ryonemoto

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.20 of 5, 5.00 votes

Price Paid:  $20000.00 from SF Stereo

Summary:
Upon reading the product reviews, Wilson Audio's equipment seems to bring out much emotions of the reviewers either positive or negative. Much of the negatives seem to hinge on "I can have a system just as good for much less ...". It's probably pointless to argue, but when this product is compared to likes of Martin Logans which is completely different architecture and thus renders A-B comparison useless, I'd have to say that such review lacks any objectivity, and maybe bit of sour grape as well. there's a reason why people buy products in this price range and it's not just out of ignorance or masochism to want to spend money. I've been doing Hi-Fi for over 35 years and there's a reason for me to spend this sort of money on any product. First of all, this product has kind of transparancy that I don't find often in audio products. And the palpability of the sound is stunning. I'm not sure if people are setting this system correctly, and listening to it with the proper equipment when they complain about its bass. For instance wood bass on Chesky's DVDA through this system sound's absolutely realistic. If the instrument is recorded well, this system will stun you with the way it's presented in full realism. Human voice, brass instruments also sound's absolutely realistic. I own several different systems, but this is the only one that I can detect differences in flaws in mix down of a recordings, such as which track had background noise etc. In fact one of the mixes that was done at a multi-million dollar recording facility had flaws which a recording engineer did not catch probably because the monitoring system in his studio didn't pick it up (same master was sent to 6 different recording studios for master mix so this comparison was possible). In my home also no other system caught the flaw on a first listen but recordings done better did sound better although exactly why couldn't be pin pointed until it was played through the WATTs. You can't argue which CD sounds good and which palyback system sound's good until the dirt is sufficiently removed so a good listening of the originally recorded material IS possible. You can argue if you like the sound of this system or not, but you can't argue that its ability to show the details of recorded material is phenominal. And when a good recoded material is there, this system blows away any so called "budget" system out of the water. That's my take on why spend the money on this system. On Stereophile's Test CD 3 there's a track with white noise recorded in phase and out of phase. When the out of phase track is played back on this system, there's absolutely, I mean absolutely nothing coming out of the center between the speakers, attesting to its consistencies between one unit to another. Technology has it's way of moving foward and I wouldn't say that these speakers are the best in every aspect, for instance, use of better materials for tweeter dome such as berylium, or diamond. In this aspect, Wilson's are no exception, and probably could benefit from advanced meterials. But I'm sure we haven't heard the last word on the future of these speakers, and they will probably be upgraded when those technologies becomes available to the manufacturer. Is it a perfect speaker ? No, but it does stretch the limit of hi-fidelity audio close to its outer boundary, and if you look at how many WATT/PUPPY look alikes are out there in terms of shape and architecture, you'll see the significance of what this product has done to the entire industry. For this product, form follows function, from tilted front baffle and pyramid shape of the enclosure (narrow baffle for diffraction free design), and I don't see why David Wilson need's to be educated on product design for designing the product right (on the first place). The product is very space efficient, and will fit comfortably in anyone's listening room (also it's barely light enough for me to move them on my own which many high-end gear is NOT and is a plus if you ever tried moving these things around). With a good front end and amplification, these speakers should be an epiphany for any audio enthusiasts.

Strengths:
Holographic imaging capability, unbelievable transparancy, true to life voicing of sound, palpability of sound in a class which WAS defined by this product and its predecessor and lead the industry to follow suit.

Weaknesses:
Compared to the bass to midrange realism, high frequency is a notch down. For instance, cynbals arn't as realistic as voicing of instruments in the lower ranges. This is the product that has most "air" out of all Wilson's products, but I still find myself wanting for more around instruments. Fairly narrow dispersion (to the ears, but doesn't show on measurements) which puts severe restrictions on listening position.

Similar Products Used:
B&W 802

Euphonicdude

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $11000.00

Summary:
If you can afford the speakers you can afford to pay a acoustician to come and set them up for you to sound right. With propoer palcement and setup these puppies sound great. You need a very powerfull and clean systme to pull this off. Do it right and have fun listening to these beasts.

Strengths:
Superb immaging and staging when set up right.

Weaknesses:
Require a qualified professional with measurement tools to achieve the best response.

Similar Products Used:
Revel, TOA, Talon, Totem

Price Paid:  $12000.00 from a shop

Summary:
I had these speakers for 3 months and although sounded good initially, fatigue set in after many hours. The mid range and highs are too "tinny" sounding. They may even sound harsh and hurt your ears after a prolonged period. Speakers are very sensitive to placement and is very difficult to get a balance between the bass and the mid range. Overall they are musically unsatisfying..there are better alternatives.

Strengths:
Bass

Weaknesses:
Harsh,brittle mids and highs

Similar Products Used:
B&W's Kharma's Revel Studios Piega's Sonus Faber JM Labs

Price Paid:  $15000.00

Summary:
I have this speaker more than a year already.It doesn't take a long time to know the character of this speaker.This speaker has a natural sounding,it tells u every change in your front end.It may not be the most natural or the best sound at this price range.But,once u get it hooked right,u will not think about the price anymore.U just enjoy the music that coming out from this speaker.It's dynamic sound only perform if u drive them with a fast amp.Even this speaker can be drive with tubes amp,but...needs a big tube amp. If someone says its high sounds edgy,man...don't blame this watt 6,blame your front end.The mids,it may not the best but it's quite open.This speaker can be disapear.Once again,this speaker may too expensive to some,but to put the price as this high should have the points.The points that i don't want to mention are only u (w/p 6 owner)could find by feed them with the right gear.Happy listening My systems: Nottingham dais koetsu jade cat ultimate mkII gryphon antileon signature kimber select cabling

Strengths:
Dynamics,open mids,airy

Weaknesses:
Needs serious gear.The 7 already out

Similar Products Used:
sonus faber electra amator II

Price Paid:  $12000.00 from Soundex

Summary:
The Watt Puppy seems to be a love 'em or hate 'em kind of speaker based on the prior reviews. They are extremely well made, have a wide dynamic range, small footprint and play all music types well. The soudstage is wide and deep and the lower end is tight and quick. Bass is reproduced the old fashioned way, by using state of the art materials and engineering instead of using a poorly matched built in subwoofer. All components in the system need to be up to the task of reproducing music properly. A weakness in any upstream component or recording will be heard through these speakers. Proper set up requires much time and patience. I found the use of all of the spike spacers worked best in my room along with the tallest tuning spike for the Watt. Wadia 861 Audio Research Reference 2 Mark Levinson 332 Transparent Reference XLR (2) Transparent Reference Speaker cables Zoethecus Z6 with Z slabs Zoethecus Z block Goldmund cones Synergistic cords

Strengths:
Imaging, dynamic range, speed, size, and finish

Weaknesses:
They take a long time to set up properly and have a relatively small sweet spot. A movement of 1/2" can make an audible difference.

Similar Products Used:
Vandersteen 5 JM Lab Utopia B&W Nautilus 800 series