Watkins Generation 4 Speakers

[tmallin]

The Watkins brand is hardly a well-known name in high-end audio circles. This family-run company has been around for about 60 years, though, with first Bill Watkins Sr., and now his son, Bill Watkins Jr., running the operation. A short interview with Bill Watkins Jr. can be found here. Bill Jr. published a book in 2022 titled "Loudspeaker Physics and Forced Vibration."

And, confession time: The only reason I bought the Graham LS8/1 was that when I wanted to move on from the Sanders 10e for various reasons, these Watkins speakers were not then available. The Watkins Generation 4 was out of production with no stock available for about two years. After REG reviewed the Graham LS8/1 I bought the Grahams since I thought they also had great potential and I certainly was not wrong about that. But I stayed on the waiting list for the Watkins, waiting for production to resume and for the entire time I’ve owned the Grahams.

Like many small businesses, Bill Watkins’ former woodworker (who produced the Gen 4 cabinets to Watkins’ specs) went out of business near the beginning of the pandemic. It took Bill a LONG time to find another woodworker willing and able to make the rather complicated cabinets to Bill’s satisfaction at a price which would enable Bill to sell the speakers for a price he believes his market would tolerate. As it is, the price went from $2,500 a pair to now $3,000 a pair with the new woodworker. Bill told me these new cabinets are the best he’s ever offered in terms of fit and finish.

My fascination with the Watkins Generation 4 developed because I saw it as the ultimate refinement of the old EPI 100/Epicure 10 two-way module developed in the early 1970s by Winslow Burhoe. I have long admired those speakers. While the top octaves were a bit or more bright sounding when listened to on axis (see Julian Hirsh’s test report here), when arranged so that the speakers face each other and listened to at right angles to the baffle, those speakers were remarkably refined and hugely open sounding for their time and even today. They were a simple sealed two-way box speaker with a minimal first-order analog crossover (a single capacitor to roll off the bottom-end response of the tweeter) with bass extension down to 40 Hz or so. The Watkins Generation 4 takes this minimal first-order crossover concept and adds physical time alignment via a sloping baffle and premium parts to this formula. It also has a custom-damped tweeter and the famous Watkins woofer alignment which is ported but rolls off at 18 dB/octave rather than the usual 24 dB/octave of a ported woofer or 12 dB/octave like a sealed cabinet. The big Infinity speakers that HP liked back in the day used Watkins woofers.

I was also fascinated since one of my early audio heroes, J. Gordon Holt, founder of Stereophile, used a predecessor of the Generation 4, the enormous Watkins WE-1, designed by Bill Watkins Sr., as his reference speakers for several years back in the 1980s, an eternity in high-end speaker advancements. Most listeners, as well as Bill Watkins Jr. himself, believe that in most ways the Generation 4, despite its relatively diminutive size, is by far a better speaker than the old WE-1.

My fascination was also piqued by Dick Olsher’s review of the Generation 4 in The Absolute Sound in 2017. To my knowledge, that’s the only “serious” review of the Generation 4 speakers, even though, yes, the Generation 4 has been around for a few years now. Some changes to the design were made after Olsher’s review. See the manufacturer’s discussion of the updates here.

The walks-on-water testimonials from owners of the Generation 4 further piqued my interest despite the lack of other reviews by the audiophile press.

I should also confess that when I first received the Generation 4 speakers, I was reluctant to set them up. The Graham LS8/1 were sounding so very wonderful with the recent addition of Lumin L2 and fiber optic networking to my system. The Watkins speakers sat in their unopened boxes for about a week. When I finally got around to unboxing them, I set them atop the Skylan 30-inch-tall SP-30 two-post stands (with posts filled with wood pellets) which I months before had purchased and set up in anticipation of finally acquiring the Watkins speakers. There they sat for another week, still unauditioned.

 

[tmallin]

So how do the Watkins Generation Four speakers sound, especially relative to my current reference, the Graham LS8/1?

When I finally did audition the Watkins, I casually placed them beside or in front of the Grahams and merely moved the speaker cables from the Grahams to the Watkins. First hearing was not promising at all, but before the first night’s listening was done, I did find a near-field position (about 36 inches from drivers to my ears) where the Watkins sounded very promising indeed. A day or two later I moved the Grahams out of the room so I could locate the Watkins in my preferred location in this room, where the Grahams and other speakers have been.

