Considering Wilson or Sonus Faber floor standing over my Rockport monitors & Wisdom Sub

gpgr4blu,

thank you for the insight!  Do you feel the ARC VT100 mkII can handle the Watt Puppy 7?  I am considering the WP7 and the Sophia 2, but I am not interested in changing my amplifier.

if you were in my shoes, and considering the Sophia 2 and WP7, which would you choose for yourself with a VT100mkII?

I drove my watt puppy 7s for a few years with the McIntosh 2102 (100 wpc). I was very happy with that combo. So the answer is yes. Also, the WP 7s were easily my favorite WP. They were the first to be voiced musically. In fact, when the Sophias first came out, the WP 6 was being phased out and the dealer offered me a huge discount. I actually preferred the Sophias (with no discount) and purchased them instead. They were my first Wilsons.
When the WP 7 came out, it had the musicality of the Sophias but with greater depth, extension, imaging, texture, etc, etc. So I moved up from Sophia to WP 7. When the W 8 came out, I felt they lost a little of the 7s magic. Of course, others may feel differently and they would not be wrong. Also, SF makes great speakers on the opposite end of the musical spectrum from Wilson. You pick your flavor and go. 

I own the Sonus Faber Olympic II Speakers and like them very much.  They provide great musical sound and I highly recommend them.  I am using Hypex NCore NC400 Bridged Mono Block class D Power Amplifiers to drive these speakers.   The addition of these power amplifiers (no pre-amp) into my system provide more natural sound, clearer music, more bass, an overall lack of noise, excellent dynamics and musical details. Another layer of sound is also presented WITHOUT THE pre-amplifier in the system.   My Bricasti M1 DAC (with a volume control) is going direct into these power amplifiers.    

I compared them to the Sonus Faber Olympic III Speakers and decided there was too much bass in the Sonus Faber Olympic III Speakers for my space.  In addition, the Sonus Faber Olympic III Speakers were large and not a good fit for my living room (not a dedicated space).  The Sonus Faber Olympic III Speakers are excellent but my sense is they require a large space to really sound good (you need to verify this in your own space).

Speaker selection is not an easy process so I suggest you listen to the speakers you are interested in and not rush the process.  I suggest you listen to several songs from 3 of your favorite albums to help you decide.  Unfortunately, this might take several listening sessions since sometimes I really liked a speaker on one day and did not like it during other listening sessions.  The main point is you have to listen to music you are familiar to ensure you make the right decision.  Comments from Audiogon are interesting but you have to make your own decision based on your existing equipment, space and listening experiences.  Please let us know what you decide.

Hello everyone, thank you for the comments, please keep them coming! A couple of updates.  I think the Olympica III are out of my price range.  They are too new and the ones I saw used for $8k are slightly damaged, hence the lower price, but I have tightened my budget to about $6500 - $7500 and the Olympica III will not fit there.  However, the Cremona M is a possibility.

On the Wilson front, I spoke to a couple of dealers, and Wilson themselves about the WP7 & Sophia 2.  The 3 dealers and the manufacturer unanimously and independently thought that the WP7 is the better speaker, and the ARC VT100 mk II can drive both speakers without a problem.  One of the dealers has both the WP7 & the Sophia 2, so I will be listening to them both in the same space soon!

I haven't found a Cremona in the area to listen to yet.

My Rockports & Wisdom subwoofer are officially for sale!  They are on the market here on Audiogon.  I am not in a rush to sell, so we shall see how this all plays out.

I love resolution and detail, so I believe I will like the Wilsons.  Do you think there is another floor standing speaker in the $7k range that I should add to the list?

I'm just your basic music fan and not nearly as experienced as some of you guys. I appreciate all the knowledge you guys share. I recently listened to the Olympica III and Wilson Sabrina in the same half hour. The Sabrina sounded way better to my ears. I'm just a budding audiophile but that's the way I heard it.