 and c22 are good enough for the mentioned speakers above. My 2nd system is a a Mac mx135, mc207, Arcam DVDA, WAdia ipd transport, Peak Consult Princess (bookshelves), REL subwoofer, my 3rd is a classe amp and a conrad johnson preamp with a pair of audio physic yaras and a marantz cd and finally a teac system with thiel cs 1.5s.....

I was waiting for a used pair of 5A's to come on the market and while waiting a friend suggested I listen to Sophia 1's. Well it was a great suggestion the inner detail of the Wilson's made me a buyer and the Sophia ll is considered to be superior detail wise by many. Definitely worth a listen.

I have owned Sophia 2s and listened extensively to the Vandersteen 5As...between those two I selected the Wilson speaker...for the small difference get the Sophia 2 over the 1 version. As an aside I would suggest that you look at some of the Rockport speakers. As a further aside any of those speakers would benefit from an upgrade of your electronics/source players.