Article: Review - The WATT/Puppy from Wilson Audio

1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Hi Tascam, have you seen the anechoic measurements of these speakers? In addition, what does a frequency sweep of the room look like at the listening position? 

I don't go by that. Who cares. It's what it sounds like connected to top notch components

2 minutes ago, Tascam said:

I'm aware of that, but I was making a point to describe what I heard in person at the dealer. It's the same overblown boomy bass

Honest question: Do you really think the speaker was designed with overblown boomy bass, and the room wasn’t responsible for it? 
 

Boomy bass is a classic room issue. 

3 minutes ago, Tascam said:

I don't go by that. Who cares. It's what it sounds like connected to top notch components

The reason I ask about in room sweeps is that the room is a huge instrument. You aren’t hearing the speaker, you’re hearing its interaction with the room. 

1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Honest question: Do you really think the speaker was designed with overblown boomy bass, and the room wasn’t responsible for it? 
 

Boomy bass is a classic room issue. 

This dealer is an expert on Wilson speakers. The room has plenty of treatments.  I think the speaker was designed this way to impress certain listeners with “powerful” bass in a small package. I had the same issue on my Wilson Sophia’s 20 years ago in a completely different room. If you want to spend $38k plus on an inaccurate speaker, be my guest. I mentioned earlier that the midrange and treble sounds great on these speakers. Unfortunately, the bass response makes it sound like a jukebox. 

1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

The reason I ask about in room sweeps is that the room is a huge instrument. You aren’t hearing the speaker, you’re hearing its interaction with the room. 

I’ve heard other speakerS in this room that sound great. Even the Sasha V was better in this room. The problem is the design of the bass cabinets. I’m beginning to think Wilson has no idea what live music sounds like in the bass region

Thanks for the music links, Chris. 

3 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

 

Did you sign up just to say this?

Absolutely not. Why does the truth hurt? Why do we have to lie when we hear bad sound? Wilson is a marketing company and they do nice paint work. At this price I expect the sound to be perfectly balanced and it’s not. Note that I never said they look like trash receptacles, but they do.

1 hour ago, Tascam said:

Absolutely not. Why does the truth hurt? Why do we have to lie when we hear bad sound? Wilson is a marketing company and they do nice paint work. At this price I expect the sound to be perfectly balanced and it’s not. Note that I never said they look like trash receptacles, but they do.

Truth? Not your opinion?

I also strongly doubt anyone is lying about the quality of the sound they hear from the Wilson Watt/Puppy speakers. Saying someone is lying implies they have an intent to deceive. That is not the same as sharing their opinion, even if it differs from your own.

These look like beautiful speakers.  Reading some of the comments above reminds me about the various factors involved in an emotionally moving experience.  This weekend I had a private demo of a $280K system and was thoroughly disappointed.  My own system 'in my room with my speakers' and with the various knowledge I've learned from this and other forums gave me a much better sound 'to my ears.'  Granted I've been adjusting and tuning my system for 5 years little by little.

It is very difficult to listen to speakers and look for the 'potential' they have.  We have to get a feel for them during the demo and determine whether or not with enough work and tuning and matching they would shine in our own personal setup.  Did the system I listened to sound bad to me this past weekend?  Sure, but do the speakers suck?  No.  I'm certain that with the proper room and positioning and matching they can shine and destroy my current setup without breaking a sweat.  Same with these Wilsons.  Speakers at this level are like good sports cars.  At a certain level they are all 'good' and it comes down to knowing how to really drive them.  Boomy bloated bass on the Wilsons?  That is certainly a room issue unless they are using 1980's jukebox drivers which they aren't.  

28 minutes ago, WuBai said:

These look like beautiful speakers.  Reading some of the comments above reminds me about the various factors involved in an emotionally moving experience.  This weekend I had a private demo of a $280K system and was thoroughly disappointed.  My own system 'in my room with my speakers' and with the various knowledge I've learned from this and other forums gave me a much better sound 'to my ears.'  Granted I've been adjusting and tuning my system for 5 years little by little.

 

It is very difficult to listen to speakers and look for the 'potential' they have.  We have to get a feel for them during the demo and determine whether or not with enough work and tuning and matching they would shine in our own personal setup.  Did the system I listened to sound bad to me this past weekend?  Sure, but do the speakers suck?  No.  I'm certain that with the proper room and positioning and matching they can shine and destroy my current setup without breaking a sweat.  Same with these Wilsons.  Speakers at this level are like good sports cars.  At a certain level they are all 'good' and it comes down to knowing how to really drive them.  Boomy bloated bass on the Wilsons?  That is certainly a room issue unless they are using 1980's jukebox drivers which they aren't.  

100% right on. 

Thanks as always Chris for compelling reviews and track suggestions.  You've had me on a "Life, at the Village Vanguard" bender for way, way too long! 

These observations, opinions rang a bell with me.  

