Watkins Stereo Generation FOUR Loudspeakers Compelling BARGAIN!!

NO! The Bargain OF Our Lifetime was the arrival of Peter Walker's Wonders - the Quad Electrostats back in the mid-Fifties!

Not quite the bargain that they were as the price is now $2,999

Price out the cost of the drivers and see if they are still a bargain

Nope.

From TAS : The front baffle is angled backwards to time-align the drivers by placing the acoustic center of the tweeter behind that of the woofer. This also helps to match the sensitivity of the woofer (88dB) with that of the tweeter (91dB) without the use of a resistive pad. The tweeter is crossed over at 3kHz using a single capacitor, and that’s it; there are no other passive components in the signal path.

The reviewer hasn't a clue what he's talking about. The baffle slope isn't enough to time align the drivers. If there is only a single cap, that means the woofer is run full range and dependent on its rolloff - which is likely ragged and resonant somewhere in that region.

I'm intrigued by them, even at the new price.  Would love to hear from folks who have heard them!Margot

I have a set that are less than 8 months old.. I can list them for sale at half of the price new if you’re interested.

That is a BIG price increase all at once. Was it because they got a great review and they decided they could get that much. Not really fair in my opinion. They were on my short list but no longer.

Curious as to why you are selling them, phastm3?
Thanks-

I bought them to compare to a set of Fritz Carrera Be speakers and i thought they sounded way nicer in my system than the Fritz, then i found a set of Harbeths for a great deal. The Harbeth were the best for me after about 10 sets of speakers. I was going to keep the Watkins for maybe a 2nd system, but that will probably never happen.
here is a vid of the watkins:
https://youtu.be/c2p35I61qdk

I will be happy to discuss our speaker and answer any questions that you may have directly including our cost to manufacture them and the reason for the price increase. My contact information and phone number is on our website www.watkinsaudio.com. 

Tom, we will take you up on your offer and buy your Gen Fours if they are still available. Email me.

BTW, the post by IEALES is disrespectful and inaccurate. 

Respectfully,
Bill Watkins

Margot--I have a pair of the Watkins Generation Fours and absolutely love them. I listen to them almost every evening.  I plan to purchase a second pair for my office next month.    By far these are the best sounding speakers I have ever owned.  

Thanks, awhittington!  What electronics are you using with them with?  Any chance you have tried them nearfield?  And thanks as well for the video, phastm3.   Very nice!

Margot--for my home system I am using a Yamaha A-S1100 integrated amp, a Yamaha CD-S2100 (cd player) and a VPI Prime Scout turntable with an Ortofon 2M Black. Love the sound.  I have been collecting vinyl most of my life and have a huge collection. Listening to it on this system has been such a joy. Best, AW

Thanks, awhittington.  Sounds like a great system!  Enjoy!

Margot, what system do you have?  I am looking forward to outfitting my office in the next few weeks. 

My system is a Vinnie Rossi LIO integrated amplifier, Line Magnetic 515 CD player, Rega RP6 with Hana SL cartridge, and KEF LS50s.  I've been really happy with it!  (And adding the Hana SL cartridge a few months ago made a huge difference.)  Sometimes I get the itch, though, to take another step with the speakers.  And I've really wondered about the Watkins!  But my listening space is small, and they are bigger than the KEFs.  I'm curious as to whether they would work as well nearfield...I will probably do a demo at some point to find out.  In the meantime, I would love to know how your office system works out!  Happy Thanksgiving!  Margot

There's always the Harbeth 30.2.

Tempted by that too!  Very tempted.  But it really is A LOT bigger than what I currently have.  We'll see....  So many amazing speakers, so few places to put them!  cheers!

BTW, the post by IEALES is disrespectful and inaccurate.

Sorry Bill, but the post is accurate.

All drivers have a high frequency resonance. For Peerless 6.5" woofers it can clearly be seen here https://www.tymphany.com/transducers/sds-160f25cp01-08/ and here https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/peerless-woofers-6-7/peerless-830657-6.5-sds-woofer/ at about +10db. Response is quite ragged above resonance and increasingly bad off axis. NOTE: This is a driver property governed by physics and not a reflection on the Watkins Gen 4.

It appears the baffle is sloped about 13mm which is enough to offset the 14mm lead from the first order 3k, but no where near enough to account for the 35mm+ acoustic center discrepancy between the woof and tweet drivers. NOTE: This is not a defect of the Watkins Gen 4, but an indication of the reviewer's lack of understanding of loudspeaker fundamentals.

By all accounts the Gen 4 is a pleasing loudspeaker. Were they not 2800 miles away, I'd go have a listen.

Ieales, what are your credentials/background?   Do you review for a competing magazine?

Ieales, The peerless driver that they use is modified by Watkins. Maybe that decreases its resonance. The tweeter is also modified by Watkins.

I don't review for any magazine.
I've been involved with HiFi since the late 50's, worked as a [Grammy Nominated] recording engineer, built studios, designed electronics for professional film and recording studios.

Modifying a woofer will move, but not remove, a resonance. A 10db resonance is likely to be fairly audible.

Veni vidi vici 

Jump on 2 pairs asap!!

Yeyz!!!

Let me say that I respect ieales221's history and experience in the recording industry, a field that he must know very well.
However, his posts ARE incorrect in many ways. First, his links are to a cheap Peerless woofer that does have a horrific high frequency roll off, IT IS NOT THE ONE THAT WE USE. Second, his definition of woofer resonance is misleading. All drivers have a mechanical resonance in their LOWER range and the drivers can be modified by varying mass, compliance, enclosure type /volume, and by adding shorting rings etc. to change the frequency and amplitude of this resonance. The "ragged above resonance" term ieales221 used was describing high frequency roll off. Its frequency is influenced by inherent inductance, mass, etc., and its "smoothness" by the cones material, shape, surround, dust cap, and break-up. Break-up being when the cone flexes and no longer works as a true piston causing harmonics due to the physical reflections from the cones outer edge and surround. Our woofers are modified to have a very smooth and linear roll off, and to work with our dual tuned enclosure for an extended and controlled bottom end. And third, our Gen4s are time aligned. The front slope is 5.5 degrees, being 14" tall with the top tilted rearward 1.375" (35mm) from vertical. Determined by pulse response and listening evaluation with the speaker placed on a stand with it's center close to ear height.
This is my last post concerning this as I do not enjoy refuting misinformation that casts a negative image on our product or other people. It is my attempt to clarify and correct not cause contention.

Again respectfully, Bill Watkins.

Thank you, Bill, for your post.  I hope to hear your speakers one day!

For my money, the Falcon LS3/5a BBC speakers are the best value bookshelf speakers at that price point. Though YMMV.