The $27,900 disappointment? Wilson Audio Watt Puppy 8 issues.

@fertguy   Deep Dive Part II just dropped, it appears...

"GR Research Upgrade failure or success with Wilson Audio"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIt2pcQvf6M

Ohhhh, I bet Wilson isn't happy.

I'm glad to see Danny changed his hair style. He used to look like my aunt. Beard and all...

He is very fit for a guy his age (runner/athlete, trains like spring chicken, etc). Audiophiles in his age group should atleast pick that up and get healthier even if they don’t care for his diy kits.

I believe VERY LITTLE of what Danny has to say! He’s a competitor of other speaker companies and loves to bash them like he has the best products in the world! I have absolutely ZERO respect for the guy!

Why don’t you have ZERO RESPECT for the unsatisfied customer who packed up his Willy Puppies and shipped it to GR Research for getting it improved?

Why do you keep misdirecting your ZERO RESPECT at the wrong guy in this lil transaction? He is just fixing design flaws and other inadequacies because there are a bunch of disgruntled owners shipping their speakers to him. Those unsatisfied/unhappy speaker customers should be on the receiving end of your ZERO RESPECT, i should think.

How dare these guys who paid the 28k be unhappy with Willy Puppy?? How dare?? eh?

Someone who thinks some Alexia sounded "live" hasn't probably heard a Meyer Bluehorn, Klipsch Jubilee or a Levinson M1.

BTW, I have a friend who drives his Wilson Alexia 2 with high end Audio Research amps and preamps. Very few systems can recreate the live event, e.g. jazz clubs, as his. He has worked hard on all aspects of his audio chain and the results are astonishing. 

Danny Hates every speaker that arent his. I dont trust that guy at all. He is tryin to sell upgrade parts. Wilson is a well known high end brand. The audacity to think he can fix them is hilarious

Not entirely true, he praises speakers designed by guys who know their stuff (A.Jones, Peter Comeau, etc, no engineering flaws), but it is true that they all get budget restricted w.r.t crossover parts, etc. Even a few hundred dollars worth of crossover part ugrades will get it up a notch, but, that is all something guys in the diy space attempt anyways, without danny selling them a upgrade kit.

I know he’s a flat response chaser (which i’m not), but, i have a couple of different speakers around this Puppy price range that...i suppose he could measure it 50 different ways and still won’t be able to ’improve’ anything on it. 30k or above, i expect a speaker to not quite be "upgradeable", Puppy failed there, it seems.

In Puppy’s case, it isn’t just a flat response issue....but my main issue with Wilson generally is...at 30k or 60k, you just bought a Focal driver and threw it in a box?! I would buy a Focal instead then, a focal utopia maybe..I could just buy a focal driver and throw it in a box myself, don’t need your help there buddy. Try designing/simulating/f’abing/testing, develolping all the tooling, etc for drivers in house by yourself. Now, the price starts to add up and finds a justification.

For the flat response chasers, the Tekton designer came up with the epic response, nuff said.

"First, a loudspeaker can be designed from a viewpoint of rigid science [what this website looks to be all about] or it can be designed from a viewpoint of art and creativity. In my opinion, a great loudspeaker should have a beautiful balance of science and art. Think of what a mastering engineer could do to a song! A mastering engineer is both an artist and a scientist. Good loudspeaker design must be approached from an identical viewpoint; no different than a mastering engineer producing a track of music - I make the loudspeaker sound exactly how I want it to.

Second, to assume I cannot design and market a ’flat responding’ loudspeaker is woefully shortsighted. If I wanted to produce a linear loudspeaker (as the reviewer has turned my design into) I would have done that; my simulator does this task in under 3 seconds. The facts are most audiophiles don’t go for the frequency response and corrections the reviewer has suggested. The only linear loudspeaker models we offer are intended for professional studio engineering and they are tools for a toolbox. Changing crossover parts values to flatten the frequency response is a super simple task; my job is to get the speaker sounding right for an audiophile. The problem is most audiophiles don’t go for ’scientific sound’; to my ears, it’s analytical, sterile, forward in the midrange when turned up, and frankly not much excitement to be discerned. Shipping the Mini Lore with a MiniDSP and a preloaded file converting the Mini Lore into a scientific masterpiece is no more difficult than changing a few values on the crossover.

