The Shape of the Watt / Puppy and Others

Getting back to the configuration used in the Watt/Puppy and others, it's a very intelligent way to meet several design goals.

One thing designers often try to do is minimze the baffle width. Midranges are narrower than woofers, and tweeters narrower than midranges, so this configuration is an elegant way of keeping baffle width to a reasonable minimum for the various drivers.

Another consideration is ease of construction - it's hard to build a cabinet that's straight-sided for the lower half and then has a kink and tapers for the upper half. Two separate enclosures, with differently-angled sides, are much easier to build.

Building two separate enclosures allows optimizing each cabinet's construction for its frequency range.

And finally, two admittedly fairly heavy enclosures are easier to ship and move around than one bigger and even heavier enclosure.

It's not surprising that several manufacturers converged towards very similar configurations. I don't think it means that anyone is copying anyone else. My own limited experience leads me to believe that speaker designers do not aspire to copy - they aspire to be original, and will do something that resembles a competitor's product only if they have very good reason to believe that that's the best approach.

Duke

Don't forget about the Genesis V and 501's (currently GAT 502's) which are nearly identical in appearance to the WP's. These have their own bass amps which means that amp selection is easier. They can be dialed in for similar upper bass emphasis as the Wilsons.

Some interesting advice above. I agree with Duke, although with a budget of 7k, any used watt puppy from 5.1 on would probably impress. Of course the 8's sound best. They're the latest model. And they cost 24k or more. WP 7's don't seem to go for less than $12500. Personnaly I'd stretch and get the 7's used.

Somebody above suggested flying to Vegas CES for a demo. I read that Wilson has some major introduction planned and you'll get a sense of what the WP can do. Does anyone know if Von Schweikert will be there as well (or at T.H.E.)? I know they'll be represented since Jadis has a room at the Venetian and is using I think the VR-5. Also, Magico is introducing the massive Model 6. I have to hear these. Will be worth the trip.

I promise I will do what I can to compare these two great speakers: VR-4 MkII or VR-5 versus the WP. I'll report back to the thread next week.

Anyone else going? Please chime in. Let's settle this once and for all.
/LM

Leemoncy,
"I promise I will do what I can to compare these two great speakers: VR-4 MkII or VR-5 versus the WP. I'll report back to the thread next week."

Ahh..hmmm..
Wher is your report?