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anyone care to comment re: WP-8?

the recent review in stereophile seems (to me) to be "fair and balanced". while it gives high praise to the "reference" level of quality the speaker represents, it also raises some recurrent problems with the design and the sound. looking for the best tweeter, or the most rigid cabinet, or even the best material for the puppy-port on the back, dave wilson forgets, IMHO, that the sum of the parts has to exceed the values of the individual components. the dynaudio speaker the reviewer uses as a comparison seems to integrate everything together although it doesn't have the degree of transparency that the wilson has- virtually nothing i've seen or heard out there does. this reminds me of the issue of approaching a goal line by coming 1/2 of the way closer on each move forward. you would have to take infinite steps to arrive there; the WP8 discloses its own shortcomings like an almost flawless lens with one tiny chip in it- unfortunately not towards the edge but distractingly always in view. so what you have here is a speaker that gets closer and closer to an "ideal transducer" but the design, the "painting", is never quite finished. still, i have to envy anyone who owns one of these speakers. a rolex is a rolex, and a watt-puppy is small but uniquely elegant (unless of course you own a pair of kharma exquisites...)
french_fries
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,333 posts
 
Great speakers as everyone surely already knows. The consistent narrow bass bump from 80 to 100 Hz (and very sharp roll off) in the WP series is my only concern but then again "big bass" sells, as it sounds impressive. I call this kind of coloration the Britney Spears "Hit me baby one more time" bass - it really kicks!
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Reviews are an interesting starting point, but they have little bearing on what each listener prefers in his or her own system.

Frankly, reading reviews is often a detriment because they highlight flaws that are forevermore in the mind of the listener, regardless of how exceptional the speaker sounds.
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
My WP 8's show up on Fri. I've had WP 6's for about the last 5 years. Sorry, I have heard the 8's repeatedly at my dealer, it is a much improved speaker imo. I know it's pricey, maybe not the best "value", but it draws me in like no other speaker. I thought the Stereophile review as very middle of the road, Tvad had a great point.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll post my impressions on my WP 8's as soon as they run in some...
jameswei
795 posts
 
I thought the review was artfully written.

Obviously, the reviewer wanted to laud the speaker while reserving the highest praise for Wilson's higher priced (presumably better?) systems, as well as for the inevitable W/P 9s, 10s, 11s, etc. yet to come.

Spending time laying out the W/P's history helps put its strengths and weaknesses in understandable perspective. To my reading, its strength has always been the tweeter and the WATT enclosure, which together provide the heightened detail that Dave Wilson apparently found lacking in other monitors.

After the tweeter, everything else was a catchup. The 7 inch midrange is as big as some woofers used in other monitor speakers and may have at one time supported the hope that the WATT could be almost a full range monitor. I am impressed that it has held up as a credible midrange driver.

As the review points out, the Puppy's have long lagged the effectiveness of the tweeters, and their flaws still persist, perhaps providing rationale for future W/P generations.

Incrementally, it appears that the key differences in the W/P8 are (1) the tweeter is toned down somewhat, to sound not as hot, but without losing detail (?), and (2) the Puppy is slightly improved but still imperfect. As a result, it sounds like the speaker is more balanced.

I am much encouraged by Jfrech's comment that the speaker is indeed much improved, and I am looking forward to reading his further impressions. I like my W/P6s for their high end detail and bass prominence (as Shadorne so aptly highlighted), but they are getting long in the tooth. Maybe its time to move up.
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