Back in the mid 1990s, was looking to upgrade from Vandersteen 2s.  Local shop had Wilson, Mark Levinson, early Ayre products I believe, Classe and Aerial speakers.  I aspired to the Watt/Puppies; as a musician they seemed like studio grade monitors on steroids with the bass unit.  Listened to them many times with various types of music and quality recordings...pop, classic rock, jazz, acoustic guitar.  After lots of listening, decided they sounded like music on caffeine...exciting at first, but hyped and unnatural over a longer term, even with SOTA amps and hyper expensive cables like MIT and Transparent that cost 30% of the speakers that some claimed were a must with these speakers.  Ended my quest with Aerial 10Ts, that I am looking at as I type and listed to earlier today.  They were/are much more musical and accurate than what I thought I would buy.

Have listened to more recent Wilson speakers like the Sophias, Sashas, Sabrinas and even the huge robot looking multi unit ones and found them to have been significantly decaffeinated, much more natural meds and highs.  Guessing that the Puppies bass may overload some rooms, which is a common challenge in all audio.  

Went to my first audio show last year, it was in Tampa about a mile from my home.  Spent an afternoon listening to speakers of all types.  The ones that grabbed me by the ears were made by Joseph Audio, even their small monitors filled the room with accurate renditions of voices, horns and percussion...whatever Graphene is, it seemed to make speakers sound real.

As has gone much of retail, the local Wilson dealer closed his shop a few years ago.  So only way to hear them will be on a trip.  Getting older as are my ears, so perhaps I should just stick with the 10Ts until they fart out.

Ok, fine... I'll audition some Wilson speakers...

edit: regarding the Stanley Cup finals, I was rooting for the Oilers after their 3 game comeback streak.

On 6/30/2024 at 7:42 PM, pga said:

I remember when I bought one of the first few WATT Tiny Tot from Peter McGrath, back when he owned Sound Components.  Sold my Quad 63s for these.  This may have been the speaker that ended the planar speaker preference as it had combined the detailed midrange of the Quads with much greater dynamics and high end extension.  Back then they sat on top of Entec subs, prior to the Puppy.  

Right, Puppies were initially add-ons, and were finished with laminate and velcro for the covers, though I liked the swappable "Puppy tails".  My only issue then was the coupling device, bituminous discs, which adhered to the Puppy tops, and had to be perfectly level or the heavy WATT would slowly drag them towards level (on my then out-of-level second story floor).  Also, if you had a fan in the room, the velcro backing would dry out and disintegrate (which my buyer told me about later).  Just some fun, early trivia long since rectified.

21 hours ago, Darryl R said:

 

Right, Puppies were initially add-ons, and were finished with laminate and velcro for the covers, though I liked the swappable "Puppy tails".  My only issue then was the coupling device, bituminous discs, which adhered to the Puppy tops, and had to be perfectly level or the heavy WATT would slowly drag them towards level (on my then out-of-level second story floor).  Also, if you had a fan in the room, the velcro backing would dry out and disintegrate (which my buyer told me about later).  Just some fun, early trivia long since rectified.

At some point my dealer reached out to Wilson and ordered replacement bituminous discs and the wet suit rubber like driver surrounds adhered to the front face of both the WATT and Puppies.

It was nasty work removing the old material.

Nevertheless, it was worth the effort as 10+ years later, there is no disintegration or sliding.

On 7/9/2024 at 8:24 AM, lmitche said:

It was nasty work removing the old material.

The best way I found to remove any residual adhesive material which is still tacky, without scratching the underlying surface, is too wrap a piece of scotch tape around a few fingers and repetitively press and pull the tape on the residue, replacing the tape as needed.  Eventually the residue will adhere to the tape and pull away, and you won't add scratches.

2 hours ago, Darryl R said:

The best way I found to remove any residual adhesive material which is still tacky, without scratching the underlying surface, is too wrap a piece of scotch tape around a few fingers and repetitively press and pull the tape on the residue, replacing the tape as needed.  Eventually the residue will adhere to the tape and pull away, and you won't add scratches.

Alcohol works pretty well.

In booked demo at 2024 UK Hi-Fi Show Live at Ascot, just heard - according to Peter McGrath in person - first UK play of Watt Puppy in current incarnation. dCS Vivaldi front end. D'Agostini amps m400 3rd iteration (D'Agostini upgrade all internals returned in your original chassis) + Momentum C2 pre also 3rd iteration. btw dCS, Wilson, D'Agostini, Transparent share  70% common distribution - wonder how much of this synergy is reputation and how much empirical - probably both. Played piano (convincing), bass voice (amazing tones), tympani and ... I am a June Tabor devotee and have never heard her voice like that - very persuaded I am! Speakers especially impressive with striking build quality. A lot of sound "volume" for their size. I'm curious now how they would perform on my own DIY front end and Linn Klimax power amps. Suspect they love more ready power than I can provide atm.