I'm a "newbe" to Audio Circle but have been around the block a couple of times with audio. Watkins Engineering is an old company that dates back to the early 70s when they supplied the Watkins Dual Drive woofer to Infinity. I heard them for the first time in the Bay area on a trip with one of my reps when I was sales manager for Spectro Acoustics, a manufacturer of high end components started by some former employees from Phase Linear. We visited the local rep for Infinity and of course he had some demo QLS 1s which he was glad to show off for us. No loud rock, no pop, just a quiet jazz tune with an upright bass drums and piano. Never in my life have I heard such clean, deep, effortless bass from a single 12 in woofer. The comment was made that the Watkins Woofer "got under the note to put it out".
In my later years I have more time to appreciate good music and more money to spend on good stuff. I found two sets of Infinity QLS-3s over a period of eighteen months, had the woofers rebuilt by Watkins Engineering and restored whatever else was needed. They are now my "go to" speakers for listening to good digital music. I find that the Watkins woofer exceeds any other speaker I have heard in bass performance. The dual voice coil design eliminates the impedance rise and smooths the response down to the point where the sound is felt rather than heard.
I haven't heard the new Watkins Speaker but I would venture to say I would look forward to it. Watkins Engineering has a superb record for innovation and design and expect nothing but the best from them.