DESCRIPTION :

Dave Wilson once observed that, when the original Sophia was launched in 2001, it was inevitably
described in the audio press as Wilson Audio's "entry-level" floor-standing loudspeaker. While Sophia remains
Wilson's most affordable floorstander, focusing on price obscures an important fact—which was that price was
incidental to Sophia's actual design objective. What Dave and the Wilson design team set out to create was a
loudspeaker that—unlike its siblings at the time, X-1 GrandSLAMM and WATT/ Puppy— was less demanding of rooms
and electronics. Sophia was designed to be a product easy to drive, easy to own, and one that invited its owner
to just relax into the enjoyment of music.



Nevertheless, Sophia's true magic is that a speaker designed to sound so good with modest
electronics will still reveal the nuance and detail of state-of-the-art gear. Impressive sales aside, it is
Sophia "cult status" among audiophiles which speaks to the success of the original vision. It is not uncommon
for Wilson customers who could easily afford the company's more expensive loudspeakers to choose Sophia—just
because they love the sound.
Since Sophia Series 2 was introduced, Wilson
Audio has made vast improvements in driver technology. The tweeter
developed for MAXX Series 3 and subsequently used in Sasha W/P features
a new topology that reduces the back-wave reflections which otherwise
propagate through the diaphragm, adding noise and distortion to the
primary signal. By significantly reducing this source of distortion,
the highs have more dynamics, air, and resolution -- free of the grain
nearly all other tweeters exhibit. This tweeter is now part of Sophia
Series 3.


The proprietary Wilson midrange driver,which
transformed the sound of Alexandria X2 Series 2, and was subsequently
deployed in MAXX and Sasha now, in a simplified version, finds a home
in Sophia. No single driver is more responsible for the tonal accuracy
and beauty of the Wilson Audio sound.


The Sophia woofer, which debuted in the Series 1,
has undergone major modifications. The Sophia Series 3 woofer features
a magnet structure twice the size of its predecessor. While maintaining
the tunefulness of the original design, the overall impact, speed,
agility, and linearity of the bass is significantly enhanced in the new
loudspeaker.
The crossover that links these drivers has been completely reworked,
and the user-changeable resistors. which formerly were located on the
bottom of the enclosure, now move to an easily accessed panel on the
rear of Sophia.


The design of the crossover itself benefited
from Wilson Audio's proprietary software program which powerfully aids
in the design of the loudspeaker by virtually modeling the enclosure,
the drivers, and the component values of the crossover circuitry. As
detailed in the Building a New Loudspeaker Movie,
this provides the starting point for extensive listening trials, which
first take place in Dave Wilson's "loudspeaker bootcamp" room, which
can be modified by opening and closing Hemholtz resonators to create a
variety of room characteristics. This room, which was first used in the
development of the original Sophia, can be credited for the
loudspeaker's congenial and flexible character. It's like the "Broadway
Stage Rule": once you've made it here, you can make it anywhere.