When I had Triton Ones I found high damping factor ss amps sounded much better than tubes. Might be something to try. Can buy a descent old Adcom or the like for 500 bucks and give it a try. Never heard the WP7s.
GoldenEar One.R vs. Wilson Watt Puppy 7s
Greetings!
I currently have a pair of GoldenEar One.R speakers, which I am very happy with.
They are fed by a PrimaLuna EVO 400 tube preamp and a McIntosh MC312 solid-state amplifier.
As the source I mainly play vinyl records, using a Rega P10 with an Apheta 3 cartridge, and listening mostly to classic rock, 80s rock, and jazz. (No e.g., metal or classical music, if that’s a useful input to my question below.)
For quite some time I’ve been interested and quite fascinated with Wilson Audio’s WATT Puppy speakers and their evolution over time, From the early times before the Puppy even existed and it was only the Tiny Tot to their current offering.
(All current Wilson Audio speakers are wildly out of my budget.)
I now have an opportunity to purchase a pair of Watt Puppy 7s (which from what I understand many consider better than the Watt Puppy 8s) from the latter half of the 90s, in what appears to be in great shape.
It would be wonderful if there are members in this forum who have experience with both and can help me understand what I possibly could expect from the WP7s, in all aspects of sound quality, range, sound field, and sweet spot - generally but also ideally in relation to the GoldenEars I am familiar with.
Thank you!
10 responses Add your response
@mofojo Thanks, but I am already using an ss amp, the Mac MC312, feeding the speakers. And I am comfortable with the PrimaLuna + Mac 312 + GoldenEar One.R combo. For me, it's about exploring what I may get and the difference between that and a PrimaLuna + Mac 312 + WP7 combo, when it comes to the speakers' different characteristics. |
keep your golden ears the wp 7 is an old design at this point and will not really outperform the tritons if you want to upgrade look at kef reference 3s or legacy signatures we were a golden ear dealer and both of those loudspeakers were even Better.
Dave and Troy audio intellect NJ former golden Ear dealer kef and Legacy dealer |
I owned the Wilson Watt Puppy 7s. They are fine but not great and certainly not an end game speaker. I preferred either my Tekton Moabs or my Magnepan 3.7s. And I much prefer my current Magnepan 20.7s to either of those two speakers. You can do better than the Watt Puppy 7s but I've never heard the Golden Ear speakers so can't comment on them. |
Wilson audio has a robust trade up program. I suggest that you go to a dealer and audition a pair of used 7's. The dealer will negotiate on the advertised price. The price will include delivery and setup. Also some dealers will deliver outside of their geographic area. (I am not a dealer nor associated with a dealership). The Watt / Puppy 7 was manufactured from 2002 to 2006. I owned my pair for 20 years. I agree that there are current speaker models that I enjoy more than the 7's.
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@audiotroy thanks - appreciate your take. (Bummer, I had hoped for more lauds for the legendary Watt Puppies.) You mention the KEF Ref 3s… What is your opinion of the KEF 205/2s? |
@welcher I appreciate your response. I appreciate your response. If you don’t mind me asking, what newer speakers (that doesn’t mean brand new or just coming out but some thing in the generation or two after the WP7s) do you prefer and think perform better than the WATT Puppies? |
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If you always wanted a Wilson Watt/Puppy, then get one. Whether there are better loudspeakers is a non-issue. There were better loudspeakers available when the Wilson 7s were current production and there are even many more now. Still, the Wilson is a good, high quality transducer capable of excellent sonic performance. I don't know for a fact, but I imagine they are to be had fairly cheap for what they are. If you are looking the max out your sonic performance with the best available, then the Wilson 7s are not for you. But if you only want high quality performance with an excellent pride of ownership factor, then give it a go. |