06/01/2026
FIDELITY-Online.de Award Winner 2026: Absolute Fidelity Legende—The WATT/Puppy
"Pyramid frustum atop a rectangular enclosure: Wilson Audio did not invent the concept of a mid/high-frequency head unit mounted on a bass module, but it made the design socially accepted. The acoustic advantages are tangible: mechanical decoupling of bass vibrations from the higher frequencies, along with the possibility of geometric time alignment.
"Legend” is not a title we bestow lightly. To earn this distinction, it is not enough to deliver an outstanding product within a category; it is reserved for icons that anyone even casually interested in hi-fi can name off the top of their head, and that have decisively shaped the audiophile landscape. The Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy fulfills these conditions beyond any doubt. Its origins, however, were rather accidental: After Dave Wilson, encouraged by enthusiastic listeners, turned his personal uncompromising mini-monitor WATT (Wilson Audio Tiny Tot) into a commercial product, he completed it three years later with the Puppy bass module to cover the lowest octaves. The system subsequently became not only one of the best-selling high-end loudspeakers of all time—even during periods when the model temporarily disappeared from catalogs, its design concept of a mid/high-frequency unit atop a bass module continued to shape not only Wilson Audio’s own lineup, but also became the blueprint for countless competitors. To celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary, the loudspeaker manufacturer from Provo revived the name, naturally equipping it with the latest advances in driver technology, crossover components (including in-house capacitors!), and not least cabinet materials. In principle, the new version remains faithful to its origins from nearly 40 years ago, without appearing in the slightest like a relic from the past. It integrates seamlessly into the current loudspeaker catalog as well as the broader high-end landscape—as if it had never gone away."
—FIDELITY-Magazine.com
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