JohnP
Well-known member
Man I'm getting upgradeitis and your not gonna believe this but I'm getting a serious hankerin for some Wilsons. I love my Odyssey's but.... well I don't know, just got a pretty serious urge for Wilsons. HELP!!!!
Oh no, I've got a hankerin for some Wilsons!!!!
- Thread starter JohnP
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Just a suggestion, before you leave the fold , you might want to have a listen to the summits. From the feedback on this site of the summits, they must be awesome. I haven't had the opportunity to hear them yet, I am an Oddessey owner as well. From what I gather, the summits are quite a step up.
Incidently, the previous owner of my Oddessey's( used for 1 year) upgraded from them to the Summits. Maybe you should look into it if you already haven't.
There, I just saved you!!!
Incidently, the previous owner of my Oddessey's( used for 1 year) upgraded from them to the Summits. Maybe you should look into it if you already haven't.
There, I just saved you!!!
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Summits
I got a chance to listen to the Summits before they were even on the market out here on the West Coast. I can't compare them to Wilsons as I have not had the pleasure of hearing the Wilsons. I can say however that never in my life have I heard a speaker system as nice as the Summits. My son and I both agreed it was as close to a religious experience as we have had. There was nothing lacking and the sound stage was huge. Bass o'plenty.
These are the speakers I aspire to obtain.
The Wilsons must be spectacular if you are considering them. For the price they better be!
I got a chance to listen to the Summits before they were even on the market out here on the West Coast. I can't compare them to Wilsons as I have not had the pleasure of hearing the Wilsons. I can say however that never in my life have I heard a speaker system as nice as the Summits. My son and I both agreed it was as close to a religious experience as we have had. There was nothing lacking and the sound stage was huge. Bass o'plenty.
These are the speakers I aspire to obtain.
The Wilsons must be spectacular if you are considering them. For the price they better be!
Man I'm getting upgradeitis and your not gonna believe this but I'm getting a serious hankerin for some Wilsons. I love my Odyssey's but.... well I don't know, just got a pretty serious urge for Wilsons. HELP!!!!
You are joking, right? C'mon, you're just pulling our leg trying to get a knee jerk response. Right?
I am sure that the Wilsons sound fantastic, but man are they ugly, IMHO. Which ones are you considering? Only the Sophias are anywhere near the price of the Summits and I would be surprised if they sounded as good. Looking at your system, I am thinking you would get more bang for the buck by upgrading to a higher quality two-channel preamp. That is, unless all of your listening is multi-channel.
When Joey gets a chance to respond to this thread he can give you an idea of the cost-benefit ratio. He owns Summits and recently auditioned some Wilson speakers. I forget which ones, but there is a thread on it if you look at his posts. I would do an awful lot of research and auditioning before I spent the bucks on Wilsons over the Summit. Just my 2 cents.
Dreamer
Classified Forum Moderator
And don't forget, every seaker Wilson makes is a total power-hog. You've practically got to drive them with arc-welding rigs to make them sound good. If you get Wilsons,, you're going to want new amps too, most likely, and for the power required, it's almost certainly going to have to be SS, class A beasts like Levinsons, Spectrals or Krells...
--Richard
--Richard
JohnP
Well-known member
The Sophias have caught my eye but was kind of wanting the Watt/Puppy combo. I've heard the Summits and just didn't think their "all that". They are nice don't get me wrong, just not a huge step up from Odyssey's IMO. And to be honest I think the Summits are uhhmm, ugly compared to the previous ML style.
I know Joey loves his Summits and I'm glad he likes his so much. First remark I'll most likely hear from him though is that the Summits must have been hooked up to lesser gear. Nope, they were hooked up to very good equipment. I brought my own music and a friend who is VERY familiar with my system/s. He agreed with me, as well as did my wife.
To be honest I think many would be better off with a used set of Prodigys than new Summits, then you can take the extra SIX THOUSAND dollars and buy tons of music, room treatment etc. Again, this is just IMHO.
I would have to whole heartly disagree with that statement, have you checked their specs lately? Sophia is: 89dB @ 1 watt not to shabby, and the Watt/Puppy is: 92 dB @ 1 watt. Not what I would call a power-hog at all. My Odyssey's are 90 db @ 1 watt and dip down to 1 ohm!!
I would never get out of Martin Logan, I love Martin Logan speakers. I've got a house full of em, just wanting to peak over the fence sometimes ya know. See if that grass really is greener over there(doubtful).
John
PS-Anyone been eyeballin the new line source av123 is fixing to release?? Whoa, looks to be a possible giant killer.
I know Joey loves his Summits and I'm glad he likes his so much. First remark I'll most likely hear from him though is that the Summits must have been hooked up to lesser gear. Nope, they were hooked up to very good equipment. I brought my own music and a friend who is VERY familiar with my system/s. He agreed with me, as well as did my wife.
To be honest I think many would be better off with a used set of Prodigys than new Summits, then you can take the extra SIX THOUSAND dollars and buy tons of music, room treatment etc. Again, this is just IMHO.
