Best amp/preamp combo for Wilson Watt puppy 5.1


Any thoughts or experiences with great amp/preamp combos to drive Wilson Watt Puppy 5.1 Thanks for your time Tom
tmoore
Sdatch, do you know what is the impedance of the midrange drive in Watt/pupys? I got to change a midrange drive, and I know Wilson uses Skan Speak 8545 drive. I ordered one from Madisound because they sell it for $145 a 1/2 Wilson's price(of course Wilson claims that they modified drive, but I didn't believe them). Now you just confused me with that impedance because Scan Speak 8545 rated at 8ohms and I'm thinking that may be they indeed modify that drive.
Dvavc - Wilson doesn't modify the Scans ... they are build to their specs at SS factory, in Videabek, Danemark.

Having been in Scan Speak factory and having spoken with their head engineer - Mr. Lars Goller - I can tell you that most of the manufacturers order the drive units to their specs, so chances that Wilson uses the standard 8545 are minimal. 4 Ohms voice coil is only one of many mods you can order. Wilson probably also orders a shorter voice coil for higher sensivity too.

I have had a pair of 8545 mid woofers made by Lars for my car - they were 91dB and 4 Ohm.
I am currently using Levinson 334 amp driven by Levinson 390s Cd/Preamp with Watt/Puppy 6's, but I had the 5.1's before. Both combinations sounded great to me. I tried a BAT VK-75 tube amp and found the general flavor of the sound to be the same but less dynamic so I didn't keep it in. I tried the Rowland Model 12's and while there were several aspects to the sound that I liked there was a harsh glare--perhaps attributable to the Rowland's extended high end bringing out problems with the Wilson speakers' tweeters--that I couldn't live with.
C.A.T. amp and preamp

I'm using the Convergent Audio Technology JL-2 power amp and SL-1 Mk3 premp with my Wilsons and find the combination to be outstanding, powerful, detailed, wide soundstage, low noisefloor. I imagine the JL-2 (or new JL-3 monos) with the C.A.T. Ultimate I or II or upcoming Legend preamp would be even better.