Loudspeakers

Daryl Wilson, CEO of Wilson Audio Specialties, is immersed in the family business - he's pictured above in the mid-'80s in the garage where his father, David Wilson, built the first WATT. The burning question? We asked Daryl, aside from the overall shape, does anything remain from the last-generation WATT/Puppy 8?

'I've wanted to resurrect this iconic design for almost a decade', says Daryl. 'My father and I talked about it quite a bit, but at that time there weren't enough new elements to justify reintroducing it. However, since my father passed in 2018, there have been a lot of individual component advancements.'

Daryl cites the cabinet materials, the in-house developed and custom-made crossover components, internal cabling, driver tech, connection points, advanced shape and design analysis. 'The only thing common to The WATT/Puppy Series 8 would be the driver sizes [25mm tweeter, 178mm mid, 2x200mm woofers] and the echo of its shape.'

Described as 'truly and thoroughly remastered', the back of The WATT/Puppy has a beautifully engraved 50th Anniversary medallion attached to the resistor panel, albeit limited to the 2024 production. 'The WATT/Puppys built after 2024 will have the commemorative medallion replaced with something else', says Daryl.

In practice, The WATT/Puppy supplants the retired Yvette and is the smallest model with an adjustable mid/treble head unit. Below it is the sole single-chassis floorstanding speaker, the SabrinaX , which does not offer adjustable time alignment.