Amps for Egglestonworks Andra II or Sophia 2

The only complaints I've heard about the Andra speakers regarding system matching is that they don't sing without powerful amplification, but everyone says the high end of them is sweet. Maybe it's a better gamble than the Wilson?

I know this may sound somewhat foolish, but the high end audio landscape has changed remarkably. At my local place, they have 3 rooms. Room 1 has Rockport Altairs with TWO different stacks of electronics worth $200K each. In the smaller room #2, you have Rockport Aviors with probably $60k in electronics. In room #3, you have stuff I can't stand to listen to. I don't blame them for catering to the rich; they make a lot more money that way. I feel like the only way I win in this market is by buying the used gear of people who have a lot more disposable income.

I recently went on the quest for new speakers. I can not imagine buying a pair of speakers of that caliber without listening first. Speakers can sound so different in different systems.

Like you I tend to buy used as I just can't afford what I like new. I listened to every pair of speakers I could to see what brands I preferred. Most brands have a house sound. I did a search for speakers with in a 250 radius here on Audiogon. I also used Hifi Shark to search sites as well as browse US Audio Mart. I did not want to deal with shipping floor standing speakers. They can be very heavy and it is expensive.

If I saw a local ad for something that interested me, I would email the seller and ask to see and hear them. See what they were driving them with. I also looked around at dealers for used or demo pairs. Some dealers don't like dealing with used gear. They will give a low offer because they don't want used stuff. They will also sell used equipment cheap just to get rid of it.

After a long search I ended up buying a pair of 1 1/2 year old Sonus Faber Elipsa SE {Red} for around half price. I am very happy with them, they are magical and an excellent match with my Audio Research amp. I could not imagine having them shipped and taking a chance on them being damaged.

"05-02-15: Sboje
The only complaints I've heard about the Andra speakers regarding system matching is that they don't sing without powerful amplification, but everyone says the high end of them is sweet. Maybe it's a better gamble than the Wilson?"

You can do what you wish. Its your money. But I highly recommend taking a different path to achieve your goal. The speakers you are looking at are very revealing, and not all that forgiving. When you say that the speakers will sing with more power, that can be true, but its only 1 small piece of a much bigger puzzle. For example, you can find 10 different amps that have enough power to easily drive your speakers, but all 10 will sound very different. At this level, component matching is everything.

You talk about gambling. Buying new components is always a gamble. You really need to look at the odds. The best example I can think of is a roulette wheel. You can either play black or red where the odds are somewhere around 50/50 (I forget the exact odds). Under that scenario, you have a respectable chance of winning something, that's why the pay-off is so low. The way you're going about putting your system together, is something different altogether. It's like betting on just 1 number. The odds are winning are very low. You really want to try to improve your odds or you're going to be very unhappy.

"I know this may sound somewhat foolish, but the high end audio landscape has changed remarkably. At my local place, they have 3 rooms. Room 1 has Rockport Altairs with TWO different stacks of electronics worth $200K each. In the smaller room #2, you have Rockport Aviors with probably $60k in electronics. In room #3, you have stuff I can't stand to listen to. I don't blame them for catering to the rich; they make a lot more money that way. I feel like the only way I win in this market is by buying the used gear of people who have a lot more disposable income."

I wouldn't judge the entire audio industry on what 1 store does. But, to get at the heart of the matter, the reason you feel the way you do has nothing to do with you being rich or poor, or even who the target market is for expensive goods. The magazines never tell you this, but the level of difficulty goes up the more revealing and specialized the gear becomes. Generally speaking, its much harder to put a system together based on a pair of Wilson's than it is to put one together around a less costly speaker that is not as revealing and works with a much broader selection of gear. Once you gain more knowledge and experience, you'll be in a much better position to make better choices. That's why I can't make any type of recommendation in your case. I just have to little to go on, and it wouldn't be fair to you if I just guessed.

You can do what you wish. Its your money. But I highly recommend taking a different path to achieve your goal. The speakers you are looking at are very revealing, and not all that forgiving. When you say that the speakers will sing with more power, that can be true, but its only 1 small piece of a much bigger puzzle. For example, you can find 10 different amps that have enough power to easily drive your speakers, but all 10 will sound very different. At this level, component matching is everything.

Do you care to list the associate components in your system driving the Andra IIs? I'm curious what made it unforgiving.

One thing I can tell you for sure, is that if you are going by reviews, professional or otherwise, the components you read about won't sound the same when you actually get to listen to them. Sometimes they sound close to what the reviewers say, but sometimes they sound completely different. Its a very risky way to shop.

From my experience, I found Paul Bolin's Stereophile review dead-on. http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/719/

I had Andra II for 5+ years. It's NOT analytical or too revealing but very musical with the amazing Morel midrange drivers and Esotar tweeter. Only problem I encountered is a midbass hump but was able to tame 99% with proper associated components.

I found high powered SS amps worked best. I had a 275 wpc tube mono but still no match for SS. In your budget, checkout Pass X350.5 (Reno HiFi had a refurbished in $5K range), Krell 302e, Parasound JC-1 mono and McIntosh MC501. Krell FPB600 was awesome but SQ was unrefined compare to latest.

I had many SF preamps and found the more neutral Siemen and Telefunken e88cc worked best with the Andra IIs.

As far as cables, I found ASI Liveline ICs and SCs worked best. Settled on 2 pairs of ASI Liveline SCs. SR Apex was also very good but no match for ASI and much much LESS $. I heard many found Nordost Valhalla also a good match.

Ideally it's best to demo before purchase. Speakers are tough to ship and I bought mine new but buying used, it's a very low risk IMHO. The only reason I replaced Andra was to try something different.

I'm not familiar with Wilson Sophia II so will refrain from commenting.

"Do you care to list the associate components in your system driving the Andra IIs? I'm curious what made it unforgiving."

No. It's not relevant for this discussion.

"From my experience, I found Paul Bolin's Stereophile review dead-on. www.stereophile"

That's great.