From Wilson Watt Puppy 5.1 to ?


I have and love my Wilson Watt Puppy 5.1 speakers. I have been considering replacing them and have listened to several other speakers, even bought some, but have not found anything that I like better - yet!

FWIW: room is about 12-13 X 18 with a single slant cathedral ceiling - 12 going down to about 8.5 feet.
Amp = Krell FPB 300-C
Preamp = Jeff Rowland Capri
Sources = Esoteric X-03SE or Slim Devices Duet into a DCS Delius

Seeking:
Decent bottom end extension 30-38 preferred at a minimum (though I do have an available Rel Storm III sub).
Accurate but not bright (I my Wilson's are not bright)
Smooth but not soft
Timbral accuracy is very important
Excellent soundstaging is a must (width, depth, focus & height)
Placement flexibility is important (the face of the speakers cannot be more than approximate 54" into the room from the back wall).
I sit in a quassi nearfield setting, only about 6-7 feet from the speakers.

The pros/cons to me for the W/P are:
Excellent, clean extension in the upper frequency range
Very resolving with lots of energy and excitement in the music
Suitable base extension for my room. A little more extension would be fine, but not if it begins to over power, loose tightness (vs. the W/P) or becomes too single note sounding.
Sound staging is pretty good with the W/P, but I would mind seeing some improvement in this area, especially in terms of depth and a bit more air
While I find the W/P pretty consistent across the spectrum, I do notice some areas that are pronounced and also some inconsistencies or areas where the different drivers could blend a little bit better. I guess what I am saying is that I would like to improve a little bit on integration between the various drivers. While this integration is no where near as pronounced as say a Martin Logan cone woofer to panel integration, I still notice it with certain instruments that can play with wide frequency ranges.
I don't listen to music all that loudly, so a speaker that will perform very well at moderate listening levels is a must. A speaker that must be played quite loud for it to "come to life" is completely unacceptable to me.

Like I said, I have listened already to a couple of speakers and have so far not found anything I like better. I would prefer to buy used for financial reasons. I don't necessarily believe that only $20K plus speakers are necessary for comparison and I don't want a speaker that excels in only one area at the expense of other important performance requirements.

Any well thought out suggestions are welcome. Don't bother wasting my time telling me that Wilson's suck, as I have owned many brands of speakers and listened to many others and so far, have not found something that I like more. For reference, I cannot afford the higher priced Wilson speakers and I definately prefer the W/P's over the Sophia's for my tastes. I have listened to the 7s and while there may be some improvements over the 5.1s, I don't find that glaring, immediately apparent, or to the value of selling the 5.1s to get the 7s.
ckoffend
I was in the same boat as you, tried SF,Kharma,Eggleston,Apogee,B&W, ...... kept coming back to Wilson.Currently moving from WP7 to maxx2.
Didnt find magic or connection with any other speakers but Wilson.Learned the hard way but eventually going to stick with Wilsons.
How about Sophias? They're a good match for your room size, and the buzz seems to be that they are more integrated sonically top to bottom than the Watt/Puppies. They're at least worth a try.

I'm also partial to Sonus Faber. And Mirage.
Because the sound comes from the speakers, many start questioning that component first. You might think of really good power cords...you won't believe the improvement you can get with them. If you are really hot for speakers however, check out the Vandersteen 5A's. They are very easy on amps because they have their own built in bass amps already, and they are custom equalized for your room as part of the dealer setup.
Apogee Diva >Tannoy Westminster >ProAc Response 4 >ML Prodigy >MG20.1 >Stradivari >Magico MiniII

Hi Ckoffend,
Having lived for at least 1-2yrs with each of the models above, I must say that they're all wonderful speakers in their own rights. A couple of months back, the dealer friend who sold me my Strads 2yrs ago, loan me the MiniIIs for the weekend. Was initially quite reluctant and a little skeptical of all the hypes hovering around this overpriced Minis. But Hey, what the hell thought I--it's a free no obligation trial!!

As likable as my beloved Strads were, they just weren't on par against the MiniIIs in most keys and musically important areas. (Had a similar shoot-out vs the original Minis 2yrs ago, although showing potentials, I can't bear their upper mid glare and lack of bass foundations on most materials for the music to be believable enough for me, thus preferred and bought the Strads).

Having always been impressed with the Wilson's house sound, but somehow never loved them enough to live with one (their up and coming Maxx3 perhaps??), prior to my finalizing the Minis, me and some phile friends (one a happy Maxx2 owner), made it a point to audition other competing makes as well, including the Sophia2s and WP8s. Also happen during that particular time the Wilson dealer had a 2nd hand pair of Maxx2 in as new condition, selling for US$25k on hand (which tempted me quite a bit actually--more speakers for the money?).

Anyway, finally here I am ended up with the smallest, but in my and fellow phile's opinions, producer of the biggest musical enjoyment throughout our whole audition period! Seriously, you owe it to yourself to give a 'properly driven' set of Magico MiniIIs a serious listen. As I see that your priorities sonically are also a good match up to the Minis' strengths. Good luck in your search!