Wilson Sophia IIIs

[Lildebs888]

As most of you would guess: My personal cable recommendation would be Transparent. However, not for the reason's most here talked about. Of course I love the sound, the quality, and the experience I get from Transparent. As a female, I tend to look at more aspects of the product then just the component itself with its strengths and weaknesses. Those things are very important, but I also factor in the company as a whole

When I was designing my theater room, there were so many questions as to what length I would need for all the different channels. I was worried that if I were to get too little - I would have to return them. If I had gotten too much - that was just extra $ that could have been put towards other things needed. My husband and I went back and forth for what seemed like weeks! The project was still progressing as we were trying to figure our problem out. We still had not decided even up to just days before the sheet rock was scheduled to go up. We found ourselves in “panic mode”.

We ended up not buying pre-specified lengths since there were too many variables that could end up making them too long or too short. The drawback to this is that I would have to “assemble” the cables myself. Now, after working at Wilson Audio for several years (who uses Transparent wires/cabling in their product) I was pretty comfortable doing this. I soldered all my own spades, wall plates, etc. Yet when it came to doing the "speakons" for the other end that hook to the wall plates, I was completely lost! I knew I needed personal guidance on this part.

I had never personally talked to anyone at Transparent, and so I was pretty intimidated call. The person I talked to (Demos) was so very patient with me, and was so extremely helpful! He was able to calm my nerves, and made me feel very comfortable to talk to within the first min of our conversation. He was happy to spend as much time as needed to help me understand how to put them together. He sent me guides to do it, and also talked me through it. I actually felt a little bad for him to have to go over such simple procedures with me, yet he was so patient with me. Near the end of our conversation, I found that I had miss counted how many parts I needed. The second he got off the phone with me, he next day aired all the parts I need (plus a couple extra just in case). He made sure to call me the following day to make sure I had received everything (which I had). Unfortunately that previous evening (after business hours) I had found there was 1 other piece I had miscounted as well. By this point was really panicking since the next day the sheet rock was going up, so I needed it ASAP. I tried to use the "blonde card" to cover up my embarrassment. He giggled and said, "It's OK, it will be on its way today, and should be to you tomorrow morning." Talk about a sigh of relief! Yet, I felt bad that I had taken up so much of his time. Yet, I never got the feeling that I was putting him out.

After I finished all the cable prep that I needed to do before the drywall went up, I called to thank him for everything he did. Sadly, Demos was not in the office at the time, so Dave took the call. I was able to express my deep gratitude to him for the wonderful service Demos had provided for me, and so quickly! He too was very kind to me. During our conversation he expressed his interest in our project (the layout of the room, colors, etc.) We had a wonderful chat about the room, and how it was coming along.

So, for me, it is not just that Transparent are world class cables (which in my own personal opinion they are), but they are a world class company as well. That ranks very high in my book when it comes to choosing a brand to go with. Their kindness and their attentiveness to me as a person won me over for life!

Since then I have gotten to know more of Transparents' staff. Brad O'Toole(who used to work at Wilson Audio years back) and I have had some fun times talking about cables, the days of his time at Wilson, memories from years ago with my parents and I, etc. Such a different feeling now from the day I first picked up my phone nervously 8 months ago. I now feel like I am apart of the "Tranparent Family"!

For those of you that might be thinking: “they only treated her like that because she is David Wilsons’ daughter, so of course they would do that” was at play here, rest assured that I know the way they treated me was not unique. They are known to take care of their customers just as they did for me!

[Lildebs888]

PS Sorry for such a long post. Some of you might have already heard that story. But I feel that when a company goes above and beyond when it comes to customer service, they should be recognized for it!

My best to you and to your search for cables!

Deb

[PHC1]

I had so much confidence in transparent that I wired all my ceiling speakers, 9 of them around the house all terminating in a utility closet so one can imagine the lengths involved from second, first and basement floors... When all Sonos zones went in with the Arcam amps driving the Triad dual voice coil speakers, I was rewarded with rich and dynamic sound that was completely musical and fatigue free and considering that most of the time it is compressed, lower bit rate streaming music that is playing, I attribute the success to transparent cables which for some zones exceeded 100ft easily...

When it came time to wire the theater, the transparent was used with speakon terminations for their length tuned network bricks. Following the recommended dip switch settings on the network bricks, once again, front, center, side and rear speakers are optimized for rather lengthy runs of cables. I am excited to say that the results have once again exceeded my expectations.

A brief phone conversation with Dave Schultz from transparent yielded immediate customer satisfaction when he shipped the two network bricks I needed and didn't plan ahead for right away to get my theater going.

[schaefer11]

IMO, it would almost be criminal if a company with the profit margins of a company that makes cables, did not provide customer service that was beyond reproach. I am sure it happens, but you should not be surprised by good service from one of these companies. You definitely paid for it.

[BuffaloBill]

Originally Posted by schaefer11

IMO, it would almost be criminal if a company with the profit margins of a company that makes cables, did not provide customer service that was beyond reproach. I am sure it happens, but you should not be surprised by good service from one of these companies. You definitely paid for it.

Amazing what people will pay for plain copper wire with a fancy name and description.

[soundslikemusic]

I heard the Sophia IIs wired with Purist Cables Museus which was their entry level speaker cables & it sounded sublime.

[Lildebs888]

Originally Posted by schaefer11

IMO, it would almost be criminal if a company with the profit margins of a company that makes cables, did not provide customer service that was beyond reproach. I am sure it happens, but you should not be surprised by good service from one of these companies. You definitely paid for it.

I would not say that I was "surprised" by their customer service. I was more or less expressing the reasons of why I personally like and use Transparent.

I agree that companies such as Transparent should have good customer service because the bill we foot for the product. However, far too many times people only talk about their bad experiences with these companies and forget to mention the little (or sometimes big) things these companies do for their customers.

I felt that since we were on the topic of cables that I would put in my 2 cents (well with how long my story was, I guess it would be a few more cents then just 2) about the cable company that I personally use and love.

Deb

[Masterlu]

No Wireworld reco's yet... Try their Gold Eclipse line; superb cables and my personal favorite.

[JSCC]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

No Wireworld reco's yet... Try their Gold Eclipse line; superb cables and my personal favorite.

Thought was Platinum Series?

[Tonepub]

Ivan, are you a Wilson Dealer now? If so, we need to talk!