Stereophile review of the new Wilson Watt/Puppy


I received my copy of the latest Stereophile yesterday and was curious to see what Martin Collums had to say about them, even though I would take it with a grain of salt, knowing that he had owned them in the past. He's still one of the reviewers that I consider to be most technically informed and balanced in his reviews.

I'm starting this thread because I want to know if others found his conclusions as confusing as I did. He says that the speakers have deep powerful bass, great detail, wonderful dynamic range, and are able to play very loud without breakup. 

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. 

roxy54

@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.