There followed a few days of almost utter despair. I was ready to give up on the Watkins speakers and literally give them away. Listening sessions were painful. The Gen 4, without the Grahams in the room, seemed both appallingly bright in the mid-highs and appallingly lacking in bass. At volumes above quite moderate, there was a “crunch” to the sound on certain loud vocal, piano, and some other transients which produced a “cringe” response in me. There was also a hooded or hooty sound to voices and a general lack of clarity in the mids. Spatial reproduction was mediocre at best, with much of the sound clinging to the baffles.

But I thought I owed it to Bill Watkins to at least play the speakers long enough to “break them in” which Watkins specifies as about 40 hours of playing music at reasonable levels. Well, I have NEVER heard such a transformation of speaker sound (or, for that matter, any item of audio electronics or other equipment) as occurred over the break-in period. I would say that the full break-in requires a good deal longer, at least 100 hours of playback at reasonable volumes.

The first thing which started to correct was the bass. Gradually, the low end began to fill in. The hooty/hooded quality of the mids then receded and eventually disappeared. Increased clarity followed, as did greatly increased three-dimensionality/envelopment. The “crunch” on transients disappeared. The last part of the break-in involved the receding of the over-emphasized treble/tweeter, plus great improvement in the three-dimensionality/envelopment/detachment of the sound from the speaker locations.

After this very-much-required and rather amazing break-in process, the Watkins Generation 4 speakers sound spectacularly fine indeed. I think this newest version of the speakers is even better than Dick Olsher’s assessment. Perhaps Olsher never fully broke them in. But the treble hotness Olsher talks about, which I agree was there at first, does vanish in the current model with continued break in.

I have no firm idea of what needs so much breaking in on these speakers. I suspect that the forming of the audiophile-grade capacitor which comprises the sole electronic crossover component is part of it. The mechanical low-pass roll off of the woofer may be the rest of it. The mechanical parts of the woofer may need to “loosen up” considerably with playing. Those are strictly conjectures, however. One thing is certain: these speakers should be broken in with at least 100 hours of playback at reasonable levels before passing judgment on them.

With that break-in accomplished, I’m prepared to declare the treble balance as “just right” as opposed to “too hot” without the 1 to 2 dB of treble shelving down that Olsher mentioned. The treble also sounds the lowest in distortion and the greatest in clarity and dynamic freedom I’ve ever heard in a speaker in my room.

Spatially the fundamentals and overtones of notes line up where they should be on the stage. This produces an unprecedented certainty of image placement of sound sources on the stage. As Watkins’ website material states: “you hear each instrument in its own space with a natural air between them, along with the natural ambience of the recording site.”

In fact, as far as I can tell, all the sonic claims for the Generation 4 stated on the Watkins website are true to my ears in my room once the break-in process is completed. This goes also for the testimonials from owners/users on the Watkins website. None of the testimonials seem outlandish given what I’m hearing after break-in. There is no marketing BS in the sonic descriptions on the Watkins website, in other words.

I’ve always thought that the one weakness with both the BBC-influenced Stirling Broadcast LS3/6 and the Graham LS8/1 is that the top two octaves of treble is, while at about the right level relative to the rest of the sonic spectrum, a bit or more defocused, especially on non-classical music. Many other speakers in my experience also share this quality. Using cymbals as an example, they have neither quite enough stick impact nor shimmer and not nearly enough temporal separation of the stick impact and the following shimmer. Robert Harley used to refer to this problem (especially with digital sources) as cymbal sound resembling more the sound of high-pressure steam escaping from a valve than the strike and following shimmer sound of real cymbals. The Watkins, with its well-time-aligned output, and subjectively matchless low distortion, lets me hear all elements of the high frequencies overlaid in a way which makes perfect temporal and spatial sense and at the proper relative levels.

The bass is now at a near-perfect level and, as the manufacturer and other listeners claim, it is subjectively deep enough not to require subwoofering. It is taut, punchy, AMAZINGLY detailed, and yet also warm-enough sounding. Bass lines can be followed easier with these speakers than with any others I’ve ever owned. I daresay that you probably don’t know what is really going on in the bass in terms of pitch and SPL changes from moment to moment until you’ve heard the Watkins woofers in action.

