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Wilson Watt Puppies 5.0 + 7.0 Tweeters Value?

I hope this is the correct place to ask this.

I’m not familiar with the details of the Watt Puppy evolution although I know they are an excellent speaker for the price. At least the 5.1 version and up are considered to be very good. I have the chance to buy a pair of Watt Puppy 5.0 speakers for $5K. The owner claims have had the tweeters upgraded to 7.0. I already have the year subscription to the Audiogon Blue Book. However, the price listed for the Watt Puppy 5.0 and the Watt Puppy 7.0 used is very different. The listed value for the 5.0 version is much lower than $5K obviously. Because I don’t understand all the details of the evolution of the speaker I have no idea if the greater percentage of the value is in the Watt bit (tweeter) or the Puppy bit (Woofer) or someplace else. I know there are people who are very familiar with the history of this speaker here that might be able to tell me where the value of these speakers may be on a relative continuum between the 5.0 and 7.0 version in this case. In other words does the upgrade of the tweeter to 7.0 somehow transform these speakers to the higher end version? Or is this just a bad deal. FYI the boxes for these are not included. Any help would be appreciated.
netexpress
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
I have wp 6.0's. I had a tweeter go out. My dealer replaced both tweeters with a "updated" version.

It is a significant upgrade on the top end. No crossover changes were made.
maineiac
649 posts
 
Why not contact wilson and see how much it would be to upgrade to the 7.0 tweeter (and what it means), add that amount to the 5.0 used bluebook price and you have a decent ballpark to use as a guide. I wouldn't put too much faith in that, consider the value it has to you versus other options and decide how much you're willing to pay. Of course, that might be different then what the seller is willing to take.
netexpress OP
7 posts
 
Excellent! Thanks for the advice. I also received some emails from folks here regarding the upgrade which told me exactly what I needed to know. So I should be set. It really is great having this forum as a resource.

I will check to see if the X-overs where changed and also check with Wilson. Those are great suggestions.

However, it does sound to me based on what I’ve heard so far that the asking price is too high. So I may make a lower offer or look for a better value in the $4 - $11K range. I have a smaller sized room and also I may be moving in the next year so I’m afraid to buy the “ultimate” speakers right now that might be too hard to move later or be too large for my room. So I just want to find something reasonable in the $4 - $11K range new or used that will hold their resale value fairly well. I currently have a Krell FPB200 solid state amp and Supratek Syrah tube pre-amp. My initial inclination was to look for some Nautilus 802’s. However, I’m beginning to get the sense there may be better options in that range.
maineiac
649 posts
 
Make sure to look at the core cast of characters in that price range, vandersteen, von schweikert, sonus faber, ....You should be able to get something really nice given your budget.
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