Wilson Audio Sophia 3 Review by Ranjeet Rain
Introduction: As stated in the thread about "Hifi scene in Asia", I embarked upon a week long journey to audition various components that had long been on my "to-audition list". As I have summed up/will sum up in the thread, this audio-yatra was a very highly successful one, with me accomplishing most targets from this yatra. The first stop of this journey was at Needs Audio in Kowloon, Hong Kong where I auditioned a number of components. First of them being Wilson Audio Sophia 3 speakers. Here I summarize my experience of the time spent with Wilson Audio Sophia 3.
[IMG2]http://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/pics/wilson_sophia_3_1.jpg[/IMG2]Background: I have long been researching about best value high-end speakers. Some of the speakers that have been most praised and often find themselves in discussions are from the stable of Wilson Audio.
Wilson Audio needs no introduction in high-end audio. Wilson Audio has produced more products that have been shamelessly copied than any other high-end product. Wilson Audio Watt Puppy are the most copied speaker. They have "inspired" numerous designers around the globe. It is no wonder that Wilson Audio has been on my radar for a long time. Unfortunately, a slightly disappointing fact about high-end audio is that it doesn't come cheap. Wilson Audio and cheap, quite naturally, can't be used in one sentence. Fortunately, an encouraging fact is that even a high-end company such as Wilson Audio has products that classify as budget (relatively). Enter Wilson Audio Sophia!
Wilson Audio Sophia are the cheapest and one of the most successful speakers in the Wilson Audio line up, but by no means less expensive by themselves. By now Sophias are in their 3rd generation and have become a part of many studios in the US and are in the reference system of many noted reviewers. It was due to these facts that Wilson Audio Sophia caught my imagination. Therefore, I called up the Wilson Audio authorized dealer in Hong Kong and set up an audition.
I arrived an hour late at the venue due to trouble in finding the address, however, the owner welcomed me, and audition started without any further ado as the system was all switched on, connected and warmed up and waiting for me to play.
The setup:Source: Wadia CD Player
Amplification: MBL Pre, MBL Monoblocks
Power cables: Van Den Hul
Interconnects: Transparent Audio
Speaker Cables: Transparent Audio
Power conditioner: Not recorded
Room treatment: Numerous absorbers/diffusers used
Room size: 500+ sqft
Place: Needs Audio, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Price of review component: USD 18,000
Web address: www.wilson-audio.com
Reviewer: Ranjeet Rain
Reviewer Email: [emailprotected]
Copyright: Please treat the contents of this review as copyrighted material. If you quote parts from this review anywhere kindly link back to this page.
[IMG2]http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5479/10248212235_0bbce31009_o.jpg[/IMG2]The setup looked magnificent, though it was a modest setup by every means of comparison with a typical high-end audio setup. The listening room was easily bigger than 500 square feet of area with a 9ish feet high false ceiling. Numerous absorbers/diffusers were placed all around the room. Side walls, ceiling, back of the setup, front of the setup, corners. Not just because of the room treatment, but also due to the fact that the entire building (20+ floors of them) is entirely dedicated to hifi dealers, the background was extremely quite for a commercial building. Background noise level was no higher than a typical downtown residential complex.
When I arrived a western classical recording unfamiliar to me was being played at low volume. The impression was that they sounded good even at low volume. But personally as a person I am not a fan of low volume listening when it comes to western classical. I mean if I am listening to an orchestra then it better sound like an orchestra. I noticed that unlike many dealers who just push up the volume till the system starts to distort and bleed the listeners ears, this dealer was not very keen on pushing the volume up. The reason? My best guess is sensibility. The dealer was one from the lot who don't think you need to play at rock concert level to bring out the best in a system. Or, it could also be that the system was good enough to play at a rather high level even while playing at moderate volume levels. Or could also be that he didn't want to overdrive the system. (Good for the buyers who would buy ex-demo from this dealer. They can rest assured anything they buy would be fully broken in in a high end setup plus never abused).
