Wilson-Benesch

[GuillaumeB]

Hi all, the WB Resolutions at the HighEnd 2017 in Munich. Despite the adverse circumstances at a fair, the box has left a grandiose impression  

Well they've left a pretty big impression on me!  

I also heard them at Munich and was impressed.

But hearing them in your own room and with your own electronics... oh man! Yikes! 

I'm just gathering my thoughts and will post my feedback shortly. Let's just say it's been emotional. 

Guillaume

[Confused]

I have to say that I am fascinated by the 'clam shell' bass driver design used in the Resolution. To be honest, I cannot really work out the design rational for them, although judging by the number of smiley faces in recent posts I am guessing they work!

The resolution's are fine looking beasts too judging by the pictures, certainly more imposing looking than the guard dog.

[GuillaumeB]

Wow... look forward to your thoughts (and also when compared with the ACT One Evo).

The A.C.T.s dazzled me with their midrange but ultimately I felt that they were lacking in dynamics and slam and low end extension. This is in comparison to my Sasha 2 obviously which have no trouble going down to 20Hz. 

The Resolutions took the game to an entirely new level. They were stupendously good. Gargantuan even...

They projected the most amazingly deep and tall soundstage with incredible dynamic shading and micro dynamics. Listening to some orchestral music last night was extraordinary, the timbre of the cello and the sense of space around it. I am not sure I had really perceived this before. It was the scale of the sound too. The Sashas just couldn't match this, it was almost as though the Resolutions were speaking in another language at times. There was this sense of experiencing music in a new way. I could really feel the distance of the musician (Alisa Weilerstein) from me. 

The bass... so controlled! And it never seemed to come at you, rather you went to it. I listened to a fair bit of electronic music and I don't think I had ever heard such precision and control. So beautifully balanced you could turn it up and up and it never seemed to hurt. With the Sashas the room just becomes overpowered and unpleasant at these kind of sound pressure levels.

Hannah Reid's voice (London Grammar) was mesmerising. Gregory Porter was in the room. Never a hint of harshness and so much flesh and texture.

This morning I played Thelonious Monk's Les Liaisons Dangereuses recording and the piano sounded so good I felt tearful and was almost transported back to 1959. The double bass... oh my! 

The Resolutions deliver emotions by the bucket load and are unlike any other speaker I have experienced. In my room and setup they integrate perfectly. The Devialets drive them to perfection. 

This morning I switched to the Absolare and Totaldac DAC and I was on another journey... a softer, sweeter presentation but with more tonal texture and nuance. A Blue Coast DSD recording was simply amazing.

And then it was time to pack up and leave...

Thanks to Luke and Carl, it was a real privilege to spend 12 hours or so with these speakers and I can't thank them enough. Now I have a fairly good idea of what audio nirvana sounds like. 

Guillaume

[K4680]

Hi all, the WB Resolutions at the HighEnd 2017 in Munich. Despite the adverse circumstances at a fair, the box has left a grandiose impression  

Well they've left a pretty big impression on me!  

I also heard them at Munich and was impressed.

But hearing them in your own room and with your own electronics... oh man! Yikes! 

I'm just gathering my thoughts and will post my feedback shortly. Let's just say it's been emotional. 

Guillaume

Hello Guillaume, your statements is nothing to add!

[heihei]

Having spent time with the Resolutions, including a brief listening session last night at Guillaume's, I'd echo his comments which tally very closely with my own listening notes. It comes through in the above, but perhaps worth emphasising just how flexible these speakers are in terms of amplification and musical genre - they really do cover a broad church.
The two negatives are (1) they don't go as low as some speakers, but then if ultimate bass is your thing, bolting on a pair of Torus subs would be a very strong solution I suspect, and (2) my own experience suggests they require some accurate setting up. That's about it as far as I can see!
I'd also echo the comments around great service from the WB team.

[nicoludio]

Thanks, Guillaume and heihei, for the thoughts. Looks like two smitten listeners

heihei, you mentioned elsewhere that the WB team was able to tailor the bass response by inserting a resistor ladder in the crossover - is this user adjustable?

[heihei]

I think it's fair to say WB haven't decided upon the final solution, but based on their experience with both Guillaume and me that they will offer some way of tuning it. All four drivers have binding posts so it's pretty easy to do.

[GuillaumeB]

When I had the Resolutions here in situ they looked much thinner and taller than my Sashas. After they were gone I looked up the specs and got a bit confused since the Resolution specs quoted a width of 54.7 cm which is clearly wider than my Sashas which are 35.56 cm... I put the question to the good folks at W-B and they sent me these drawings. The Resolutions are evidently quite a bit slimmer than the Sashas. 

   



Guillaume

[nicoludio]

Its the width of those beautiful speaker bases - structural beauties.

[KraaijCheck]

Currently looking at the Wilson Benesch Vertex to possible replace my Sonus Faber Olympica II’s. Ayone here who have heard the Vertex? Getting a home demo in two weeks.