Wilson Sophia II vs. Thiel CS3.7

Just to update the thread. I went with Wilson Sophia 2s for many of the reasons listed above, but mainly because I felt the Sophias respond more audibly to equipment changes. This translates for me as a more transparent speaker, one that can be adapted and tailored sonically as I see fit over the years. The Sophias are also easier to drive which opens up more doors as far as amplification goes.

In addition, with the right backup equipment, I felt the Sophias had a more beautiful singing voice, but not in a euphoric sense. The Sophias have a more lifelike "you are there" voice than the Thiels I thought. They are also extremely coherent and well balanced, especially in the important lower midrange/midbass. The speakers had the ability to disappear better than the Thiels and create an amazingly spacial and stable soundstage. Finally, this speaker has all the resolution one could ask for, but also gave weight and body and texture to the music which I found to be a very rare quality in most loudspeakers.

The Thiels are almost as amazing, but I had a chance to pick up the Sophias from an authorized dealer at the same pricepoint as the Thiels, so budget was no longer a factor, only my personal preference between the two...

IMHO the first speaker for an audiophile is the Vandy signature 2CE MK2 then the Thiel 2.4 then the Thiel 3.7 or the Wilson Sophia 2s, then finally graduating to the Magico v3s! Believe me or not from the Vandy 2CE sig mk2 to the Magico3 is only about a 15% increase in speaker evolution. All these speakers are great!