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

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.

@mclinnguy, at least twice I've had a response disappear when I hit Post.  Nothing that interesting so I never followed up.

It's all a mystery to me.