Keep the 7s at least until you can afford the Maxx. Too much of a sideways move to go from 7 to 8. If you liked the 7s before the 8 was released there is no reason not to like them now. |
I have had the luxury of hearing both the Watt Puppy 8 and older Maxx's, many years ago. Both systems offer quite a bit. (Both well out of my means). I just heard the Watt Puppy 8 at the LA HI FI show, and can say it is truely special. It offers quite a bit of resolution, like it's older Max II brother, but doesn't go quite as deep. VERY LIQUID sound. In most rooms, unless you live in a mansion, the WP-8 will be plenty of foundation, (low end). It has been a long time since I've heard older Maxx's but If my memory serves my right the older incarnation of the Maxx offers slightly more dynamic presentation, yet not quite as focoused as the new WP-8. Hardly an easy choice, both off the hook outstanding choices for just about any listining space, particularly if you have the means to adorn them with an appropiate front end gear that can reveal you all that they have to offer,which seems that you have, particullarly the WP-8. The only thing that even came close to the WP-8's at the show was the outstanding Von S. VR 4, 5 and bigger. MBL's were incredible if you had 50grand and another quarter million in associated equipment. The cool thing about the WP-8's, was that they were on a mid-priced dream system of under 100K. I can't remember how much though. Best regards in your most fun adventure, Dan:) |
Agree with Narrod. I have the WP7's (upgraded from the 6) thru McIntosh MCD1000/MDA1000+MC501's. Indeed the next step would be the Maxx 2,s |
Agreed. Maxx2 is a true upgrade. |
Hello guys there is another but less well known contender for super speaker throne!
I have to start off I am a dealer so I am naturally biased, but I am an audiophile first.
Usher Audio has released a speaker which is priced far less than a WP 8 and I think the Usher will match or better the WP.
I know this sounds like heresey but most people don't know or understand who Usher is. In Asia they are a $70 million dollar company! Wilson is probably under $20 million.
Usher just realeased a $16,800 speaker which will challenge the $40,000.00 speakers out there.
The Usher uses a pure beryillium tweeter and midrange and two 10 inch Eaton woofers the same ones Kharma uses, the speakers go down to 22hz and are 90 db efficent! The speakers weight 300 lbs a piece and the cabinet uses layers of birch plus 2 inch thick mdf plus lead damping! The crossover were designed by D'appolito.
The main reason I am writing this is not to bash Wilson I was the top Wilson salesman in the country but to let people know there are speakers out there that are incredibly built like Wilson but are priced in the range more people can afford. The WP is a great speaker system but at $28,000.00 it is getting to be priced in my opinion at two high a price for what it is. If you consider the cost of drivers and materials no matter how expensive phenolic based resins are the speakers are getting ridiculously overpriced! At the low $20k price point the speakers were priced somewhat sanely but come on $28,000.00! UGH where is it going to stop WP 9 at $35,000? |
No question it is cheaper to manufacture in Taiwan (or anwhere in the Far East) for many reasons; primarily those related to taking care of your employees (and lawyers!). As a business owner, I actually like taking good care of my employees, so I don't mind the extra cost of Wilson.
Not knocking Ushers, which I've heard are wonderful, just supporting American craftsmen. |
Hey Porterspeer, all good points and I too like to buy American. The comments you make apply much more to the Chinese audio comanies.
Usher is Taiwanese, and most Taiwanese companies pay their employees well and have excellent benefits. Usher is an ISO 9000 company which means that their factory meets the highest levels of build and engineering quality standards, and poorly paid workers do not build products of this calibre, which is why Dell, Lenvo and many other high tech products are comming from this part of the world!
Yes please buy WP 8 if you feel they are worth the lofty price, but the whole intent of my posts, is to call attention to the BE 20 which at its price point puts most of the $30-40k speakers to shame!
But here is a good question, how much cheaper would Wilson's be if they cut out the multiple full page magazine ads, and Dave Wilson gave up his Ferrari?
Audio should be about sound quality and engineering intent, not brand name snobbisim! How many of the mega buck products are really worth their asking price. The revolution is comming and I am happy to lead the charge. |
Audiooracle,
The thread in question was focused on "WP8 vs. Maxx2". At no time did anyone ask for advice on Usher speakers. Personally, I'm getting a little tired of you throwing your sales-pitch out there every chance you get (usually at Wilson's expense).
Please keep your comments to the thread in question rather than using a given thread as a shameless opportunity to plug a product you retail.
Just my opinion.
Kevin |
I fully concur Kevin. Good post!!! |
Thanks Kevin.
I really was having trouble relating Dave Wilson's choice of transportation with the sound of his products. By the way, Usher runs full page color ads. Wilson's are in black and white.
I own the WP7 and have heard the WP8 and the Maxx 2. The WP8 is better sounding, but not woth the extra $10K+ in my opinion. The Maxx 2 is a great speaker. I would save up for that purchase.