Anyone wanting an improved version of the Mini Lore pair as the scientific reviewer has suggested my model be changed into is free to call me and I will accommodate your request.

Tekton Design caters to the audiophile community and when two pairs of Mini Lore’s were returned in 2023 we must be doing something right with the design.

Respectfully, Eric Alexander - audio designer and owner of Tekton Design, LLC""

Many speakers priced in this range and above get carried by the front end electronics (no miracle of the speaker).

There is a caliber of front end electronics (i have a few ) that can be connected to any turd of a speaker and they can still salvage the situation...paint over deficiencies/make it sound good. Above a certain threshold for competent speaker engineering, it is the electronics that caused the magic.

To determine if it is really some miracle of the speaker, you would connect the same to very modest electronics as well and check how it does.

It wasn't until I coincidently heard them at a much later time, that I was dumfounded by them. They completely disappeared - all I heard was performers spaced in the room, on a stage in front of me. Everything was amazingly lifelike. It was at that point that I knew one day I would have them (even though they were way out of my budget!).

Here's the best audiophile test track for GR Research speakers and GR upgraded speakers. It is one of the greatest songs ever written. Don't listen to anything else unworthy.

I'm Too Sexy (Original Mix - 2006 Version)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5mtclwloEQ

In the follow up video, wearing that shirt, I’m beginning to think Danny and my aunt are the same person...🤔

Why not just sell the speakers and find something you like?

Jeez

You know who: Hey, I am going to get some better wiper blades for my car

Hiend2: Why not just sell the car and find another car you like? Jeez

It is pretty much anything "manufacturer direct" that seems to get trashed here, a trend i see. It could be the middle men who don't get a piece of the 'manufacturer direct' pie perhaps.

Wilson $27900 - minimum Middle man/Dealer's cut, 50% ($13950) = $13950

That's a big chunk of the pie to miss out on.

Tekton speakers are trashed by some here and I guess they would prefer to spend $27,900 on a Wilson that does not measure as well as it should. The bottom line- some fellow goners here like to hear themselves talk when everything they say is utter nonsense. They would have us think THEY are the speaker designers... not the makers of Wilson, Tekton or GR Research.

EXTRA, EXTRA...READ ALL ABOU IT

Jay’s Audio Lab <---> Danny Richie Interview

Wilson VS Magico Speakers, Danner Hammer praises Magico...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VebfP2ivnjM

Alon Magic Wolf appears to be the real winner in all of this....

All the defeated/slayed Wilson refugees are running off to Magico, hereafter.

Alon’s partying hard tonight, getting sloshed at the bar, cashing checks at the bank next door........Magico owners....let’s go dancin tonight...party party party party

@hjdca I noticed the following information on your profile....member since Jan 2013 (12 years) without a single post or discussion on any topic.

All of a sudden, your account has sprung to life (after 12 years of deep hibernation) in great praise of Wilson audio with 12 comments on this specific thread.

It feels a bit strange to me. Hence, could you kindly clarify which category you may fall under, for added transparency?

a) Wilson dealer

b) Manufacturer or personnel with other vested financial interests in Wilson audio

c ) Ecstatic Customer/End User of Wilson speakers

Thanks

There are certain amps (i have a couple) that can make any turd of a speaker sound ok. 

At what point is it the speaker's magic on its own? Or at what point is it just getting carried by a very high quality front end?

Its funny - I’ve read time and time again about Wilson’s lack of efficiency and low impedance. Hence requiring high quality amps to drive them. And when they are driven by the proper amp most people seem to agree that they sound very good.

here’s the thing, I’ve never heard a Wilson owner complain about this. I think thats because most Wilson owners have no intention of buying anything but a high quality amp.