From Wilson Watt Puppy 5.1 to ?


I have and love my Wilson Watt Puppy 5.1 speakers. I have been considering replacing them and have listened to several other speakers, even bought some, but have not found anything that I like better - yet!

FWIW: room is about 12-13 X 18 with a single slant cathedral ceiling - 12 going down to about 8.5 feet.
Amp = Krell FPB 300-C
Preamp = Jeff Rowland Capri
Sources = Esoteric X-03SE or Slim Devices Duet into a DCS Delius

Seeking:
Decent bottom end extension 30-38 preferred at a minimum (though I do have an available Rel Storm III sub).
Accurate but not bright (I my Wilson's are not bright)
Smooth but not soft
Timbral accuracy is very important
Excellent soundstaging is a must (width, depth, focus & height)
Placement flexibility is important (the face of the speakers cannot be more than approximate 54" into the room from the back wall).
I sit in a quassi nearfield setting, only about 6-7 feet from the speakers.

The pros/cons to me for the W/P are:
Excellent, clean extension in the upper frequency range
Very resolving with lots of energy and excitement in the music
Suitable base extension for my room. A little more extension would be fine, but not if it begins to over power, loose tightness (vs. the W/P) or becomes too single note sounding.
Sound staging is pretty good with the W/P, but I would mind seeing some improvement in this area, especially in terms of depth and a bit more air
While I find the W/P pretty consistent across the spectrum, I do notice some areas that are pronounced and also some inconsistencies or areas where the different drivers could blend a little bit better. I guess what I am saying is that I would like to improve a little bit on integration between the various drivers. While this integration is no where near as pronounced as say a Martin Logan cone woofer to panel integration, I still notice it with certain instruments that can play with wide frequency ranges.
I don't listen to music all that loudly, so a speaker that will perform very well at moderate listening levels is a must. A speaker that must be played quite loud for it to "come to life" is completely unacceptable to me.

Like I said, I have listened already to a couple of speakers and have so far not found anything I like better. I would prefer to buy used for financial reasons. I don't necessarily believe that only $20K plus speakers are necessary for comparison and I don't want a speaker that excels in only one area at the expense of other important performance requirements.

Any well thought out suggestions are welcome. Don't bother wasting my time telling me that Wilson's suck, as I have owned many brands of speakers and listened to many others and so far, have not found something that I like more. For reference, I cannot afford the higher priced Wilson speakers and I definately prefer the W/P's over the Sophia's for my tastes. I have listened to the 7s and while there may be some improvements over the 5.1s, I don't find that glaring, immediately apparent, or to the value of selling the 5.1s to get the 7s.
ckoffend
I had WP 6's & traded up to SF Amati's.
Took me all of 2 hours of listening to know that I made the right decision.
You seem to have enough power & room for them.
You'll give up a little bottom end, but you'll be rewarded in spades with mids & highs.
Fit & finish is second to none.
Liked the SF line so much - I moved up to the Strad's & couldn'd be happier.
Trust me - There is life after Wilson audio.
Stick with what you have, you're happy - many here are not. If you feel the need to spend some money, have an acoustician come in and setup your room. That'll make a huge improvement in your system's sound quality...

-RW-
RW - great suggestion! I have found acoustic room treatment to offer some of the best bang for the buck in improving the sound of my system.
I agree with RW, it is hard enough to find the speakers you love, you have, so enjoy them. Acoustic treatment will improve your system more then you can imagine and you will fall even more in love with your speakers.
RMAF is a month away if you can make it you may find something special. What I recommend may not be your cup of tea but in your situation a potent small speaker may be best.

Blessings, Bob
Gentlemen, thanks for the suggestions to sit pat and consider myself lucky that I have speakers that I actually love. Of course this is an option, but the purpose of the thread is to garner recommendations for other speakers to audition which I may prefer over these.

So, bring on the recommendations - along with the reasoning/rationale. My room is pretty good, could probably be a bit better, but thought has gone into the accoustics. For critical listening, all the drapes are closed which soften about 60% of the wall space (in fairly proper areas). I have some accoustical treatments in corners and on the back wall and a rug between the speakers and listening position (soft/absorbant couch).
I suggest keeping your WP 5.1s and getting a room correction device to tighten up the bass. I have a friend who has WP 6s and I'll ask him the name of the device he had. I heard the speakers with and without it and the bass was definitely tighter and cleaner with it. When he turned it off, it was easy to hear the bass loosen up. The rest of the audio frequency range was unaffected by the device. He was using a huge Mark Levinson amp and an excellent dcs CD player. - Steve
I have never felt the bass on the 5.1s to be loose. In fact, I had a friend over today who has the 7s and while he feel that the 7s have a bit more bass, that on the 5.1 is very well controlled and tight - he felt possibly tighter than with his 7s, but we did agree the Krell (mine) vs. his MacIntosh may have been the difference in the bass tightness/control. Though he felt/feels his goes deeper.
I was in the same boat as you, tried SF,Kharma,Eggleston,Apogee,B&W, ...... kept coming back to Wilson.Currently moving from WP7 to maxx2.
Didnt find magic or connection with any other speakers but Wilson.Learned the hard way but eventually going to stick with Wilsons.
How about Sophias? They're a good match for your room size, and the buzz seems to be that they are more integrated sonically top to bottom than the Watt/Puppies. They're at least worth a try.

I'm also partial to Sonus Faber. And Mirage.
Because the sound comes from the speakers, many start questioning that component first. You might think of really good power cords...you won't believe the improvement you can get with them. If you are really hot for speakers however, check out the Vandersteen 5A's. They are very easy on amps because they have their own built in bass amps already, and they are custom equalized for your room as part of the dealer setup.
Apogee Diva >Tannoy Westminster >ProAc Response 4 >ML Prodigy >MG20.1 >Stradivari >Magico MiniII

Hi Ckoffend,
Having lived for at least 1-2yrs with each of the models above, I must say that they're all wonderful speakers in their own rights. A couple of months back, the dealer friend who sold me my Strads 2yrs ago, loan me the MiniIIs for the weekend. Was initially quite reluctant and a little skeptical of all the hypes hovering around this overpriced Minis. But Hey, what the hell thought I--it's a free no obligation trial!!

As likable as my beloved Strads were, they just weren't on par against the MiniIIs in most keys and musically important areas. (Had a similar shoot-out vs the original Minis 2yrs ago, although showing potentials, I can't bear their upper mid glare and lack of bass foundations on most materials for the music to be believable enough for me, thus preferred and bought the Strads).

Having always been impressed with the Wilson's house sound, but somehow never loved them enough to live with one (their up and coming Maxx3 perhaps??), prior to my finalizing the Minis, me and some phile friends (one a happy Maxx2 owner), made it a point to audition other competing makes as well, including the Sophia2s and WP8s. Also happen during that particular time the Wilson dealer had a 2nd hand pair of Maxx2 in as new condition, selling for US$25k on hand (which tempted me quite a bit actually--more speakers for the money?).

Anyway, finally here I am ended up with the smallest, but in my and fellow phile's opinions, producer of the biggest musical enjoyment throughout our whole audition period! Seriously, you owe it to yourself to give a 'properly driven' set of Magico MiniIIs a serious listen. As I see that your priorities sonically are also a good match up to the Minis' strengths. Good luck in your search!
Oops..sorry, before I confused anyone, the first line of my previous post was not list of suggestions, rather some of my evolvement in loudspeakers over the past 25 or so years as a music lover. Cheers..