Steve |
I've owned the Sophias, Watt 7's/WatchDog, and now own the Maxx 2's. There are demostrable improvements in dynamic scale and dimensionality in sound with the Maxx 2's, even over the W7/WatchDog. I've heard great comments on the new W8, but I'd highly recommend going for a pair of Maxx 2's if you can find a pair. Even buying new, I'd say they're well worth the difference in cost.
|
I had the same idea as you have, but I went for the WP8s
I've tried Maxx 2s in my house and they did sound slighty more at ease than the WP7s with my Audio Note amps. Yet, the Maxxs were just too large looking for my listening evrioment, our living room. I felt they dominated the aethetics of thge room. IMHO, if you have the room and like the Maxxs aesthetics then go for it.
I have about 200 hours on my WP8s now and they do sound much better than than my previous WP 7s.
enjoy the music, cheers,
GerryM5 |
Gerrym5,
So what you are really saying is the Maxx 2's didn't pass the WAF? ;)
I hope to have a pair of Maxx 2's hopefully next year. What differences have you heard between the 7's and 8's? I couldn't pass up the price on the WP 7's especially right now! |
I started this thread because I had not fully heard these speakers. I still have not heard the wp8 but have now heard the maxx2 in two different listening rooms at two different dealers using very different equipment.
Let me begin by saying that I thought and still think that the wp7 is a great speaker. Natural curosity is what made me consider an upgrade.
I had heard the accolades and also the wilson bashers trash the maxx2
Well the first time I heard the maxx2 at dealer A with my own source material (radiohead ok computer), I thought it was a little better than the wp7 but certainly not worth the significant cost differential. The dealer ran the maxx2 with a wadia cd player and krell 750mcx so certainly the other equipment employed was real good. I had some doubts as to the quality of the listening room though.
So I then tried a different dealer who had a much better listening room in terms of acoustics. This dealer also had a more subtle yet powerful amp than the krell. This dealer used the VTL s-400 and used the well-regarded ayre cd player. I listened to Roxy Music Avalon which is even better recorded than Radiohead Ok Computer. It was not the super audio version but still. Again, I found the maxx2 was better than the wp7 sound I got at home. But again, the difference was more than small but not substantial. I would say the very low end of moderate.
I have to wonder then whether the maxx2 is really only a good upgrade for a wp7 owner unless the owner has a lot of disposable cash or listens to mostly audiophile recordings (not mainstream rock or pop). I found a significant improvement when I went from the Wilson Sophias to the Wilson WP7 but luckily do not feel the maxx2 justify double the price. In reality, I was offered a great deal on a maxx2 and use the wp7 as a down payment but felt even then that the sound improvement did not warrant the upgrade.
Instead, I chose to upgrade the emmlabs preamp/dac to the signature edition and upgrade my transport too (which was the old edition whose software was not updatable). I found the improvement with this upgrade was on par with the improvement the maxx2 would have made at a third of the cost.
Now that I have settled on keeping the speaker and upgrading the preamp/dac/transport, I am now migrating to the dart amplifier from the lamm 2.2 amplifier.
Mike |
Nah! I have MS in Industrial Design and function/design/appearance have to work just right for me. That's why I've owned four BMW M5s in a row now and there's that same function/design/aesthetics balance in the WP8s for me. But, I can hear why you would choose Maxx2s.
On why go to the 8s over the 7s. They are more efficient. That's important to me with a 60W PSE amp (Maxx2s may be even more efficient than the 8s). The 8s deliver wider/deeper sound stage and much wider sweat spot. They sound more musical to me - a lot. Could it be the new tweeter and crossover? Don't get me wrong, the 7s are wonderful, but the 8s are just the next step better. For me its like my stock 2007 M5 vs my, much beloved, 2000 M5.
cheers,
GerryM5 |
Do some serious listening to Vandersteen 5A's with really good components and cable. I went through what you're going through. Vandees are upgradable too - no need to trade to keep on top. Wilsons can sound good with the right recording, but I find that even w/bad recordings there is a reality to the 5A's that the wilsons can't match. |
Those 5A's are very good, but a totally different sound from the Wilson's as are Quads, Avalon's, Ceramic, B&W's, Sound Labs, Avant Garde, Magapan's etc. How can they be right but different? |
i got the pleasure of listening to the 8's this weekend in a room where the a pair of x-2's sat for a few years. i have heard several world class speakers come through this room and the 8's were simply incredible. they dont do anything wrong and do so many things right, that to buy the maxx 2's or even the x-2's would be only because you wanted something more than what the 8's could provide. in my opinion, the biggest difference in making the upgrade to the maxx or the x-2 would be the much elevated price. But, that is what some people need to do in order to feel like they are listening to the best, and if that works for them, who can argue? |
Just wait a couple of months until the WP 9 comes out. |
