Watt Puppy 7 needs new or used Amp and Pre-amp


I'm building my system on a pair of Watt Puppy 7 speakers. Currently I have my vintage Marantz 250 amp with an SAE Mark 1B Pre-amp/equalizer.
I think the preamp needs to be replaced first. I need some advice on putting together a system on a tight budget. Thanks for helpful advice!
Duane
datsawman
I have had WP7s in my system for several years and have auditioned them with many different pieces of electronics, both tubed and solid state. I, too have found that tubes are a better match with the WP7s than solid state. I have used a Wright Sound Company WPL20 full-function preamp and a Music Reference RM200 amplifier very satisfactorily. Both were reasonably priced.
I suggest you to explore the Tweak Audio EVS 1200. Dual mono, 600/1200 wpc current ICePower modules a mere ~ $2300. 30 day money back

Tweak Audio EVS 1200 is based on ICEPower 1200AS1/2 Class-D modules. I had these modules running a pair of Watt/Puppy speakers and they just couldn’t handle the impedance for these Wilson speakers properly. The amps never failed, but the results were a flat sterile sound.

The ICEPower 1200AS1/2 are rated at minimum load of 2.7 ohms, so based on the comments about the Watt/Puppy 7 speakers from Stereophile, anyone with these types of speakers probably won’t be happy with the results either, especially in the bass region.

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. With both its enclosures ported, interpreting the impedance curve at low frequencies is difficult, but it appears that the Puppy’s 3"-diameter port is tuned to 27Hz or so, while the WATT’s 1" port is tuned to about 80Hz.
Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/wilson-audio-specialties-wattpuppy-7-loudspeaker-measurements#9A...

Even for an 11yr. old thread, Tweak1 really should be doing some type of research before making recommendations on amps for speakers he’s never heard.


datsawman
Watt Puppy 7 needs new or used Amp and Pre-amp
You’ve got the best sounding of all the Watt/Puppy version there in the 7’s. My friend who has been through them all, even the 8’s came back to the 7’s.
Although they are 90db efficient and only need a 50watts or more to get loud, they are a nasty load for an amp in the bass, nearly 2ohm and 34 degrees -phase shift.
https://www.stereophile.com/images/archivesart/Wilfig1.jpg

Which means to get the "very best bass performace" out of them, you need an amp that can do "good current" "almost" doubling wattage down into 2ohms and be happy doing it continuously.

This means good linear amps and solid state, preferably using bi-polar (bjt) output stages (mosfets at a pinch). Your vintage Marantz is not one of these, neither are tube or Class-D amps. Music Reference RM200 are a tube exception with their 2ohm tap, but wattage then maybe very low for partying

If you want the best and need some help to get some ideas from the technical members here here on what I’ve outlined above just ask and they will help out with more suggestions

Cheers George