Wilson Puppy 6 vs Wilson Puppy 7


Now I want to upgrade my speakers. I have now limited my choise between the following options:

1. Wilson Puppy 7
2. Wilson Maxx
3. JM Lab Utopia

I think the Wilson Puppy 7 might suit my needs the best. However how much will it improve the sound to the 6. I listened it in a few ocasions and I feel that the 6 is better in the bass than the 7. The bass of the 6 is more fat and seems to have more slam. To my opinion this is better.

The 7 however seems to have a slightly better mid Area.
Can someboy give more explanation about the difference between the Puppy 6 and Puppy 7.

For the JM Lab it is a totally different speaker. It is warmer sounding with a more natural bass. But in a small room it might overpower the room. Also they look ugly (so is the Maxx by the way).

How about the difference between Wilson Puppy and JM Lab Utopia. Which one is the better speaker.

Peter
sprbggr

Showing 1 response by jameswei

I have W/P 6s and have listened to the 7s at shows and dealers.

The 6s' weakest points (in my opinion) are that the tweeter is a little hot and the puppies have a little midbass prominence but don't go all the way down. The hot tweeter is usually addressed by adjusting toe-in -- the speaker is fairly sensitive to placement. The side benefit is that people who like sharp, analytical speakers can get what they like here. I find that I like the small midbass prominence, as you noted, too. I am supplementing the puppies with two subwoofers, so the 6s' lack of very low bass is not an issue with my set up.

The 7s use an improved enclosure material, which I have read permits some tweaking of the crossover to smooth out the tweeter. Apparently, this also supports other changes in the crossover and puppy driver systems to smooth out the midbass prominence and extend the low end. The result seems to be a flatter and more extended speaker frequency response. The speaker is less sensitive to placement, and perhaps a little more forgiving of upstream components. To me, the sound is a little less intense as an experience. To exaggerate for illustration, the sound is a little less "West Coast" and a little more Boston. Relative to other speakers I listened to, the W/P 7s are still colorful and dynamic (just not quite so much as the 6s). These attributes, plus the beautiful fit & finish and high efficiency (especially if you are thinking about tube amplification), keep the design attractive. Whether it costs too much is up to your personal wallet.