- To mark the 50th anniversary of Wilson Audio Specialties Inc., the US speaker manufacturer is presenting the new generation of Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy at High-end 2024.
The renowned High-end loudspeaker manufacturer Wilson Audio Specialties Inc. is celebrating a very special anniversary this year: after David Wilson founded the US company in 1974, the 50th birthday celebrations are on the agenda this year. It goes without saying that a company that is still firmly in family hands and committed to tradition knows how to celebrate this in a very special way.
Daryl Wilson, who took over the company from his father as CEO and chief developer, took the opportunity to personally unveil the very first presentation of the latest generation of Wilson WATT/Puppy in Munich at High-end 2024. The official launch of this unique speaker system is scheduled for 7 June 2024.
A truly outstanding loudspeaker – Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy
Wilson Audio Specialties Inc. is known for many a unique loudspeaker system; after all, the philosophy with which the company from Provo in the US state of Utah approaches the development and production of loudspeaker systems is unique. Nevertheless, the Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy is a speciality among all its siblings, as it represents everything that Wilson Audio Specialties Inc. stands for in its purest form.
It is not without good reason that the manufacturer refers to the Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy as a loudspeaker system that has achieved cult status.
The Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy was first presented in 1986 and was launched in eight versions over the years before being discontinued in 2011.
The Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy – The rebirth of an icon
Wilson Audio Specialties Inc. states that the design of the new generation Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy was naturally inspired by the legacy of the original. In a personal conversation with sempre-audio.at, Daryl Wilson explicitly emphasises that he had very long discussions with his father about this loudspeaker system, which led to the joint development of the plan to take up this project again, but with all the possibilities offered by today’s technology, but also on the basis of the decades of experience of Wilson Audio Specialties Inc.
The development of the new Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy began, of course, on the basis of the instantly recognisable design, and with a hopeful vision, according to the company: The goal was to create a new Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy that honoured the original designer, using current technologies and innovations refined over more than 50 years. Simply put, the goal was to create a Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy that Dave Wilson would have built if he had the resources back then that Wilson Audio Specialties Inc. has today.
Even though the similarities between the old and new versions are quite striking, the concepts differ in some key areas.
New adjustment options for optimum timing, familiar drivers
Probably the most striking innovation is that the design of the latest Wilson WATT/Puppy allows sensitive timing correction, an option that Wilson Audio Specialties Inc. always cites as particularly important.
The new generation of the Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy thus relies on the familiar iconic design with a rather massive bass cabinet, in which two 8-inch woofers supported by a bass reflex system perform their duties, as well as a trapezoidal second cabinet on top, in which a 7-inch midrange driver and a 1-inch tweeter can be found.
This upper cabinet is now optimally decoupled from the bass chassis by means of separate spikes, and the timing can also be optimally adjusted using this separate construction.
To return to the speaker drivers, the woofers are the same models that are used in the current Wilson Audio Sasha V, and they are designed to provide an impressive bass response with the best possible reproduction of dynamics and maximum precision.
The 7-inch AlNiCo-QuadraMag midrange driver is also used here, whereby this abbreviation stands for the materials aluminium, nickel and cobalt. This driver is used in the Wilson Audio Chronosonic XVX, Wilson Audio Alexx V, Wilson Audio Alexia V and Wilson Audio Sasha V models.
The tweeter is a CSC tweeter, which in turn stands for Convergent Synergy Carbon. This special tweeter was originally developed for the Wilson Audio Alexx V and is also used in the Wilson Audio Alexa V and Wilson Audio Sasha V models.
Material customer in the style of Wilson Audio Specialties Inc.
As is well known, Wilson Audio Specialties Inc. always relies on unique materials when it comes to the construction of its enclosures. The different materials are given code names such as X-Material and S-Material, which are used in the new Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy for the internal bracing on the one hand and for the actual cabinet and baffle on the other. The so-called V-material is used on the top of the bass enclosure, which acts as a vibration-damping interface.
Crossover with components from our own production
Just how much attention Wilson Audio Specialties Inc. pays to every detail can be seen in the new Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy with the use of components manufactured in-house for the crossover. The so-called AudioCapX-WA capacitors from Wilson Audio Specialties Inc. are wound internally by a separate department, Reliable Capacitors (RelCap), in order to maintain exceptionally tight tolerances and thus guarantee the best performance when used in the speakers.
WilsonGloss Colours
Naturally, the new Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy will also be available in a wide variety of design variants, with the complete range of WilsonGloss Colors available, according to the manufacturer, who also offers the speaker grille, which has been perfectly optimised acoustically for the best results, in either black or white. The standard colours are Galaxy Gray, GT Silver, Quartz, Carbon and Medio Grigio, all other colours are available at an extra charge.
The technical data of the Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy Generation 2024
As already mentioned, the Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy Generation 2024 has a slightly adapted design compared to the “original” and measures 105 cm in height, 30,38 cm in width and 47,44 cm in depth. It is therefore a comparatively compact floor-standing speaker system, which nevertheless weighs an impressive 72,57 kg per speaker. If you decide in favour of this speaker, you should also keep one thing in mind: the shipping weight, which is stated at an impressive 235,87 kg.
The two 8-inch woofers with bass reflex system and the 7-inch midrange and 1-inch tweeter drivers cover a frequency range between 26 Hz and 30 kHz and, with an impedance of 4 ohms and a sensitivity of 89 dB, are designed for an amplifier output of 25 watts or more.
Prices and availability
When exactly the new Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy will actually be available has not yet been finalised, but it is clear that, as mentioned at the beginning, it will celebrate its official premiere on 7 June 2024. A guide price of US$ 38.500,- per pair in the standard version is given here.
Getting to the point
The Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy has always played a very special role for Wilson Audio Specialties Inc., be it from a purely technological point of view, but above all in the company’s history, as it was probably one of the most successful loudspeaker systems from the renowned US High-end loudspeaker manufacturer. It is therefore obvious that Wilson Audio Specialties Inc. decided to reissue the Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy on the occasion of the company’s 50th anniversary, which now celebrated a kind of pre-launch at Audio Reference GmbH as part of High End 2024.
| PRODUCT | Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy |
|---|---|
| Price | US$ 38.500,- |
| Brand | WILSON AUDIO |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Wilson Audio Specialties |
| Distribution Austria | Audio Reference GmbH |
| More about this manufacturer at HIFI BLOG |
