Stereophile review of the new Wilson Watt/Puppy

I have been in the HiFi industry professionally for the past 35 years as a dealer, manufacturer and enthusiast.  That being said...I have a few confessions to make:

#1.  The new Wilson Watt/ Puppy speakers do sound great with rock/ alternative.  Kick drums sound amazing!  

#2  You really can never trust reviews.  I worked for a MAJOR manufacturer (Harman) and we give stuff away to reviewers for FREE.  Not discounted 50%- 100% FREE.  When a reviewer says that they are on LOAN...that means permanent loan.  For Harman products (Revel, Levinson, etc), we would make them sign a document that they would not sell the products for at least 1 year.  That is why there are so many listings for hardware on Audiogon in the first place.  They are all us...LOL.  It is a way of "paying" someone for a good review.  The money they keep when they sell it is theirs.  If they want to keep the products, they can.  This is why magazine reviewers can "afford" such amazing equipment for their homes, when you know that the publishers pay them next to nothing.

#3.  Most of this is really pretty subjective.  I have spent my life designing the most expensive systems, but everyone hears differently.  Some people prefer imaging, soundstage, details.  Others think it should sound like a live performance.  In reality, a speakers job is to be a microphone in reverse.  Play/ sound like the instruments, vocalist, and room it was recorded in.  At the end of the day, the sound "should" sound exactly how the recording engineer/ mastering engineer wanted it to.  Also...they mixed the audio on custom mixing boards.  The mastering engineer played back the audio on custom speakers, PMC, Genelec or Focal.  All of them active monitors, so unless you are using these, you will never hear what it was meant to sound like by the mastering engineer.

Just thought I would pull back the veil a bit....

Magazines are paid to review audio components.  What do you expect them to say?  Even they don't like the sound, they won't say anything negative to hurt their business. Always take it with a grain of salt.  I read it just to know what is out there. I have to try it in my own system to confirm it.  This hobby is extremely subjective.

However, after all of that, he concludes that they are better for jazz and orchestral and perhaps a bit reticent for pop and rock. This made no sense to me, especially for a $40.000 speaker. I am curious about the opinions of anyone else who has read the review. 

Anybody who know basic acoustics know that a good sound from a speakers/room coupling is good for anything.... I never read Audio review because i dont buy and even if i was in the need to buy your impressions said it all ... I will have the same reaction as you : absurd reviewing explained  by the marketing tasks...

I just got back a few hours ago from reviewing the Wilson Sabrina X, Watt Puppy, and B&W 803 D4. Music was streamed through a DCS DAC from a Roon Core. The 70-watt untralinear integrated tube amp was an Octave V70 SE. For kicks, I brought my wife along mainly to comment on the aesthetics, but she has a surprisingly good ear.

The verdict? First up was the Watt Puppy. Spooky amazing sound. My wife immediately loved it. Keep in mind, she has no idea about specs or pricing. She thought they looked industrial, but she could live with them. Next up was the Sabrina X. I thought they sounded fine, but my wife said they sounded horrible and not even better than my 25-year-old B&W Nautilus 804s.

Lastly, we listened to the B&W 803 D4s. These sounded surprisingly good. More presence than the Watt Puppies, more articulate high frequencies with no fatiguing, ear-piercing, or annoying sibilance whatsoever. The base was comparable to the Watt Puppies, with maybe a slight edge in overall presence. Soundstaging between the two speakers was equivalent, with the Watt Puppies slightly gaining overall realism/transparency. I’m splitting hairs here. But the selling point for me was the male vocals. The Watt Puppies sounded ever so slightly etched, or what some call clinical. The B&Ws shone in this area. Mid frequencies were full and articulate, not warm, but certainly not dry. Switching back and forth to the Watt Puppies, it became even more apparent that the B&Ws provided a more pleasing sound overall.

I could easily live with the Watt Puppies, and I have been dreaming of owning a pair for over thirty years now, but B&W edges out, especially considering the price difference. The build quality on the B&Ws is superb. There aren’t even speaker bolts showing on the front. The magnetic grills are beautiful, and the wood veneer gives them a nice living room finish. I’m torn, but my wife is convinced that the B&Ws are the better-sounding and far more attractive speakers. Thirty-five happy years of a fantastic marriage, I think I’ll keep her happy with the B&Ws. :)