I would have to whole heartly disagree with that statement, have you checked their specs lately? Sophia is: 89dB @ 1 watt not to shabby, and the Watt/Puppy is: 92 dB @ 1 watt. Not what I would call a power-hog at all. My Odyssey's are 90 db @ 1 watt and dip down to 1 ohm!!
I would never get out of Martin Logan, I love Martin Logan speakers. I've got a house full of em, just wanting to peak over the fence sometimes ya know. See if that grass really is greener over there(doubtful).
John
PS-Anyone been eyeballin the new line source av123 is fixing to release?? Whoa, looks to be a possible giant killer.
JohnP
Well-known member
Oh sorry, these wouldn't be for our theater it's for a dedicated listening room downstairs. Amp would most likely be Mcintosh, possibly the 501 monoblocks or maybe even the 402, or 602.
DTB300
Well-known member
Yeah, the very contemporary look is hard to take for my tastes.
Always liked the Sophia, and I have to get out and hear the new versions. The Watt/Puppy just has not done it for me since version 5.
Dan
JohnP
Well-known member
DTB,
Wow you don't like the newer W/P look huh? Oh hey, there's a pair of 5.1's on the gon right now for like $4500. Just thought I'd point em out to ya.:rocker:
John
Wow you don't like the newer W/P look huh? Oh hey, there's a pair of 5.1's on the gon right now for like $4500. Just thought I'd point em out to ya.:rocker:
John
DTB300
Well-known member
Not just the look of the new W/P, but also the sound. They just did not and have not grabbed me since version 5.
If I could not repair or replace stuff on my CLSIIz's or even get ML's, I might consider the Sophia's, or maybe an Aerial, but for now I will continue to like my CLSIIz's. Hard to say what I would eventually buy without being in the state of mind to shop and purchase.
Dan
IWalker
Well-known member
Just took a look at the av123 speaker. They do an awesome job providing value. For example, they're including 16 speakers similar to an adire extremis (xbl motor, 6.5" cone) which retail for $100 per, and then 12 Neo 8 type ribbon tweeters, which sell for around $65 a piece, that's a heckof a bargain at $3000. for a pair. I would definitely agree that these are going to be unbeatable at the $3000 price point.
My preference would be electrostat for mid and highs, and cone for midbass and below...but ribbon tweeters should be pretty awesome as well. Definitely a strong consideration for anyone who can deal with a MASSIVE speaker in their room. The physics of line arrays are pretty cool.
My preference would be electrostat for mid and highs, and cone for midbass and below...but ribbon tweeters should be pretty awesome as well. Definitely a strong consideration for anyone who can deal with a MASSIVE speaker in their room. The physics of line arrays are pretty cool.
Pcar928fan
Well-known member
Man I'm getting upgradeitis and your not gonna believe this but I'm getting a serious hankerin for some Wilsons. I love my Odyssey's but.... well I don't know, just got a pretty serious urge for Wilsons. HELP!!!!
Come on now John, seriously just turn them off and look at them for a bit, you will change your mind... They are just NOT attractive, and they ARE expensive. If you have to upgrade get a pair of Summit's from Stuart down at Audio Systems on Koenig Lane! They are BEAUTIFUL and sound SOOOO GOOOOODDD!
I'm in agreement with previous suggestions to listen seriously to the Summit's. Without hurting any feelings here, they are the finest sounding Logan and I'll go as far as finest sounding electrostatic ever. This includes the upper end Soundlabs and Wisdoms. In fact, they have won over many non-bipolar fans. I would have purchased them but my room size just fits the Vantage better.
By no means am I against conventional speakers as I've owned many of them in between a Maggie here and there. I just have always found the Wilson line to be analytical and fatiguing in comparison to the Von Schweikert's, Montana’s, and Totems. Any one of these would be a great alternative to the Wilson's. (in general and price/model subjective of course). I just fine the Totem and Von Schweikert lines as a whole to be very musical, detailed with large "out of the box" sound staging.
Take it for what's it worth. As they say, opinions are like......
By no means am I against conventional speakers as I've owned many of them in between a Maggie here and there. I just have always found the Wilson line to be analytical and fatiguing in comparison to the Von Schweikert's, Montana’s, and Totems. Any one of these would be a great alternative to the Wilson's. (in general and price/model subjective of course). I just fine the Totem and Von Schweikert lines as a whole to be very musical, detailed with large "out of the box" sound staging.
Take it for what's it worth. As they say, opinions are like......
Joey_V
Well-known member
John,
I've been tempted by Wilsons before, but I honestly dont think they're as good as they make themselves out to be. Although subjective, the one part that you cannot disagree on is the objective - and that's the price. For $27,000, you're telling me that the Wilson Watt/Puppy 8 is worth it over the Summits? I dont think so...
