I listened to the Wilson Sophia 3 and the Sasha along with the Avalon Indra and Isis at the same showroom last week.
Since I have been a Magnepan owner for the last 25 years and am about to audition both the 3.7 and 20.7 I wanted to listen to the new breed of dynamic speakers.
Most of us Maggie fans know the downs that you get with the wonderful sound stage, quickness etc, and in my system I bi-amp with matching Audio Research D400s with a LS17 Pre and Marantz SACD. Also use a pair of Velodynes 12 inch powered subs. The system list is just so you know it wasn't a pure. "speaker to speaker" comparison and my sound preferences.
I completely understand the appeal of Wilsons, but because of my preferences would not swap even my current set up for either model. They seems a bit too analytical for my taste, but again the things that others love such as pinpoint imaging are there in abundance with Wilson's.
The Avalons sounded more "musical" to me but the Indra lacked some weight and authority. The Isis sounded wonderful and would love to have them but even the demo model was 58k and that is just too far above my comfort zone.
This is all a long winded way to say that as a "panel guy" I think the Avalons are a better speaker for the sound I prefer but the Wilson has the attributes many will simply love.
Given the price points, the Maggie's ( 5600 for 3.7/14000 for 20.7) seem like a steal but we will see if I still hold that opinion after auditioning.
Since I have been a Magnepan owner for the last 25 years and am about to audition both the 3.7 and 20.7 I wanted to listen to the new breed of dynamic speakers.
Most of us Maggie fans know the downs that you get with the wonderful sound stage, quickness etc, and in my system I bi-amp with matching Audio Research D400s with a LS17 Pre and Marantz SACD. Also use a pair of Velodynes 12 inch powered subs. The system list is just so you know it wasn't a pure. "speaker to speaker" comparison and my sound preferences.
I completely understand the appeal of Wilsons, but because of my preferences would not swap even my current set up for either model. They seems a bit too analytical for my taste, but again the things that others love such as pinpoint imaging are there in abundance with Wilson's.
The Avalons sounded more "musical" to me but the Indra lacked some weight and authority. The Isis sounded wonderful and would love to have them but even the demo model was 58k and that is just too far above my comfort zone.
This is all a long winded way to say that as a "panel guy" I think the Avalons are a better speaker for the sound I prefer but the Wilson has the attributes many will simply love.
Given the price points, the Maggie's ( 5600 for 3.7/14000 for 20.7) seem like a steal but we will see if I still hold that opinion after auditioning.