Which amp with Wilson watt puppy 8


Hi there !

i live on an island with no audiophile shops around. 
I arrived in 2011 with a Jeff Rowland continuum 250 and Sonus Faber Cremona m speakers who were a great match. Unfortunately I blew the speakers a few times, then upgraded to columns, blew them also twice. I guess the amp is too powerful for them, but this time Sonus Faber was unable to provide me replacement tweeters and speakers, which is an enormous disappointment. I will never buy anything from them again. I ran through the web and found corresponding parts that I changed myself, but they seem to sound much higher in the trebles and lack bass, especially at high volume levels, (above 55%) . I tried swapping the cables, but it didn’t change anything. 
I now bought a pair of Wilson audio watt puppy 8 that arrived this week from a NYC store. I hope them to last lifetime. 
They have cost me around 11.5k$ door to door, look great and tough, but need to be driven above 60 % of volume otherwise nothing comes out of them, especially bass !
I also get the same sharp treble sound, which is very disappointing.
My problem is to find the issue : 

1/ room acoustic

2/ change my class D amplifier for tubes or transistors

3/ find better cables

4/ me turning old ?

what should I do next ? what amplifier would you recommend with this configuration (watt puppy 8, MIT Avtr 1, ps audio direct stream mk1, aurender n10, musical fidelity M6 CD) ?

thank you 


 

lendivf

My statement “Seems like two different worlds” is overstated. Not true. False.  Bias. Not the best choice of words. It’s just you need to be more vigilant in matching the correct class D amp. There is a greater chance of not getting on or close to target of synergies. @audphile1 advise is the right path in my opinion. All makes sense.. Even if not Pass Labs or AR, there are comparable amps out there.

I have Wilson Watt Puppy 8 and I think they sound fantastic.  There are many others out there that think the same thing.  They were very highly regarded speakers in their day and award winning and many people find the sound engaging and exciting.   Here are some thoughts.

1.  Since you are blowing speakers, the most obvious cause of this is your amp is clipping.  If this is the case, then, this amp is also the wrong amp for the W/P 8.  Be careful, you do not want to blow a tweeter in those W/P 8.   What amp are you running ? 

2.  The W/P 8 require a good quality amp that can handle less than 4 ohms to really sing. 

3.  Try to put them at least 9 feet apart or more and toe them in.  11 to 12 feet are even better..  I found that this increased the imaging and transparancy. 

4.  Personally, I am currently running a pair of McIntosh Mc275 tube amps in monoblock mode with the W/P 8 and they sound great.  Super sweet, detailed, and musical.  Regarding Solid State amps, I also tried them with an old, refurbished Adcom GFA-585 LE and they also really came alive. 

I have been using the Concert Fidelity from Japan ZL-120. Awesome performance across entire frequency spectrum. You may pick them up very inexpensively, if found. I play fairly loud, with no issues whatsoever. I have also used 2 custom Ypsilon Electronics SET @ 45W/ch. They were driven outstandingly as well. However, you will not find those in the market. Please note I have the WP7.

Mc 275 x 2 ! My dream. I am running with a Jeff Rowland continuum 250. It s a class D 2x250W integrated amp. It s actually a high end amp. My sources are m6 cd ft from Music fidelity and a aurender n10 streamer. The Dac is a ps audio direct stream mk1 cables are audio quest and mit. 
 

I think we should drill down on ehe blown speaker issue. How loud do you listen? I am familiar with Sonus Faber and Wilson speakers, I have heard them at ear splitting sound levels powered with smaller amps. I think the problem lies somewhere other than the speakers... unless you are deaf and are playing them continuously over 100db. 

I would send your amps back to start with. 

I don't think I have ever played any of my equipment above 40% and typically that was when I was very young.