About the new Wilson Audio Watt/Puppy 8

Two thoughts....as for electronics for Wilson (presently have Sophia 2...but moving to WP8 when available)...I don't care for the Audio Research sound....or for that matter most tubes....they make records sound great....but very far removed, at least for me, from live sound...be it a Jazz combo, classical or rock...on the other hand I also agree that many, if not most solid state amps aren't particularly musical....but there are some nice ones out there....I enjoy Spectral....and presently use Ayre...waiting for the new mono blocks to arrive...I have been very impressed with what Ayre does....and feel its a great match with Wilson...

John

Hikejohn

not sure where you live however if you are ever in the Bay Area I would love to give you an audition to not only dissuade you about your notion of tubes and Audio Research. It is about as real as it gets

John- i spoke with Ayre about Wilson compatibility, and it is one of the references I believe they use (with others, of course). From the room i heard at the show, i think it would be an awesome combo (the new monos)although i would still prefer a tube pre I think.

I'm not a huge ARC fan either, although Oneobgyn has been dying to prove me wrong on the Ref 3 :) My general feeling about ARC is that it is a tad too SS-like for my tastes (and therefore, why not get SS)

KeithR

"I'm not a huge ARC fan either, although Oneobgyn has been dying to prove me wrong on the Ref 3 :) My general feeling about ARC is that it is a tad too SS-like for my tastes (and therefore, why not get SS)"

Keith, I do intend to prove you wrong about the Ref 3 when you are next up here in the SF Bay Area.

IMO, it is the best preamp that I have ever owned.

When I decided to get the Wilson's...after spending about 10 years looking for something clearly superior...I had to listen through the AR Ref 3....fortunately it didn't deter me from determining what the speakers could do....neither did show rooms that added warmth....and to a degree a level in trust of a sales person who had some understanding what I was seeking....and since I was in the speaker business a strong sense of how rooms and setup could greatly injure the potential of any given speaker...so I filtered all that out....given that...Wilsons seem to have the ability to let the music come through...which then gives me a chance to measure the result against live music....which then led to me Spectral and Ayre equipment....all tube stuff (except perhaps in pre amp area)intrude too much into what I hear versus the potential of live music....but some tube stuff....some of the time...sound "magical"...but alas not real....the other issue is the subtle...but always there...degnigration of the tubes themselves...and the level of heat that they generate....that slowly and absolutely erode sound quality...rarely in an obviouls manner...but none the less relentlessly. But not my concern at this point....just hopeful that the WP8s meet expectations