B&W Nautilus 801s vs. Wilson Audio Sophia?

Dodgealum,

Of course he does--i responded to him in another thread. He prefers Sonus Fabers---totally opposite sides of the spectrum. I think the Cremonas are mush, so to each his own.

However, i don't rail SFs in other threads, but to each his own.

I listen to & judge by classical, so I'll chip in & further confuse the issue:)
Keeping in mind the need to reproduce large orchestral passages (including choirs) at realistic levels, the Nautilus is undoubtedly (IMO) the choice. It can give the illusion of a full-scale orchestra. The Wilson gives the impression of a "smaller" speaker more prone to "confusion" when the going gets very tough (think of Mahler: 8/2 for example).

OTOH, the Wilson is MUCH easier to drive coherently and, while the lower end starts rolling off @~60Hz, the sonic result is pleasing overall and in-room response didn't seem to be lacking (you won't be craving for bass I don't think).

The problem with the Nautilus seems to be that the lower register sucks up an extraordinary amount of amp power. So you need a lot of amp power. Otherwise, you end up driving the mid-bass without power left for the bass, hence the upper bass "hump" reported above (and of course, the resulting impression of lack in mid/upper mid detail). To give an example, the Nautilus driven by two 125W "deep" class Α amps, was indeed far better than the Sophia.

So, overall, given your present amplification, I suggest you compromise & go for the Sophia; don't expect a large-scale orchestra & a full-range speaker -- Wilson wouldn't be selling the Alexandrias & Maxx's if that were the case.

Finally, as to personal bias, I actually like the Sophia (no, I don't own Sophia's). It's a good speaker, if a bit expensive. Cheers

That us ine thing I did notice when auditioning the B&W's is that Mid Bass Hump which they would need to get rid of before I was to buy a set of their speakers.

Seems with the advancement of tech it would be easy to fix .

While other manfs are able to provide better quality in sonics the bigger cos. keep on going through old ground which is not making their models any better to sell.

For those looking for speakers it falls to the educated buyers to be able to choose the speakers or components that give the best illusion to the real performance.

Happy hunting!

I've sold both Wilson's and B&W's. Personally, I might consider owning 804's in the right application if need be. But I prefer the transparent, dynamic, and higher sensitivity Sophia. Also allow more amp options if applicable.

everyone own's and likes their own stuff. EQUIPMENT MATCHING is way critical on analytical high end speakers. The more transparent, the more critical.
That other gentleman could easily have heard the Sophia's with some bright/cold gear in the system. You can't hear something in A SYSTEM, and make an ALL ENCOUMPASING ASSUMPTION! There's too many variables (unknown to the novice) that affect sound.
I've dealt with Wilson for years. They walk the line of total transparancy, if not total dynamic transparancy;...it's easy to push em over the edge, like many like them.