Wilson Sophia III or Sasha in this setup???

[dcvibe]

I currently have Sophia II with Wilson Watchdog. I'm thinking about upgrading to Sophia III or Sasha. Can anyone give their opinion on what might be some differences between the two speakers given the fact that the Watchdog already provides excellent added bass dynamics? In other words what are some other observations about Sasha over Sophia III other than bass? My room size is approximately 14 ft wide by 19 ft long.

Thanks in advance....

[BlueChiaro]

Originally Posted by dcvibe

I currently have Sophia II with Wilson Watchdog. I'm thinking about upgrading to Sophia III or Sasha. Can anyone give their opinion on what might be some differences between the two speakers given the fact that the Watchdog already provides excellent added bass dynamics? In other words what are some other observations about Sasha over Sophia III other than bass? My room size is approximately 14 ft wide by 19 ft long.

Thanks in advance....

Hey, dcvibe, if you're planning on sending your lower frequencies to the sub, then I'd say that you're giving up one of the biggest advantages that Sasha has over Sophia. I've never heard them with the same electronics in the same room, so I don't have an apples to apples comparison. I think that your room size may suit the Sophias, though. I seem to recall that Serge (PHC1) had Sashas in his room, and I thought I read that he felt that he couldn't really let them sing to their potential in a room of that size. It's possible that I'm getting this mixed up, so maybe someone else can corroborate.

For my ear, I preferred the mid-highs on the Sophias when I did my comparisons...bass went to Sasha, hands down.

[dcvibe]

BlueChiaro,

I currently send full frequencies to the Sophia II's and the lower frequencies to the Watchdog for extra augmentation. I would not limit the frequency to the fronts for the Sashas. I'm just trying to figure out if the Sasha's do other things "better" than Sophia III other than bass? Thanks for your response and congrats on your III's.

[chessman]

dcvibe ... what would you be driving them with? Sasha has an impedance dip that allegedly causes lesser amps to struggle sometimes, although to what real extent is debatable. By all accounts Sophia 3 is easy to drive.

[dcvibe]

Originally Posted by chessman

dcvibe ... what would you be driving them with? Sasha has an impedance dip that allegedly causes lesser amps to struggle sometimes, although to what real extent is debatable. By all accounts Sophia 3 is easy to drive.

I think my amp is sufficient for Sasha...

Electrocompaniet AW250R

Output Impedance (20 Hz - 20 kHz) < 0,008 ohm
RCA (single) input impedance 220 kohm
XLR (balanced) input impedance 110 kohm
Input sensitivity for rated output 1 V
Max. peak current > 100 A
THD (measured at 1 kHz
half power, 8 W) < 0,001 %
THD (measured at 1 kHz
-1 dB, 8 W) < 0,001 %
Noise
(measured with both inputs shorted) 400 Hz - 30 kHz : 90 µV
10 Hz - 30 kHz : 100 µV

Rated output power

8 ohms 2 x 250 W
4 ohms 2 x 380 W
2 ohms 2 x 625 W
1 ohms 2 x 1100 W

[chessman]

Looks like plenty to me.

[Elberoth]

By all means Sashas will work in the room this size. It is same as mine. I went from Sophia II to Sasha -> BIG improvement. I have never heard the Sophia III / Sasha side by side though.

[dcvibe]

Elberoth,

Thanks for your input. Can you explain what differences you noticed from Sophia II to Sasha other than improved bass dynamics? If this has been discussed elsewhere please redirect me? Thanks.

[Coppy]

I spent a couple of hours yesterday comparing the two speakers in hopes the Sophias would be just about as good for less money. It was my third visit to the dealer with my own music. What I finally realized is that the Sasha is just plain better. The more evident base gets your attention and tends to mask the really better balanced and far more transparent mids and highs. I've got WP7s now which are terrific so I need to be satisfied that the upgrade is worth the rather substantial outlay. I'm now convinced. Back to the subject, the Sophias are a great speaker... if you haven't heard the Sashas which are providing a good deal more information not just more bass. By contrast, I listened to the new Maxxs also... just no need for them unless you've got a really big room to fill with sound. You almost certainly won't need the third bass speaker.

[dcvibe]

Coppy,

Thanks for your post. This is the type of feedback I am most interested in.