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אריה גור היקר (יקר זה טוב, לא?) מכיוון שדעתם של כתבי אודיו מקובלת עליך, מסיבות שאני אישית טרם הספיקותי להבין בעצמי, החלטתי לחלוק אתך כמה מהתרשמויותיו של אדם, שבנוסף להיותו כתב אודיו, הוא גם מהנדס קול ואלקטרוניקה, עורך של עיתון אודיו חשוב, והאחראי הטכני שלו. מן הסתם עומד בכל הדרישות המחמירות של מועדון הנאמנים של אריה גור. וזה מה שהיה לו לכתוב על ה-SOPHIA של ווילסון אודיו: The day had begun at the Wilson suite at the Mirage, where David Wilson played the Utah company´s new Sophia loudspeakers for me. Wilson demonstrations are always meticulously organized, and this one was no exception. The ancillary components—Audio Research CD player, Spectral DM-360 monoblock power amplifiers, and a Nagra PL-L preamp—were beyond reproach. David put on one of Keith Johnson´s superb Reference Recordings of the Turtle Beach Chorale and I settled back in my chair. Something didn´t seem right. I looked back at the equipment rack, where I saw two Nagra preamps (see photo on p.73). Well, perhaps one was being used as a spare. I went back to the music. Nice, very nice. Detailed, dynamic, a good sense of both the musical flow and of the recording´s performing space. I´m looking forward to the $11,700/pair Sophias arriving chez Atkinson. "Not bad, eh?" David Wilson was definitely chuckling. "Uh-huh." I tried not to give too much away. "What you were listening to," beamed Mr. Wilson, "was not the $15,000/pair Spectrals. The amp was actually the Parasound under the table, which costs around the same as the sales tax on the Spectrals!" We listened to the Sophias driven by the Spectrals, then again by the $650 Parasound, the two Nagra PL-Ls being used to match levels exactly. Yes, the Spectrals did sound better, with more focused, more palpable soundstaging and another half-octave of bass extension, but the little Parasound was not nearly as far behind as you´d expect from the difference in price. Which, of course, was the point of the demonstration. As explained by new Stereophile writer Paul Bolin in his CES report in this issue (p.65), David Wilson wanted to make the points that the loudspeaker is still the component that makes the single biggest difference in a system´s sound, and that first-rate speakers will still sound great driven by modest electronics—so if you´ve been put off from acquiring a pair of, say, Wilson speakers because you can´t afford to upgrade your amplifier at the same time, it´s okay to use your current amplifier until next year´s tax refund arrives.
אריה גור היקר (יקר זה טוב, לא?) מכיוון שדעתם של כתבי אודיו מקובלת עליך, מסיבות שאני אישית טרם הספיקותי להבין בעצמי, החלטתי לחלוק אתך כמה מהתרשמויותיו של אדם, שבנוסף להיותו כתב אודיו, הוא גם מהנדס קול ואלקטרוניקה, עורך של עיתון אודיו חשוב, והאחראי הטכני שלו. מן הסתם עומד בכל הדרישות המחמירות של מועדון הנאמנים של אריה גור. וזה מה שהיה לו לכתוב על ה-SOPHIA של ווילסון אודיו: The day had begun at the Wilson suite at the Mirage, where David Wilson played the Utah company´s new Sophia loudspeakers for me. Wilson demonstrations are always meticulously organized, and this one was no exception. The ancillary components—Audio Research CD player, Spectral DM-360 monoblock power amplifiers, and a Nagra PL-L preamp—were beyond reproach. David put on one of Keith Johnson´s superb Reference Recordings of the Turtle Beach Chorale and I settled back in my chair. Something didn´t seem right. I looked back at the equipment rack, where I saw two Nagra preamps (see photo on p.73). Well, perhaps one was being used as a spare. I went back to the music. Nice, very nice. Detailed, dynamic, a good sense of both the musical flow and of the recording´s performing space. I´m looking forward to the $11,700/pair Sophias arriving chez Atkinson. "Not bad, eh?" David Wilson was definitely chuckling. "Uh-huh." I tried not to give too much away. "What you were listening to," beamed Mr. Wilson, "was not the $15,000/pair Spectrals. The amp was actually the Parasound under the table, which costs around the same as the sales tax on the Spectrals!" We listened to the Sophias driven by the Spectrals, then again by the $650 Parasound, the two Nagra PL-Ls being used to match levels exactly. Yes, the Spectrals did sound better, with more focused, more palpable soundstaging and another half-octave of bass extension, but the little Parasound was not nearly as far behind as you´d expect from the difference in price. Which, of course, was the point of the demonstration. As explained by new Stereophile writer Paul Bolin in his CES report in this issue (p.65), David Wilson wanted to make the points that the loudspeaker is still the component that makes the single biggest difference in a system´s sound, and that first-rate speakers will still sound great driven by modest electronics—so if you´ve been put off from acquiring a pair of, say, Wilson speakers because you can´t afford to upgrade your amplifier at the same time, it´s okay to use your current amplifier until next year´s tax refund arrives.