That said, even after break-in of the Watkins, I believe that many if not most listeners will find the Grahams still superior in overall tonal balance, especially for classical music. As the published frequency response on this page shows, there is no built-in low frequency warmth in the Watkins. The Grahams, on the other hand have a low-frequency warmth and naturalness and a good measure of gravitas that is beguiling indeed on most commercial classical music recordings. Also, the Grahams are matchless in their apparent freedom from annoying micro-resonances on voices, piano, and strings. These sound sources just sound spooky real.

On the other hand, the Watkins are superior in terms of how they handle dynamic swings, both large and small, even though the Grahams really don’t lack in this department at all. The Watkins swing and sway in ways that bring to mind the old Linn concept of superior PRaT. And as Bill Watkins says, they also have a “grow on you” quality that makes me want to continue to listen to one selection after another, and to have multiple listening sessions per day.

The Watkins excel the Grahams in their ability to point out sonic differences among recordings and about the physical and electronic set up of the speakers and the rest of your system. Whether that is a good thing or not is open to debate. But clarity and subjectively low distortion is at least a match for the Grahams and for non-classical music the Watkins bundle of good qualities seems at least as good if not better than those of the Grahams. The Watkins’ top octave air and detail is clearly superior to that of the Grahams; the transients of cymbals and all other kinds of instruments sound more real on these than on any other speakers I have yet owned. Leading edges of both vocal and instrumental transients are unmatched in their clarity and instantaneous “rightness” in my experience.

Spatially, I’d say the Watkins are a close match for the Grahams. Both are quite satisfying and superior to other speakers I’ve had in this room in terms of envelopment and the freedom of the sound from the physical positions of the speakers. The Watkins do seem to produce a bit taller and wider soundstage, while the Grahams tend to produce just a bit more layering of depth.

The main decision with the Watkins speakers is whether their tonal balance is warm enough for your taste. As Olsher’s review says, you can trade off a bit of the stellar three-dimensionality for greater bass warmth by moving the speakers closer to the wall behind them, and/or by listening a bit off axis. In my small room, the off-axis “fix” works better if the speakers are over-toed rather than under-toed--so that you can just see the side of the cabinets nearest the side walls, in other words, rather than the sides of the cabinets toward the center of the room. But, frankly, I’m inclined to aim the speakers directly at my ears and go for broke on the imaging and soundstaging, just as Olsher was.

Any perceived tonal balance problems of the Watkins can be substantially ameliorated via very simple electronic equalization. For example, the Muse DSP parametric EQ function of Roon seems capable of transparently reducing the highs and warming the bass. In my room and to my ears, a high frequency shelf filter set at 2 kHz at minus 1.1 dB with a Q of 0.5 brings the high frequency level in line with that of the Graham with the Graham's front-panel high frequency switch set at 0. For the lows, I find that a low frequency shelf filter set at plus 3.7 dB with a frequency of 250 Hz and a Q of 0.5 makes the low frequency balance satisfyingly warm on classical music. So set, the Watkins give me superior temporal coherence on high frequency transients. However, the Grahams will still give you an extra half octave of low bass beyond what the Watkins offer, with the Grahams extending to 30 Hz before roll off starts, rather than the 40 Hz of the Watkins.

 

[tmallin]

I think the Skylan stands I’m using with the Generation 4 speakers are close to ideal. Noel Nolan of Skylan recommended his two-post stands for speakers of this size and weight. They run about $320 delivered. The top plates are about 8” x 13” just a bit smaller than the speaker footprints. Noel supplied neoprene bumpers pre-mounted near the corners of the top plate, as well as a choice of spikes or glide feet for the bass. At my request, the bases were predrilled with six rather than four steel inserts to allow the use of either three or four feet per speaker stand. I’m using three glide feet per stand, with two in the front corners and one in the center rear. The speakers are noticeably heavier in front than in the rear, so this arrangement works well in terms of load distribution and makes leveling the stands without rocking so much easier. A 20-pound bag of hardwood pellets (the post-filling material recommended by Skylan) costs about $25 online or at a hardware store. One bag is just enough to fill all four of the pillars of my two 30-inch-tall stands.

