Does Wilson Audio Know What They AreDoing?

[B4]

I commented a long time ago that I thought that the first Watt/Puppy SEAS/DYNAUDIO/FOCAL sounded better then the new SCANSPEAK/SCANSPEAK/FOCAL creation. The most important difference I thought was in the quality that the first one had in the mid range. From this great forum I was introduced to a great online magazine Soundstage. Soundstage uses the lab at the Canadian Research Council to do anechoic tests. This is the kind of magazine that I like. Not some idiots impression based on advertising dollars but some true independent test.

Here is the Watt/Puppy 7 response

After looking at this I can honestly say that I can now see why the new incarnation lacks something. What is all the hype about? I know beginners that strive for a better response then this. This is not the response I would expect from a $20,000+ speaker.


Here is a Thiel Audio CS1.6 $2400.00

What a difference this is.

Here is the Dynaudio Confidence $16000.00


There is more to speaker design then a flat response but at least with the other two I am getting what the creators of the cd wanted me to hear.This response tells me that Wilson is a rich hack.

[pinkmouse]

Hmm. Is the Puppy renowned for "fast bass"?

[trusound]

for what it's worth..... i feel that the sophia is their best loudspeaker IMO

[catapult]

The only problem with the premise of this thread is that the old Watt/Puppy measures worse than the new one. While none of the curves are perfect, they generally stay within +/-3dB anechoic and they sound better in a real room (with floor bounce, etc.) than the anechoic curves might indicate.

[B4]

catapult, I see that the response is +-9 if you consider the peak at 90 hz @95 db and the 14K frequency at around 86 db.

I am referring to the first series of the Watt. If you have seen a response for the early series please let us see it.


Here is the Sophia

You are correct that is is much better then the Watt. But still nothing that I would expect from a company asking so much money. I was a fan of the Watt for many years but this graph has really turned me off.

You people that have used the new ScanSpeak drivers, can you share with us if they are that hard to control without exaggerated smoothing of the response though.

pinkmouse fast bass from 60-100 Hz.

Is the Watt behavior a cabinet problem or the speakers?

[ScottG]

Originally posted by B4
catapult, I see that the response is +-9 if you consider the peak at 90 hz @95 db and the 14K frequency at around 86 db.

I am referring to the first series of the Watt. If you have seen a response for the early series please let us see it.


Here is the Sophia

You are correct that is is much better then the Watt. But still nothing that I would expect from a company asking so much money. I was a fan of the Watt for many years but this graph has really turned me off.

You people that have used the new ScanSpeak drivers, can you share with us if they are that hard to control without exaggerated smoothing of the response though.

pinkmouse fast bass from 60-100 Hz.

Is the Watt behavior a cabinet problem or the speakers?

In-room freq. response is usually quite different than at a 1 meter distance. Additionally, freq. response is just one of many paramaters that contribute to a loudspeaker's performance. In fact its relativly easy to make a flat freq. response loudspeaker with ****-poor poly drivers.

[Audiophilenoob]

Originally posted by trusound
for what it's worth..... i feel that the sophia is their best loudspeaker IMO

it doesn't sound very good... so I think that's kind of sad

[wdavis009]

Based on your post I suspect you would like Audio Perfectionist. Here is Richard's take on Wilson's products:

http://www.audioperfectionist.com/PD.../APJ_WD_21.pdf

[Cloth Ears]

Mid-bass heavy, lousy mid-range, shrill top end, no low bass. For rich deaf people.

Did you read the article in TAS (call What Matters Most - last year?) where a group from TAS were unable to tell the source when played through Wilson speakers (including an Ipod)?

They play really loud though, and they are really well constructed, and they certainly win out in the "My Schwartz is bigger than your Schwartz" stakes (with apologies to Mel Brooks).

( IMHO )

[Cloth Ears]

Originally posted by wdavis009
[B]Based on your post I suspect you would like Audio Perfectionist. Here is Richard's take on Wilson's products:

http://www.audioperfectionist.com/PD.../APJ_WD_21.pdf

Found that one recently, and the 2 complete issues are a good read. I'm not sure if I was searching for something new or it was just put on the web. But I gave up reading TAS (even flipping through in the local Borders) after that article that he mentions. Haven't liked Wilsons since first hearing the Watt/Puppy combination back in 1997 (or 8).