gpgr4blu, I heard the WATT/Puppy a lot at Brooks Berdan's shop (his main listening room is excellent, built to the Cardas formula, and treated with RPG diffusers and tube traps), but also at CES and all the consumer California shows (both Northern and Southern). One place I never heard them was in a home---I have never had a close friend who was an audiophile. Musician's have the WORST Hi-Fi's! Evan Johns played me a demo tape of songs in preparation for the recording of an album we were about to begin, and he played in on his system---a boom box!
I'll bet the speaker you passed on was the Vandersteen 5 or 7. As good as they are (and they are VERY good), they too produce a waist-high image. That is a deal breaker for me. Maybe if they were to be placed on a 2' high stand? But then the time-alignment of the drivers would go to pot. Another reason I prefer line sources and/or planars---many of them sound the same whether one is sitting or standing. Not the original QUAD, of course. But that's one reason I had a stacked pair!