Wilson Watt/Puppy 6 or 7 versus Sophia

The RH article is available free online
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/newsletter/143/wa_watt_puppy7.html

I have listened to all three.
Wilson Watt/Puppy 6' - Excellent 20hz bass versus 30hz Sophia bass, older style brighter mid-highs, can be etched but not like the old 5.1's. You need to have listened to them then before buying them used (great deal)
Wilson Sophia - Mid range to die for and no hot tweeter, easier equipment load. increadible deal for a Wilson product. Setup is easier (no watt adjustments), except requires two people since speaker is one heavy unit. Or if you are buying New the Dealer sets them up for you!
Wilson Watt Puppy 7 - Mini Maxx's in my opinion, 3-4ohm load so require amplification that is cablable of it, 20hz bass which is tighter than the 6' (pretty amazing accomplishment)

I am waiting for my order for WP7's right now since that is what I ordered. I use to play the upright bass and the Sophia and the WP7's did this more convincingly, and the hotness of the older Wilson 5.1 tweeters use to turn me off about Wilson products, so the only real choice was Sophia or 7's.

I didn't want black (no matter how good the finish is) so buying them new was the only option.

I purchased a pair of 7's earlier this year and absolutely love them. I think the Sophia's and the 7's share the same sound signature with the 7's being a bit more defined with deeper bass extension. The 6's are great speakers as well but not as sweet on the top end. Depending on your electronic's, a used pair of 6's are a real bargain right now. A pair of Sohpia's mated with a Wilson Watch Dog sub would be stellar combo.

I think the Sophias are superior to the 6s in terms of driver integration, midrange, and top end. While the 6s may be more extended, the tweeter is hot, and the sophia integrates so much better. You give up a bit of bass, but the midrange is what separates these too imho.

I have heard the 7s on spectral equipment, but wish to hear the 7s on BAT equipment to give them a fairer shot. Spectral, while ultra clean and transparent, is far from musical imho, and made the 7s sound very hifi. From what I hear, the 7s are definitely a step up from the Sophias, but not necessarily worth twice the price.

I cam very close to buying Sophias, but ended up with Avantgarde Solos which costwise saved me a bunch of money and space. If I was willing to spend more dough, most likely the Sophias in cherry red or ferrari blue would grace my apartment.

Thanks guy, this is most helpful. As far as system matching is concerned, can anyone comment on synergy with the following components? It sounds like I should be careful about the hot upper midrange of the W/P 6, even though it is a much better value in the used market.

Merdian 508.24 CD player, ARC SP-11 MK2 preamp, Modified McIntosh MC240 amp (55WPC) or Mark Levinson 20.6 mono amps, top NBS cables. Thanks again for your very useful and focused responses.

I have owned the Sophias and now own the 7's/WATCHDog combination. I agree with Keithr regarding the 6 vs 7 comparison, but would add that the 6's upper bass was thrust forward in comparison to the 7's and the soundstage of the model 6 was much more central and less wide or layered.

In the context of my system, the 7's were demonstrably better than the Sophias in the realm of scale, soundstaging, micro dynamics, harmonic content and pitch differentiation. The improvement in these areas afforded by the 7's over the Sophias and 6's are not subtle, and were easily worth the extra money--to me.

And yeah, Ferrari Blue sounds cool....

Happy listening!