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
can anyone name a speaker for half the wp's price that does not show it up?...sonically
05-25-07: Jaybo
can anyone name a speaker for half the wp's price that does not show it up?...sonically
Is this what you mean?

Or, did you mean, "Can anyone name a speaker for half the wp's price that DOES show it up sonically?"

I can honestly say the Von Schweikert VR4 Gen III HSE come very, very close to the sound of the WP7, IMO. No, they are not as good, but at their original retail price of $5995, it'd be damn hard to choose to spend an additional $15k on the WP7.

Also, Egggleston Andra II are excellent competitors to the WP8. In fact, I can easily imagine some listeners preferring the Andra II in a blind listening session.

That said, the WP8 are truly outstanding speakers, and probably worth their asking price for those who have the scratch.
I have owned my W/P 8s since November but have refrained from commenting about them untiI I felt I had sufficient experience with them.

I have owned every W/P since the 3/2 up to the 8s but not exclusively. I have tried several alternatives including worthy contenders from Sound-Lab, Vandersteen, Quad, Audio Physic and Martin-Logan but have always returned to the Wilson house sound.

I find the W/P 8s to be the most cohesive speaker I have ever heard. And by "cohesive" I mean sounding as one.

All the drivers seem to match more seamlessly, transparently and effortlessly.

They're like a blend of A-1s and 5As, except smaller, more dynamic and exciting; and frankly just more fun.

At least for now.