Since I was already late, after exchanging niceties, the dealer quickly asked me if I would like to play certain specific music. There was a lot to choose from at the dealer. I quickly chose FIM Audiophile Disc Vol-4 which has many of my familiar and favorite recordings. In all these years of auditioning hifi gear, by now I have acquired enough experience to gauge a system's performance by playing merely half a dozen tracks. This disc had 3 of them. So this was a great point to start and we got going as soon as I handed the disc over to the dealer.
The first piece to be played was "Spanish Harlem" by Rebecca. This is one of the very widely used reference tracks. The texture in Rebecca's voice and the entire soft feel in the track is nothing sort of astonishing. Sophias did justice to the track. I didn't find anything lacking or overly done/saturated. It did sound like a reference system. An honest representation of what was on the disc, no less, no more.
The next track to be played was "La Vezina Catina" by Esther Ofarim. This is one of my personal favorites. This track has one of the sweetest rendering of female vocals among non-Indian music I am familiar with. The track has a bit of Rabindra Sangeet feel to it. The track has some recording flaws despite it's an amazing track to judge a system performance. Playing this track brought out some flaws in the system. The upper octaves of Esther Ofarim's voice were not quite as open and extended as I have heard on some other systems. It felt as if there was low-pass filter being applied or the room or the speaker's cabinets were serving as a natural filter/slope limiting the high frequency response. Listening to this track left me wanting for more. Definitely I expected more from a pair of speakers this reputed.
The next track to be played was "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler. This is another of my personal favorites. This tracks has an amazing depth, sound staging, shimmering sparkling highs free of any kind of sibilance, not to mention great voice of Bette Midler. On a true reference system this is the only track I would listen to all day long. Playing back this track left me wanting even more. The highs, the sparkles, the shimmer, the extension, the depth everything was lacking. Not that it wasn't there, but it wasn't there as much as I expected (based on my experience of having listened to this track on dozens of systems of varying price levels). This track is my test for checking how much a system can connect me to a certain recording. Sophias (the whole setup) failed to do that. I certainly expected more from such highly reputed speakers.
I did audition many more tracks on the setup, but I will save the individual track details and proceed to sum up my report.
Wilson Audio Sophia 3 are great speakers. They do a lot of things right. The most notable of that is "bass". They didn't drop a single straw anywhere doing bass. 10 on 10 for bass on Sophias. Clean, clear, tight, controlled bass delivery everywhere. Listeners for whom the bass quality is the highest priority, look no further. These may be best spent US$ 18 grand on a pair of speakers. They are just the right speakers for bass lovers. Mids were open but not entirely forth coming. Highs could be better (at least for me as an individual). Sound stage was deep and wide. Sounds were placed quite well where they belonged. Overall sound signature was pretty darn close to that of Sennheiser HD 650 except that hump in the upper bass region that the headphone has and the veiled mid-range presentation of HD 650. Take away these two attributes and you pretty much have an idea how do Sophias sound.
I do have to comment on the partnering equipment to complete the perspective on these speakers. The partnering gear was all solid state. I felt Sophias could benefit immensely being driven from 30+ watts of tube gear. Macintosh, Octave, Consonance Opera could all be great partners to Sophias. Also a more liquid sounding CD player could do better in this setup.
Another perspective I must share here was the listening room. I liked the listening room quite a bit, but this was far from being an ideal listening room with so many speakers in the room. I am sure it contributed in some manner in muddying at least the mid-range from the Sophias if not the (upper) bass. I believe Sophias will perform a notch or two above in a better listening room.
Would I buy this pair? No, personally I would not, until I have heard it perform better, somewhere in a different setup. Why? Is it that bad a speaker? No, it isn't. It's a great speaker, just that it doesn't suit my taste. Would I recommend this to others? See my comments above. I would totally recommend this speaker to people who place the maximum weight on the bottom (no pun intended). But people who pay more attention to mid region and the top (again, no pun intended, please), may not enjoy Sophia as much.
What else, if not Sophia? Search is on!
