Classe and Wilson

[TYE]

I wanted to get impressions from anyone that was running Classe gear with Wilson speakers. I am considering going with a Wilson Watch Center, Watch Surrounds, and Sophia mains, so wanted to see if anyone has this setup and their impressions on it from both a HT as well as Audio setup.

I currently have a CA-5100, SSP 300, and CDP 300. I know Ill eventually need to upgrade to get full potential out of the Wilsons.

[Audiophiliac]

Our main demo room has a full Classe/Wilson setup and it sound great! We are running a 5200 and a 2200 and we have the ability to connect monoblocks up front near the MAXX 2 if we want. Sounds awesome!! You would not be disappointed. I think you might could get away with 100W on the Sophia....but more is always better.

We recently replaced the passive Watchdog sub which was powered by a CAM400 with a JL Gotham. MUCH better.

[TYE]

Thanks for the input. Ive heard the JL sub, its pretty amazing.

How is the watch center and surrounds when watching movies, I havent got a chance to check those out yet.

[Glen B]

Forum member Classe4me has Classé driving Wilson speakers.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showpost.php4?p=417251&postcount=160

[Classe4me]

Classe and Wilson Audio=Synergy

I wanted to get impressions from anyone that was running Classe gear with Wilson speakers. I am considering going with a Wilson Watch Center, Watch Surrounds, and Sophia mains, so wanted to see if anyone has this setup and their impressions on it from both a HT as well as Audio setup.

I currently have a CA-5100, SSP 300, and CDP 300. I know Ill eventually need to upgrade to get full potential out of the Wilsons.

TYE, I am running Wilson Audio Sophia 2s, WATCH center (1st generation) until tomorrow when I receive my WATCH 2 center, B & W in-walls for my surrounds, and a Definitive Technology SuperCube II subwoofer.

I am powering my system with a CA-5200 amp that with the Wilson 4 ohm speakers is capable of 370 watts per channel. My pre-pro is the Classe SSP-600 surround sound processor running balanced ICs, with a Classe CDP-300 DVD/CD player.

I am extremely thrilled with my system from both of the audio and video standpoint.

I started out with the Sophia 2s from the beginning when I decided to go with a higher end system. I had originally purchased Rotel to power my speakers and when the dealer came to set up and voice them they used a big Lexicon RV-8. They knew what they were doing because the Lexicon versus the Rotel was like comparing a Bose Acoustic Wave to an AM transistor radio with those speakers. I was blown away.

Only one problem, the Lexicon was NOT Classe! I had decided from the get go that I wanted Classe but didn't want to spend the money all at once. I got the source player first, then came the pre-pro, which then put me in a position to where I had to buy an amp. I chose the CA-5100 because I couldn't justify the additional money and was intimidated by the sheer size of the CA-5200. The CA-5100 was great, but I had an incident to happen twice that bugged me. On the DVD Master and Commander I experienced clipping twice. The amp went into protection mode. That made me make a last minute decision to take advantage of my dealer's trade-up policy and move up to the big boy.

I fully expected the only difference would be the fact that I would not experience the clipping but much to my amazement and surprise, it was as though somebody pulled a fast one on me and hid a massive subwoofer in my room without me knowing about it.

The bass response that the larger amp gave the Sophias was astonishing to me. It just seemed to be more responsive and articulate when really pushing it hard on some action packed DVDs.

I probably listen at a higher volume level than most people, and even though the Wilsons seem to be quite efficient and responsive compared to other speakers, I know that 4 ohm speakers require more power than 8 ohm speakers.

One thing I can assure you of, if you have Wilson Audio Sophias and a WATCH center across the front, and you have any of the Delta series components, you will be very, very pleased. When the time comes to upgrade, it will only serve to put an even larger smile on your face.

I can only imagine what a set of WATT/Puppies with CA-M400 monoblocks would sound like!

I plan to comment on the difference between the WATCH 1 and the WATCH 2 center in the next few days.

Suffice it to say, I am very excited about getting those big wooden crates tomorrow!

I hope this helps to answer your question.

Tom

[DM3000 Owner]

They knew what they were doing because the Lexicon versus the Rotel was like comparing a Bose Acoustic Wave to an AM transistor radio with those speakers. I was blown away.

So you mean that there was no difference? :twisted: