Upgrading from Wilson Sophia 2's?


Currently using these in a 14x25 room. Enjoying them for the most part, but they can sound aggressive and make mediocre recordings sound like crap and be somewhat fatiguing. Iā€™m interested in trying something that is slightly more forgiving without sacrificing a lot of detail, air, dynamics, etc.

Any suggestions?

Associated equipment (preamps still in flux):

Amps
Pass XA 100.5 monoblocks

Preamps ā€“ Tube
Audio Valve Eclipse
Cary SLP-05

Preamps ā€“ SS
Fire H20
Wyred 4 Sound STP SE
Pass XP-20

Sources:
ModWright Transporter
Raven One TT / Triplanar / Dynavector XV-1s

Thanks.
madfloyd
Hi!

I have Wilson Audio Sophia 2, and have not experienced any bright sound / fatiguing sound. However, the speakers are sensitive to fx. loudspeaker cable static electricity. You hear what you put into them. And I listen to all kind of music styles, and all kind of recordings, as I am a talent buyer within the festival scene. I have Burmester amps and cd player.

Cheeeers! Toffen, Norway
Upstream could be a factor, cables, amps, source. Ears could be a factor too, some people have different, not better or worse, just different sensitivities. They don't seem like the kind of speaker that will sugar coat the signal going into it. Don't get me wrong, they're nice, I just found the sound of the sasha setup more livable.

regards,

robert
Madfloyd,

Perhaps your problem is not your equipment but either or all of the following: 1) listening position, 2) speaker placement or 3) room acoustics.

Have you considered hiring a consultant to help you design the appropriate room treatments and positioning of said treatments? They can even help you with ideal seating position. I used Rives and the results have been excellent. I am sure there are others that would do a wonderful job as well. I think it would be much cheaper than a new speaker and probably more effective in correcting what you dislike. You can always upgrade to a new speaker later but at least you will know your room is "right".

FYI, I have a 15 X 21 X 9 room and I have a large screen on my front wall and I have Wilson speakers. I have NO treatments other than bass traps in each corner. My room was bright and had a lot of slap echo but not after treatments, absorptive and reflective, strategically placed through out room.
I have a fairly aggressive system, and went with a Marantz SA7S1 as my new CDP. I love it. It is has plenty of detail, but is also very relaxed and a bit on the warm side, so easy to listen to for hours. Might be something to consider to balance your system to your room and your ears.
FYI, I have recently evaluated a pair of Morrow Audio balanced MA4 IC's in my system. I believe Mike Morrow is onto something extremely important. Never have I heard an interconnect transform the sound of any system the way the MA4's did mine. They are so harmonicaly complete and will remove layers of distortion you may think you don't even have! The results are so phenomenal that words fail...he allows a 60Day trial/no hassle return evaluation. These aren't just a good value, they are a paradigm in high end design.