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Being hailed as: “the return of a high-end icon”, Wilson Audio has reintroduced its WATT/Puppy loudspeakers – which were first launched in 1986. The American company claims that, upon its first release, the WATT/Puppy: “pushed the envelope of upscale loudspeaker design across the industry, becoming the world’s bestselling speaker above $10,000 – and so it remains to this day.”

The original concept was sparked by company founder Dave Wilson’s desire to build a portable monitor for his recording projects that would exceed the resolving power of established models of the time, with a firm focus on maximising performance without cost constraints. Such was the demand for the resulting custom-made WATT (Wilson Audio Tiny Tot) two-way monitor that the company decided to create a separate bass enclosure to transform it into a full-range floorstander. This bass enclosure was dubbed the Puppy, and thus in 1986 the WATT/Puppy was born.

The WATT/Puppy continued in the company’s range for 25 years, undergoing eight revisions until its eventual retirement back in 2011. This year, as Wilson Audio celebrates its 50th anniversary, it’s coming back in a remastered form which includes a thorough evolution of the original WATT/Puppy’s separate mid/treble (WATT) and bass (Puppy) enclosure design and angular shape using the company’s proprietary ‘X-material’, ‘S-material’ and ‘V-material’ composites in a bid to deliver enclosures that are inherently inert. Original features retained and enhanced include the WATT’s rear handle – a nod to its heritage as a portable studio monitor. It incorporates Wilson Audio’s 25mm Convergent Synergy Carbon treble driver and 180mm AlNiCo QuadraMag midrange driver. The Puppy houses two 205mm bass drivers with homogenous cellulose composite cones and adjustable spikes claimed to allow precise time-domain alignment of the WATT module. There’s also a built-in bubble level and resistor panel for maintenance and customisation and the ‘WilsonGloss’ enclosure colours, grille colours and hardware colours can be specified individually.

The rear resistor panel incorporates a limited-edition medallion commemorating Wilson Audio’s 50th anniversary, available exclusively only throughout this year.

Available to buy now for £42,000, you can find out more about the WATT/Puppy here.