Watt Puppy 6

I haven't heard the Legacy speakers you mentioned. Since you said you liked the W/P 8, I thought it might be desirable to identify the differences with the W/P 6.

I guess Wilson would say that the W/P 8 is the latest and greatest. Since the W/P 6, Wilson has changed the enclosure material, tweeter driver, and the crossover. (At least, these appear to be the major changes.) The result seems to be a softer high end, smoother midrange, and a woofer that goes a little deeper but no longer has the slight mid-bass prominence that contributed an illusion of better bass.

Conversely, the W/P 6s (and earlier versions) have been criticized for being a little hot on the high end (analytical? strident?) and having the mid-bass bump and not going deep enough on the low end. Sound wise, the W/P 6 sounds a little "hifi-ish" (West Coast sound?) with a slight emphasis on the frequency extremes. I have the W/P 6s, and they sound fine in my room, which is furnished and configured in a way that tends to mute the highs. I also have two subwoofers strategically placed and crossed over so as to fill in the bottom octave. This last is a real plus when I use the system for home theater.

Bottom line, I would recommend you listen to the W/P 6 yourself, if possible. It is a different speaker from the W/P 8 that you liked. Depending on your tastes, you might still like it better than the Legacy.

Pbb makes a good point -- these suckers are heavy, well over 100 pounds, and each one of them comes in two wooden crates. Shipping is nontrivial.

So far as regular obsolescence, I guess that a new model comes out probably every two or three years, just like some car models. What's more notable is that each new model seems to be better than the preceding one. At the W/P price point, Wilson needs to keep the product as good and fresh as they can, and new drivers or cabinet materials or crossover designs should be incorporated regularly in updated versions. One might infer that the pace of technology might somehow be reflected in the amount of time between new versions, as well as an opportunity to raise prices and sell more speakers. As a buyer, I understood that this would happen -- it's part of the package -- Wilson wasn't going to stop making W/Ps at the 6s just because I bought a pair. Business as usual.