Watkins says that the ideal listening axis is half-way up the speaker height. The speakers are 14 inches tall. Thus, measure your seated ear height, and buy stands which will place the bottom of the speakers about 7 inches lower than your seated ear height. In my case, my chair positions my ears about 37 inches off the floor. Thus, my 30-inch stands are about the correct height for my situation.

Watkins sells less expensive stands for these speakers from his store. Feel free to consult him about his recommendations. He is also happy to give you advice about matching speaker cables and other equipment for his speakers.

As to the grills, they are quite transparent, but I marginally prefer the sound with the grills on. I also prefer the aesthetics with the grills on. I recommend experimenting with the grills on and off. They are held in place magnetically and can be exactly centered with respect to the beveled cabinet corners if you are so inclined. If you like, the speakers can be special ordered without the grills or the little magnetic posts which hold the grills in place.

You may wonder whether such small speakers (about half the volume of the Graham LS8/1) can put out enough bass SPL and SPL generally to fill your room. All I have to go on is how they perform in my small (161” L x 132” W x 103” H) well-damped room. In my room, the Watkins Generation 4 speakers play as loud without a hint of strain as I need on any material in any frequency range. Part of their package of excellences is the fact that they remain clear, clean, dynamically unrestrained, and quite fun to listen to at all frequencies even when you want to turn them up “just for fun.” Not that these aren’t speakers for serious listening; it’s just that they are also “big smile” speakers as you turn them up toward realistic levels.

Don’t think that you will save space in your room with these. The footprint of these on their Skylan stands is about the same as the Grahams on their dedicated Something Solid stands. And since the whole Watkins speaker and stand assembly is a bit taller than the Grahams on their dedicated stands, the subjective impression of physical size in my small room is about the same for the Watkins and Graham speakers.

The system driving the Watkins speakers is described here. The procedure for setting up the speakers is basically the same as I used for the Graham LS8/1 and is described at posts 11, 12, and 13 of my Graham thread.

So where do the Watkins Gen 4 stand in my pantheon of subjective speaker sound quality? The Grahams still have the edge in absolute tonal balance rightness and total lack of overtly or subliminally annoying small resonances. No electronic equalization is needed to achieve this in my room to my ears. But the Watkins come close, very close, to even those best aspects of the Graham sonic quality level for much less money and any perceived tonal balance issues are very easy to remedy with electronic equalization. Remember that, in the United States, we are talking speakers which cost only 30% of what the Graham LS8/1s cost!

If you primarily or only listen to classical music and can afford the Graham LS8/1, I’d go with them. Even more well-heeled classical music listeners should also check out the Graham LS 5/5 models or the Harbeth M40.3 for twice as much or more money. The extra money buys you more low-end gravitas and perhaps a bit more ease at higher SPLs, but you may lose a bit of coherence by adding the extra crossover below 3.5 kHz.

But if your musical tastes are, like mine, more eclectic and especially if you can’t afford or just would rather not spend $10k or more for a pair of speakers, then by all means the Watkins Generation 4 is a Godsend at only $3k a pair. For eclectic listening, I believe the Watkins Generation 4 to be at least the overall equal of the Graham LS8/1 in terms of music listening satisfaction. In other words, the Watkins Generation 4 speakers are an incredible bargain!! Just remember that, unlike the Graham, it takes the sound of the Watkins a good while to get to this level.

Note that you cannot commercially audition these Watkins Generation 4 speakers anywhere but at Watkins Stereo in Kingsport, Tennessee. There are no other retail dealers. They are only sold factory direct to consumers from Kingsport. Watkins does offer a 30-day return with refund policy, however. Thirty days should afford ample opportunity for break-in to occur if you don’t let them sit around for weeks without playing them like I did.

To repeat: In my judgement, once the break-in is completed, I believe the Watkins Generation 4 for their $3,000/pair asking price are an incredible bargain!! What we have here is a small, very honest and reputable manufacturer with great ears for what sounds right and real and who is not given to BS marketing. Bill Watkins Jr. is also highly committed to offering the Generation 4 to his customers at the absolutely minimum cost for a very fine product indeed.

