Wilson Sophia2s demand better than AYRE V5xe, so..

Demos or not, you bought your Sophias new w/warranty from an authorized dealer, and they owe you a better setup than 30 minutes and 6" from the back walls. I recommend you read every Stereophile review of Wilson speakers you can get your hands on to get an idea of what a Wilson setup is *supposed* to be. Several are at http://www.stereophile.com, including an extensive review in 2002 of the first-generation Sophia. Then I would contact the dealer and give them a second chance to do a better setup. If you don't get cooperation, warn them that your next step is to call Wilson Audio Specialties. It's well known that Wilson dealers can lose their franchise if they don't do the factory-prescribed setup on every new pair of Wilsons they sell.

Most of the S'phile reviews have a detailed write-up on what the Wilson guy did in positioning the speakers. In the Sophia review, Peter McGrath positioned the speakers 56" from the wall behind them. Wilsons are also often positioned wider and with more toe-in than is typical. The more extreme toe-in helps diminish the side walls' influence on early reflections (IIRC).

If you got lean bass with the speakers that close to the back wall just wait if the speakers get moved out from the wall. If the speakers are that close to the wall behind them you should have to much bass.

A square room doesn't help so maybe that is the reason for the speaker placement that they came up with. You can not follow someone else room placement as yours can be completely different. You can always make your current location with tape and try moving them around and see if it sounds better.

You can always try Cardas speaker placement. I has always worked well for me.
http://www.cardas.com/content.php?area=insights&content_id=33&pagestring=Room+Setup+8

Hi, Johnnyb53 makes some pretty good points. As a Wilson owner, and one who has had 2 different dealers, one ok, and one super, the setup here is critical. I'd give your dealer a 2nd chance then call Wilson directly.

I have sat back and watched this thread unfold. You have great speakers, great electronics, good cables. You should be happy. Breakin could be a culprit.

Any chance a speaker is wired out of phase? Or you have some electronic issue?

I do like tubes with my Wilsons, but I am surprised by your comments on your sound. You have a good selection of equipment, yes you can always get better.

If you spend much more, I'd say step up to Watt Puppy 7 or 8's....and keep your electronics.

Hello Mtdking,

You wrote: "I will have to disagree that the Lamm M1.1 has more bass output then the VTL MB-450 sigs."

Assuming you wrote that because of my post, (I believe I was the only one to recommend the Lamms in this thread), I would like to point out that what I actually wrote was that the M2.2 (and hence the M2.1) amplifiers have more bass output than the VTL MB-450 sigs. Please note that the M2.2 has 220 wpc (and the M2.1 has 200 wpc), which (obviously) is double the power of the 100 wpc Lamm M1.1 amps. (I don't even think that I mentioned the M1.1 amps actually, so I am not sure why you brought that up.)

And, I fully stand behind what I wrote. The Lamms (that I mentioned) have incredibly great bass response. And yes, they do indeed have better bass response than the VTLs, based upon our direct comparison.

My two cents worth.

I am also a Sophia 2 owner and can endorse the earlier comments regarding toe-in for Wilson speakers.

Mine are toed-in so that only a small slice of the inner surface is visible from the listening seat.

In my setup experience, soundstage & image precision increased with amount of toe-in. At a certain point, the image really snaps into focus. I recommend you mark the dealer positions on the floor then experiment yourself.