Amplification for Wilson Watt Puppy 7s or 8s

Dob, thanks for your input. As far as the musical peaks thing goes, FWIW I am used to seeing those meters move a little- the fact that they don't on the Sashas in the system I heard says to me they are easy to drive.

Given the amps you mentioned, I would go with your choice too, I think. Not all tube amps are equal!!

Reboot....I suspect there is no worse combination than Wilsons and Valhalla

2/16/10-Initial comparison:
I can only compare the new Musicians to the McCormack DNA-750 mono-blocks at this point. The highs are much better and more “real”, to me, on the Spectrons. The bass is very strong and powerful, maybe more so, on the Spectrons, but the McCormacks may have a more natural, organic bass. The midrange is, at this point, very similar, though I remember the Premiere, when bi-amped being smoother than both.

With that said, the Spectron Musicians are brand new, and may benefit from some burn-in time, as well as some isolation platforms.

2/20/10- Impressions-A few days later with Omicron Magic Dream Isolation on Spectrons (as I returned the McCormacks and could not compare Omicrons, but would assume both would benefit somewhat equally)
Yes, the Spectrons are sounding better everyday. The mids and highs are getting ”silkier” with more air around the instruments and the bass is developing that natural organic extension I was looking for. I brought the McCormacks back to Katli Audio in Chino Hills. I was then heading to another dealer to pick up 2 Composite Products platforms for the Mono-Blocks. They retail for $550 ea, but I was getting a decent discount. I asked Fred, of Katli, what he uses. He showed me some Omicron Magic Dream-$130 for a set of 3. They create a floating “platform” (with no platform, just 3 "sticks", like Stillpoints, that I put under each amp and immediately I noticed a tighter deeper bass, better dynamics and better soundstage with more air around the instruments. I only listened for a half an hour, as my family wanted to see the movie Avatar. I will have to do more evaluations by switching my CP platforms with the Omicrons. Anyway, very impressive and much less than the Composite Products platform.

I probably keep at least 1 Spectron, depending on sound when I disconnect 1 and convert the other to a stereo amp. Great option.

Lubes3

I could have been very happy with the McCormacks with their errors of omission, but the Spectrons provided more information, with possibly less distortion. Both amps exceed the older Spectron Premier 7 in all aspects of music.

Several days later-
After installing the Omicrons, immediately I noticed a tighter, deeper bass developing that natural organic extension I was looking for, the mids and highs are getting ”silkier” with more air around the instruments and the soundstage is improving in width and depth, with more air around the instruments, and better dynamics. I decided, after this, the Spectrons were the keepers. This was observed after only 4 hours of listening and maybe 60 hours on the amps, maybe 100 hours on the WP8s.

I checked out 1 Spectron amp in stereo mode, and thought the bass was solid, midrange smooth, and highs silky, but the overall impression was one of less impact and dynamics. The overall soundstage seemed smaller. It was missing something, almost like the speakers were out of phase, that I couldn’t necessarily put my finger on. Upon reinsertion of the 2nd Spectron as Mono-Blocks, all that was missing returned.

The Spectrons are a proprietary Class D amp (no ICE modules) without a switching power supply with high power (over 1000 watts into 8 ohms as Mono-Blocks) and high current.(can deliver 65 amp peaks) They use a fairly traditional power supply, as they weigh around 65 lbs. each. Like the comp. they are small and fit in my wife’s HT cabinet without generating any heat, and are very energy efficient only drawing 40 watts each at idle.

The WP8s now have close to 200 hours and are sounding fantastic. I have not had the dealer over yet to voice the system, as I wanted to settle on some amps and break in the WP8s first. Depending on the music, the WP8s disappear like no other speaker I’ve had in my system. They are much smoother and more dimensional, as well. They also excel at producing the bass punch and slam I sometimes crave. However, they don’t reproduce some of the lowest organ notes, like my PBNs did, but those frequencies are very rare. Overall, very happy with the WP8s.

Thanks again for all your advice.

Lubes3

Hello all,

I am a new one here... first post
I just moved to Seattle from ... Paris FR!
I am looking at buying a pair of Watt Puppy 8 here on Audiogon.
Back home I owned a pair of Kef Reference 203 powered by a Mcintosh preamp and power amp.
I was reasonably happy with it.

The reason for my posting here is the following:
I brought a Musical fidelity A1 amp and CD player with me (last Gen). This is a kit that I will always keep because of its efficiency/price ratio.

I am planing on using the A1 to power the W/P8 to begin with. I know it is not going to be ideal and some of you might think I am fool to do so but at least I will try.

So here is my question: what would you recommend I look for in terms of power amp to add to the A1 used as a preamp.
I know the Sasha speakers very well from hours of listening in France and would say that what I have enjoyed the most with them is solid state power amp and tube Preamp to give them some "warmth".... I don't know what to expect at all with the WP/8... I have actually never heard them...

any light you could shed would be greatly appreciated!
Merci,
Pierre.