I thought the review was artfully written.
Obviously, the reviewer wanted to laud the speaker while reserving the highest praise for Wilson's higher priced (presumably better?) systems, as well as for the inevitable W/P 9s, 10s, 11s, etc. yet to come.
Spending time laying out the W/P's history helps put its strengths and weaknesses in understandable perspective. To my reading, its strength has always been the tweeter and the WATT enclosure, which together provide the heightened detail that Dave Wilson apparently found lacking in other monitors.
After the tweeter, everything else was a catchup. The 7 inch midrange is as big as some woofers used in other monitor speakers and may have at one time supported the hope that the WATT could be almost a full range monitor. I am impressed that it has held up as a credible midrange driver.
As the review points out, the Puppy's have long lagged the effectiveness of the tweeters, and their flaws still persist, perhaps providing rationale for future W/P generations.
Incrementally, it appears that the key differences in the W/P8 are (1) the tweeter is toned down somewhat, to sound not as hot, but without losing detail (?), and (2) the Puppy is slightly improved but still imperfect. As a result, it sounds like the speaker is more balanced.
I am much encouraged by Jfrech's comment that the speaker is indeed much improved, and I am looking forward to reading his further impressions. I like my W/P6s for their high end detail and bass prominence (as Shadorne so aptly highlighted), but they are getting long in the tooth. Maybe its time to move up.
Obviously, the reviewer wanted to laud the speaker while reserving the highest praise for Wilson's higher priced (presumably better?) systems, as well as for the inevitable W/P 9s, 10s, 11s, etc. yet to come.
Spending time laying out the W/P's history helps put its strengths and weaknesses in understandable perspective. To my reading, its strength has always been the tweeter and the WATT enclosure, which together provide the heightened detail that Dave Wilson apparently found lacking in other monitors.
After the tweeter, everything else was a catchup. The 7 inch midrange is as big as some woofers used in other monitor speakers and may have at one time supported the hope that the WATT could be almost a full range monitor. I am impressed that it has held up as a credible midrange driver.
As the review points out, the Puppy's have long lagged the effectiveness of the tweeters, and their flaws still persist, perhaps providing rationale for future W/P generations.
Incrementally, it appears that the key differences in the W/P8 are (1) the tweeter is toned down somewhat, to sound not as hot, but without losing detail (?), and (2) the Puppy is slightly improved but still imperfect. As a result, it sounds like the speaker is more balanced.
I am much encouraged by Jfrech's comment that the speaker is indeed much improved, and I am looking forward to reading his further impressions. I like my W/P6s for their high end detail and bass prominence (as Shadorne so aptly highlighted), but they are getting long in the tooth. Maybe its time to move up.