Stereophile review of the new Wilson Watt/Puppy

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. :)

@eteitelman The B&W's are very nice speakers.  If you are using the Octave amp then it sounds like they are a nice match.  I am not sure the Wilson's are achieving their best performance with a 70W at 4 ohm tube amp even though it says 25W min on the specs.  If you aren't using the Octave, then you may want to listen to each of them with your amp.

Just uncrated them yesterday 

Early listening yielded a clear tight sound with fast transients- and should only approve with time. Still on castors and just guesstimated placement. Plus It’s a new,  bigger room than I had and needs treatment which I’m currently installing

But so far just great with all forms of music- chamber music to techno 

Ah. All the love here makes me miss my  WATT/Puppies, which I first got in 1986. What a love affair! I saw them through three generations, and then we parted company, but they will always be one of my audio Loves.

First, I think they look like trash receptacles. I owned a pair of Wilson, Sophia‘s back in 2004 and I never kept a component such a short period of time before I sold it. I listened to the new watt puppies last year and I thought they were very boomy sounding at the dealer. We tried repositioning and moving every other speaker out of the way. They still had that midbass hump that Wilson‘s are famous for. I thought the mid range was OK on vocals, but nothing spectacular. It was actually a little bit clinical sounding. The high frequencies were somewhat improved and not as harsh as previous designs. The imaging was very good. In the end, I bought a pair of Focal maestro utopia Evo speakers. Of course these speakers are much more expensive.
On the other hand, Wilson does an excellent job of finishing their products and their quality control is very good. They are also accessible when you need something. Dealing with a French company is an absolute nightmare, and I don’t recommend it so even though I like my speakers, 

Wilson is basically a cabinet company. They buy off the shelf drivers and a crossover.  They ‘make’ the resisters in house, whatever that means. They even used Focal drivers at one time. I find most Wilson speakers very fatiguing to listen to over a long period of time. I don’t believe anything they say in these magazines and I know that all they’re doing is catering to their advertisers. The one thing that Wilson does almost better than anyone in the industry is marketing and advertising. I can’t prove it, but I wonder how many long-term loans and how many free products they give away. I also wonder what the so-called discounts are to reviewers who decide to keep their products. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these reviewers are getting their products for free.