Shipping is extra but was only about $120 a pair from Tennessee to my Chicago-area address for two-day delivery via UPS. The speakers are shipped one to a box. Packaging seems bomb-proof but simple: a very sturdy and thick Watkins-labeled box, custom made hard foam inserts to hold the speakers well away from the inside of the box, and a heavy poly bag to guard the speaker finish. Room set up suggestions are provided, as are Caig Deoxit Pro wipes for enhancing the contact of the speaker cable connections.

Watkins currently seems to be building the Generation 4 speakers in small runs of about five pairs per run with a new run completed about once a week. Wait time is down to a few months at this point but may get shorter as production continues. There was a considerable backorder situation since the speakers were out of production for so long.

 

[aljordan]

Thanks for your write-up Tom. I have been interested in these speakers but with worry that they would be too bright. In the final listening position, how far are you from each speaker?

 

[tmallin]

My ears are just over 59 inches from the drivers. The procedure for setting up the speakers is basically the same as I used for the Graham LS8/1 and is described at posts 11, 12, and 13 of my Graham thread.

The more I listen to the Watkins, the more I like them. They disarm criticism, whether heard from inside or outside the room. It takes effort to go into analytical mode. The music just sounds so right, despite any technical limits on low bass extension, bass warmth, or whatever. The music takes over and demands listening with that other part of my brain. And not just on "great recordings." Right now I'm listening to the Europa Jazz Radio internet radio stream (320 kbps) from my computer desk outside the room and it's beyond critique.

 

[tmallin]

I find the Watkins Generation 4 to be a smidge more sensitive than the Graham LS8/1. What that means is that for any given setting of the Leedh-processed digital volume control of my Lumin X1 streaming DAC, the SPL at the listening position is a bit higher. My two Benchmark AHB2 amps used in mono mode are more than sufficient, in other words, to compass all the peak dynamics at any reasonable volume level. Bill Watkins Jr. himself uses amps rated at only about 90 watts per channel to demonstrate the speakers at his retail shop.

I want to re-emphasize how dynamically agile and revealing the Watkins are. They reveal moment-to-moment small and large dynamic nuances I have never heard before with any other speakers both on voices and instrumentals. These dynamic changes work hand-in-hand with how revealing of moment-to-moment tonal changes these speakers also are. Musically, taken together these factors matter a lot, making any program more interesting and involving, helping to disarm criticism of their performance and constantly bringing the focus of listening sessions back to the music and keeping it there.

 

[agisthos]

Thanks for a very detailed report on this speaker. When Olshers review came out years ago it seemed like an exciting find and potential giant killer.
I expected to see more reviews and some forum buzz and instead there was….. nothing.

Good to hear they are back with an updated and improved version.

 

[tmallin]

In the last paragraph of post #2 above, I talk about using Roon's Muse parametric EQ to alter the response of the Watkins Generation 4 to more closely model that of the Graham LS8/1. i kept editing the adjustments talked about as the speakers continued to break in. I started with a suggestion of plus 6 dB in the bass and minus 2 dB in the treble and gradually reduced those numbers to plus 3.7 dB in the bass and minus 1.1 dB in the treble.

Now, however, on most material I'm finding that even those suggestions are unnecessary and not as naturally balanced sounding as just no equalization at all. Whether the Watkins have continued to break in or whether the sound is just growing on me, or a bit of both, is hard to tell. I have not been measuring the response of the speakers along the way. I'm just reporting my subjective reaction to the frequency balance of their sound as weeks of ownership have gone by.

The Watkins also seem to have continued to improve in the way they portray three-dimensionality and envelopment of the sound field. These speakers continue to amaze me with both their wonderfully natural and involving sound and the value they represent at just $3,000 a pair!

 

[tmallin]

I want to emphasize another aspect of the exceptional sound of these speakers. More than any others I have experience with, the Watkins Generation 4 allow each instrument or voice in an ensemble to have its own "lane" in the imaging, staging, and mix. It is thus easier to follow what each instrument or group of instruments are doing without concentrating hard on doing this. This characteristic in no way impedes the ability of the speakers to present the ensemble as an ensemble. There just is less blurring of what each instrument is doing when many are playing together. This even applies when different instruments or singers with similar tonality are playing/singing the same note. For example, when Lani Hall and Janis Hansen, the female soloists of Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66, sing unison in Mais Que Nada, the two voices are more readily distinguishable than with other speakers in my experience.