Rocky Mt 2007: We Throw Tricks at Wilson Sophia 2s
October 18th, 2007 — By The Absolute Sound
By Jonathan Valin
I learned another lesson about preconceptions in The Audio Alternative room.
I’d come to hear the new ARC Reference 110 stereo amplifier (soon to be reviewed by our Robert Harley).
There is already quite a buzz going about this amp and I was eager to audition it; the trouble was that I thought I’d have to wade through the thickets of the Wilson Sophia 2s to get my chance.
Well, guess what? The Sophia 2s sounded great!
The whole system sounded great, and I threw any number of tricky tracks at it, including a cut of a bass-baritone that made many a speaker at RMAF sound as if it had a pronounced “cupped-hands” coloration.
Not here—just tremendous weight and body, and some of the finest inner detail I heard in Denver.
It just goes to show you—yet again—that a stereo isn’t a collection of individual components; it’s a system. It also showed me that, in the right context, the Sophia 2 is an excellent transducer. Read more Hi-Fi News from Rocky Mountain Audiofest here.
is the Ref 110 the amp referred to in the Apogee post?
Comment by Tom October 23rd, 2007 @ 8:43 pmApogee was using ARC’s hybrid amp, the HD220. From the front they look virtually identical, and the chassis are the same size.
Comment by Gordo October 29th, 2007 @ 10:14 am