The $27,900 disappointment? Wilson Audio Watt Puppy 8 issues.

Hi, I was a silent reader of this forum for quite a while now and just registered because I am about to decide which path to go.

I owned a pair of Watt Puppies, then Sasha's and then back to Watt Puppies. I owned them for more than 20 years.

My question now is what Watt/Puppies you owned, and why you went back to them after also owning a pair of Sashas (I presume the Sasha W/P)? I am confronted with exactly that situation at the moment, I can purchase a very-well kept pair of W/P 8 or a pair of Sasha W/P. I would appreciate your opinion on this. Thank you!

fyi, I have not heard the Sasha 1.  I own the W/P 8, and my brother owns the Sophia 2.  I bought mine used on Audiomart, he bought his Sophia 2 almost new from a dealer when they first came out - way before me.   We both running with tube amps and tube preamps.  Mine are monoblocked McIntosh Mc275 amps and McIntosh C2300 tube preamp.  The W/P 8 has more bass than the Sophia 2.  Treble and mid range are similar and they have the same titanium inverted dome tweeter.   The Sasha 1 was the replacement of the Watt/Puppy 8.  It is a little bigger and the design was changed a little.  I am not sure if they did anything to the tweeter, but, you should check that out.  Two things to note.  The front foam on the W/P 8 deteriorates.  Wilson sells updated foam cutout replacements and I replaced mine.   The updated foam cutouts are not cheap, but, they look great - price is $440 for four of them.  It is also kinda messy to do the replacement.  In addtion, I would change all three resistors in the W/P 8.   Wilson sells the replacements, but, they are not cheap - Resistor kit is $160 per speaker, and it is only 2 out of the 3 resistors.  The other one you have to buy separate..  I am not sure if the Sasha 1 has the new formulation foam on the front that does not deteriorate or not, but, that is something that I would check out.  Regarding sound, since the Shasha 1 is bigger, I would imagine you would get more lower octave bass.  My W/P 8 in my system are the end all speaker for me, even in my large size room.  If the upgrades are not required on the Sasha 1, then, the price difference may balance out any price difference.  Without listening, just on specs alone, if the prices were similar, and size was not a factor, I would probably go for the Sasha 1.  BTW, you can call Wilson direct and they will talk to you about your decision and what maint. is recommended on each speaker model.  They are super nice.  They will also answer your email, but, that may take a couple of days.    Here is a pic of my Watt/Puppy 8 with the Wilson updated Foam that I installed. 

Thank you so much for your detailed message, @hjdca ! Thing is that it seems to be one of the very late WP8 ever built, and I’ve been totally attracted by the WP since the 90s. So this would possibly be a one in a lifetime opportunity to purchase them in my favorite color, and in a very, very good shape. They were the "backup" sound system of an older guy whose primary system was an Infinity RS 1B and thus played only now and then. The foam is in great shape, I guess it muss have been kept away from UV etc. I don’t mind working on the parts you mentioned, i.e replacing the foam when needed (I already read it’s a nasty task to conduct, however, I am also into restoring and keeping alive vintage cars and am not shocked by work like that), same applies to the resistors.

The Sasha W/P has a very, very low serial number in comparison and its life barely documented (in contrast to that of the WP8). As I have a strong bios towards a certain perfectionism, regarding the condition I prefer the WP8. I’m going to again listen to them side by side and then see what my gut tells me.

Thanks again!

@aircooled cool, sounds like you know what you are getting into.  Yup, the Watt/Puppys are the legend and the "8" are the last of that breed.  As you said, the Sasha 1s were built almost the same time as the last W/P 8, so, the front foam issue is probably the same.  fyi, my W/P 8 are approx. in the 14,400 serial number range and according to Wilson were built - March, 2008.  Note: if you email the serial number and model to Wilson, they will send you the birth date of the speaker.  Good Luck on your decision, I bet you will love which ever Wilson speaker you choose -- NO subwoofer reqiured...lol..   

@hjdca My thinking is the WP8 being very advanced by then, while the Sasha W/P (especially due to the very low serial number) may be still a bit immature (thinking they refined them even during building a model). Thanks for the hint contacting Wilson — very nice to hear they are about their customers. For instance, Porsche provides birth certificates as well for classic cars (which then states the options a car was ordered with, where it was delivered etc). For me this is one important bit that consumer electronic producers barely provide.