And yes, I think that listening to the Summits in your dealer's room is not the best way to compare the sound of the Summits to your own Oddysey considering the finickiness of 'stats. You probably tweaked your Oddysey for so long and the Summits were tweaked by you for none. The Summits require good placement with regards to toe-in and room acoustics taken into account. The Summits, I believe, require some sort of tubes in the system also.... what did the upstream components consist of in your audition? Lastly, it's very difficult and a little brash to compare what you heard at a room that's not your own to your own system because of fleeting audio memory, non-personalized atmosphere (not tweaked to your likings), unfamiliarity of the songs played, myriad of upstream components that may not have synergy with the speakers in question, etc....
Now, to the Wilsons... though I'm probably in the minority as I feel that they're beautiful (except the Maxx2), I'm going to support the fact that they are ridiculously overpriced for what you get. The sound is good... but not at that price level. There are far more options that are more viable if you really want to spend close to $30k. For one, the Revelation MM3 are far and away in a league of it's own when compared to those WP8... not even close. I'm not even going to mention that I think the Sonus Faber Amati Anniversario is probably a better choice for me instead of the WP8.
The Wilsons are low in bang for the buck... but they do get you recognition from a lot of the audiophile lot as owning a good speaker. It's a good speaker, no doubt... but I think that you can get much more for your money with ML Summits tweaked to perfection... or any of the other speakers I just mentioned.
Joey
I'm in agreement with previous suggestions to listen seriously to the Summit's. Without hurting any feelings here, they are the finest sounding Logan and I'll go as far as finest sounding electrostatic ever. This includes the upper end Soundlabs and Wisdoms. In fact, they have won over many non-bipolar fans. I would have purchased them but my room size just fits the Vantage better.
By no means am I against conventional speakers as I've owned many of them in between a Maggie here and there. I just have always found the Wilson line to be analytical and fatiguing in comparison to the Von Schweikert's, Montana’s, and Totems. Any one of these would be a great alternative to the Wilson's. (in general and price/model subjective of course). I just fine the Totem and Von Schweikert lines as a whole to be very musical, detailed with large "out of the box" sound staging.
Take it for what's it worth. As they say, opinions are like......
By no means am I against conventional speakers as I've owned many of them in between a Maggie here and there. I just have always found the Wilson line to be analytical and fatiguing in comparison to the Von Schweikert's, Montana’s, and Totems. Any one of these would be a great alternative to the Wilson's. (in general and price/model subjective of course). I just fine the Totem and Von Schweikert lines as a whole to be very musical, detailed with large "out of the box" sound staging.
Take it for what's it worth. As they say, opinions are like......
Pcar928fan
Well-known member
Hey, if you are looking at big bucks why not check out the Acapella models? Those are some COOL looking speakers and MAN are the efficient! Something above 100db @ 1W...CRAZY. I would LOVE to see some of those live and in person. Might check out Ne Plus Ultra in downtown...they are appt. only so call ahead...
Joey_V
Well-known member
Yeah.. or check out Avalon Acoustics and Avantegarde speakers... the duos are supposedly the sh1t!
Also, I think that you're in the ballpark for something called the Magico Mini + Torus subwoofer combination....
And dont forget to check out the Vandersteen 5A reference top of the line speaker.
And dont leave out the Innersound Kayas, supposed to be even better than the Summits flat out, balls out.
And lastly, dont leave out the Magnepan 20.1 or the Dynaudio Evidence Temptation.
SO MANY CHOICES in the sub-$30K regions..... not just the Watt/Puppy 8.
Good luck in your search....
..... and yes, the grass is always greener on the otherside.... regardless if you own ML or Wilson or Kharma.
Pcar928fan
Well-known member
Yea, these were the ones that I was actually thinking of... Could not remember the name, I think the Acapella are either one of the models or a competing speaker that look a lot like those...
Joey_V
Well-known member
Acapella has them Plasma Ion tweeters... supposedly really really really ridiculously good sounding (in my best Zoolander accent).
The Sophia's as far as any 'normal' speaker with dynamic drivers go, are nice. They look good in a room and they are very easy to drive - a 50 watt tube amp will do it. Of course a more powerful amplifer will reward with even better sound.
Compared with the Summits though, the Sophias lack space and 'air' The Sophia's image well but are not in the same league as the Summits. The Sophia's are superb in the reproduction of the micro and macro dynamics of music but in contrast the Summits are on a different planet and are breathtakingly fast.
When reproducing low bass there is no contest here. The Summits twin powered subwoofers per cabinet offer outstandingly tight and accurate low frequency response. The Sophia's single passive 10 inch driver can't compete.
It's probably unfair on the Sophia to compare them with the Summit's. But I guess Wilson Audio have priced them the same as the Summit's so this makes the comparison a fair one.
Compared with the Summits though, the Sophias lack space and 'air' The Sophia's image well but are not in the same league as the Summits. The Sophia's are superb in the reproduction of the micro and macro dynamics of music but in contrast the Summits are on a different planet and are breathtakingly fast.
When reproducing low bass there is no contest here. The Summits twin powered subwoofers per cabinet offer outstandingly tight and accurate low frequency response. The Sophia's single passive 10 inch driver can't compete.
It's probably unfair on the Sophia to compare them with the Summit's. But I guess Wilson Audio have priced them the same as the Summit's so this makes the comparison a fair one.
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