Hi Richard,
I owned the 7's for more than a year but have also listened extensively with the 8's at numerous shows and at dealers. The 8's are clearly more refined in the treble and have a less sharp upper midrange, which to me makes a lot of positive difference. Some that like that character in the 7's might term the 8's as "darker" but I did not care as much for the older Wilson sound, preferring the Sophia and Sophia 2's to the Watt 7's, 6's and 5's... Clearly the latter were more dynamic and athletic sounding--but in my opinion also less coherent.
With the 8's, Wilson continued the trend of pulling back what I felt was a slight upper bass prominence--obvious in the 5's and 6--less in the 7's and gone in the 8's. Overall you have a more coherent, pure sounding speaker system that emphasizes the fundamental harmonics of tone and texture rather than previous designs that favored the "attack" and timing elements in sound. Don't get me wrong, the 8's are still WP's but with a purity and seamlessness missing from the 7's--imo of course.
Low bass articulation and weight was also improved, so in my opinion the differences were all positive and noteworthy. Others may not agree, but I find the 8's sound a lot closer to the MAXX 3's than the 7's. If necessary, I could go back and live happily with the 8's or even Sophia 2's. The 7's were less of an ideal match for my listening preferences,
Regards,
Grant
Shunyata Research
I owned the 7's for more than a year but have also listened extensively with the 8's at numerous shows and at dealers. The 8's are clearly more refined in the treble and have a less sharp upper midrange, which to me makes a lot of positive difference. Some that like that character in the 7's might term the 8's as "darker" but I did not care as much for the older Wilson sound, preferring the Sophia and Sophia 2's to the Watt 7's, 6's and 5's... Clearly the latter were more dynamic and athletic sounding--but in my opinion also less coherent.
With the 8's, Wilson continued the trend of pulling back what I felt was a slight upper bass prominence--obvious in the 5's and 6--less in the 7's and gone in the 8's. Overall you have a more coherent, pure sounding speaker system that emphasizes the fundamental harmonics of tone and texture rather than previous designs that favored the "attack" and timing elements in sound. Don't get me wrong, the 8's are still WP's but with a purity and seamlessness missing from the 7's--imo of course.
Low bass articulation and weight was also improved, so in my opinion the differences were all positive and noteworthy. Others may not agree, but I find the 8's sound a lot closer to the MAXX 3's than the 7's. If necessary, I could go back and live happily with the 8's or even Sophia 2's. The 7's were less of an ideal match for my listening preferences,
Regards,
Grant
Shunyata Research