Upgrade path from Wilson WattPuppy 7s? - seeking advice

Keep looking. Your WP7 are as good as if not better than what you auditioned. When you hear something that much better you will know right away. The fact you are undecided after an audition means neither speaker was convincingly better than what you have.

B&W mid range is scooped so I don’t understand how you thought it better than your WP7 which has an outstanding mid range.

@gerrysh930

Good plan. Keep checking things out and listening. Since you like Wilson then try to also audition any of the larger ATC. You just might discover Joshua Bell and NY Phil in your room.

Some listeners are sensitive to timbre and some are not. The quality of the timbre in Wilson is extremely good in the mid range - this may be why you are drawn to Wilson even if they are highly priced compared to competition. Despite all the advantages of the fancy modern ceramic and metal drivers, these cones do NOT have the same high level of internal damping inherent in a pulp paper or doped fabric cone. I can hear much more of the musical timbre from a cone that imparts the least of its own characteristic resonances on the music. It is easy to understand - a cymbal is a hard metallic disc and so is a ceramic dinner plate or a cup - obviously they impart their own sound to any vibration impinging them. Tap a book and you get very little except the tap itself. This is the difference between inherent damping and materials that ring! Just imagine stacking plates in cupboards or books on shelves - which activity is going to create a lot of noise that drowns out very soft sounds like a small bird chirping outsude at the end of your yard....

+1 audiotroy

Excellent suggestion.

I would also add that you must take several test CD and compare a variety of music genres (not just audiophile well recorded stuff). The best setups will make everything sound fantastic - ALL genres and especially older less high quality recordings. Just try to steer clear of very heavily compressed pop music as this will sound harsher on a revealing setup.

Avoid the setups that only work with certain genres like acoustic small group jazz. Avoid setups that sound really good with one particular track!

A good setup should handle everything from the heaviest rap or metal to Mahler to Mozart to big band swing to a lone Blues guitarist to a Sheffield Labs drum track. Variety is very important to gauge what a setup can do - play rock loud and softly - it should sound great when played at a reasonable level for the style of music.

Also avoid taking all music that sounds good on your setup. If your setup is not flat in response then it will work best with music mixes that are commensurately the reverse - therefore going only armed with your favorite demo discs for your setup can be a mistake.