Are Wilson Sophia 2's lean in the midbass?

Yes that is true. But you still hear the reflections from all of the other walls, including ceiling and floor. Therefore bass and broadband absobtion is still necessary.

Bob

Absolutely! Great point.

However, in the particular example I gave, the "symmetry" is what makes it one of the more severe or dominant reflected effects in most rooms.

Floor reflections were studied years ago and it is one of the reasons that down firing subwoofers are recomended (to try and get rid of that midbass suckout from reflected energy cancelling the primary bass signal). FWIW: if you have a subwoofer then an asymmetrical placement may prove best - it is the symmetry that will give you the sharpest and deepest suckouts...

I thought the Sophia 2 sounded lean when I heard them at the dealers who had them supposadly set up properly.

I also did not like the Watt Puppy 8's for other reasons.

Ironically, by absorbing bass (below app 125hz, the real problem area), bass busters can actually cause some speakers to sound a bit "fuller" as the mid to upper bass comes back into balance.

I quite agree. Let me be clear - Soffit mounting is far from the ONLY solution to the problem - to many people it will seem like using an overly expensive sledgehammer approach. Moving speakers around by small amounts to find a good spot is the most sensible solution becuase it costs nothing!

I found GIK Tri-trap's improved the lower midrange clarity slightly - especially when positioned in the corners of the room behind the listener. It also tightened up the image a little. I expect is helped reduce some of the masking effects from reflectios in the bass.

I had my speakers setup by a Wilson dealer, but admittedly he used an approach different from the official Wilson method.

I have a couple Real Traps in the corners and I was thinking of removing them to see if I'd get more bass, but some of the posts above seems to suggest that you can improve midbass with absorption of bass, so I'm no longer sure.

One of the reasons I'm asking is that a friend of mine who was present during the setup commented that every time he's seen Sophias setup they were always close to the wall.

Goatwuss > From what I have auditioned at Home and heard from in-Store demos on "Wilson Audio" Speakers - My favorite Amplifiers have been the PASS X.5 & XA.5 - with Krell Evolution a close 2nd - I haven't had the opportunity to listen to Simaudio, but would like to. TAS has been all over these PASS Amps for the past 2-years, with their highest recommendations - at this time - PASS has set the bar for other SS manufacturers to follow - if they can...