My apologies_Upgrade path from Wilson WattPuppy 7's?

(1) My McIntosh 275 VI has been measured at 90 watts, and has more than adequate current to drive the Wilson WP7 speakers that I own;

Sorry to say, it may sound good, but you have never heard the WP7’s at their best, with this amp.

You said in your first post you were naive, you really need to absorb what Stereophile has said here about the 7’s:

" Quote from Stereophile measurments:
" They will need a good high-current amplifier before it can be driven to satisfying levels. Its impedance drops to 2.4 ohms at 78Hz and remains below 6 ohms for much of the region where music has its maximum energy (fig.1). In addition, an impedance of 4 ohms at 59Hz is associated with an electrical phase angle of -34 degrees, which will add to the drive difficulty."

This is what the reviewer said about them, and what he used to drive them with, Halcro dm88 Reference monoblock power amplifier 
" The WATT/Puppy 7s produced an enormous sonic picture in my room, with the second most effortless presentation of depth and layered images that I’ve heard there."


You have a great speaker in the 7’s, you just need the right amp on them to hear them at their best, then you really think twice about changing them.


Cheers George

Gerry, you are naive, but I understand your love for the Mac amp. The WP7s are also something special. However, together, they are not a good match, ( the reason for your searching ). Listen to George, and : Try a high current ss amp. IMO, and, IME. MrD

Folks-

I understand. I have a friend here in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at the University of Michigan who has been an audio engineer for 30 years and runs the audio engineering lab here at the University of Michigan. He used to work for Conrad Johnson.

He took my McIntosh 275 VI into his lab and performed a series of SPL versus impedance measurements on the WP7, Vandersteen Seven Mk II (his speakers), Sabrina, Yvette, Alexia Series 2 and Sasha Series 1. He was surprised by the results.

I would be glad to post the data somewhere, although he may include some of the data in a manuscript he is writing. I don't know how to post the pages of curves he generated here, but it would make for a good discussion because you folks and he know more than I do, even if I am a pretty good scientist (see the "Amyloid Cascade Hypothesis", Science 1992, it just won a big award, you may even see me on network TV soon) - showing off here.

Thanks - Gerry

Gerry the Wilson 7’s needs good current to sound their best full stop.
The Mac 275 cannot do that, it would have to almost double it’s wattage for each halving of speaker load.
EG:
8ohms- 75w
4ohms-150w
2ohms-300w

This is why Stereophile reviewed the Wilson 7’s using the Halcro DM68 monoblocks

I say it again because you said you were naive, you have not heard the Wilson 7’s at their best with this Mac amp driving them.

Cheers George

Gerryah, 

We have owned and setup many pairs of WP,  Including the WP3/2 and the WP 5. We have customers with the WP 7.

We have also heard the current Wilson lineup as shows and at other dealers. 

You have made ain impressive list of some of the issues you have had with each of their models, the Mcintosh tube amplifiers are not really ideal for pushing the Wilsons, although one of the best combos  with WIlsons was the Vac Ren 70/70.

You should add the new Paradigm Persona which are very efficient and tube friendly, they are incredible imagers, and are remarkably transparent.

Also the Legacy Aeris is an unbelievable speaker system especially for the money, they have a warm midrange like what you like out of some of the Wilsons, they are very tube friendly and very efficient, and have a huge soundstage and very deep bass. They start at $21k with a room correction processor, preamp and dac, so you may be able to get an upgrade in terms of your other electronics as well, and with room correction you can get very good results in any size room,. the Aeris are giant killers and sound similar to a Maxx with the same kind of large presentation but in a much smaller room friendly package.

If you are every in the New York City area we have the Personas, the KEF Blades, the Legacy Aeris, and the Daili Epicon 8 all great

Perhaps a trip to the New York Metro area would enable you to hear all the contenders. There are Wilson dealers and Vandy dealers as well as our shop selling the Paradigms, KEF Blades, and the Legacys.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