My apologies_Upgrade path from Wilson WattPuppy 7's?

A few observations from the OP of this thread:

(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;
(2) I would like to thank the fellow from the Audio Connection who I talked to about speaker choices - thank-you so much for talking with me in an intelligent manner - it was extremely useful!
(3) I have demoed the following loudspeakers in my newly designed 307 sq ft listening room, and here are my observations:

1. Vandersteen Quatro CT's: Tremendously great speakers, especially for rock and jazz - not as good for strings (orchestral) - this could be related to improper placement and setup;
   
2. Wilson Yvettes: Great speakers, greater frequency range but less analytical than my WPs. Seem too expensive for what they provide, even at a demo price;
3. Wilson Audio MAXX3: Spectacular speakers, too much for my room;
4. Wilson Sasha 1: Actually sound somewhat better for violin, viola, and cello than my WP7's, even if they still contain the $7 tweeter!
5. Wilson Sabrina: Lack proper reproduction of cello in the low midrange - good speakers, but not for me;
6. Wilson Audio Alexia 1: Great, but I do not believe in this theory of time domain compensation or whatever it is called. Not as good in my room as either the MAXX3's, Sasha 1's or WP7's;
7. Wilson Audio Alexia 2: Fantastic. Not as good in my room as either the Sasha 1's or the Yvette's.
   

Sorry for TMI about Wilson loudspeakers. I still do not what to do, but am waiting on $$$ from the sale of my biotech company to act (have to wait until February). If you know anything about the biotech industry, you will probably know what company I am talking about (sold to Myriad Genetics in 2016).

Thank-you for all of your help - Gerry

(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