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I recently had the good fortune of visiting brit and hearing his wonderful setup - essentially a 1000 PRO feeding a pair of Wilson-Benesch A.C.T. speakers.

I was so impressed by his speakers that I thought I would create a dedicated thread to discuss all matters Wilson-Benesch.

Two things really grabbed me about his speakers: the extraordinary imaging that was never at the expense of musicality and thunderous bass from a fairly moderate enclosure. Talk about great speaker/room integration!

This has got me seriously thinking folks...  Confused

Now I'm not going to underestimate the contribution of the 1000 PRO, which to my ears seemed to be doing something better than my O d'A. Yes it's very difficult to disentangle cause and effect in these things, particularly in a room you are not so familiar with, but still... you know when something sounds really good.  

Anyway back to the speakers... now I could be wrong but Wilson-Benesch doesn't seem to have much of a presence in the UK. I remember a few years ago when I was auditioning the Sophia 3s and wanted to hear the Wilson-Benesch speakers (can't remember which model now) it seemed terribly difficult to arrange an audition as there were just no dealers in the South East. In the end it never happened, although to be fair Wilson-Benesch did eventually get in touch to offer me a home demo, it was just a bit too late since I had already committed to the Sophias...

So I am now thinking about revisiting Wilson-Benesch and have sent them an email asking what the possibility would be of home auditioning their A.C.T. One Evolution speakers.

To be continued I guess...  Smile

Guillaume
I think IanG-UK has WB speakers and an O d'A.
(18-Aug-2017, 14:46)AaronG Wrote: [ -> ]I think IanG-UK has WB speakers and an O d'A.

As far as I know he has Magico Q1 with WB Torus sub. 

Guillaume
You are correct! My bad.

(18-Aug-2017, 14:48)GuillaumeB Wrote: [ -> ]
(18-Aug-2017, 14:46)AaronG Wrote: [ -> ]I think IanG-UK has WB speakers and an O d'A.

As far as I know he has Magico Q1 with WB Torus sub. 

Guillaume
(18-Aug-2017, 13:24)GuillaumeB Wrote: [ -> ]I recently had the good fortune of visiting brit and hearing his wonderful setup - essentially a 1000 PRO feeding a pair of Wilson-Benesch A.C.T. speakers.

I was so impressed by his speakers that I thought I would create a dedicated thread to discuss all matters Wilson-Benesch.

Two things really grabbed me about his speakers: the extraordinary imaging that was never at the expense of musicality and thunderous bass from a fairly moderate enclosure. Talk about great speaker/room integration!

This has got me seriously thinking folks...  Confused

Now I'm not going to underestimate the contribution of the 1000 PRO, which to my ears seemed to be doing something better than my O d'A. Yes it's very difficult to disentangle cause and effect in these things, particularly in a room you are not so familiar with, but still... you know when something sounds really good.  

Anyway back to the speakers... now I could be wrong but Wilson-Benesch doesn't seem to have much of a presence in the UK. I remember a few years ago when I was auditioning the Sophia 3s and wanted to hear the Wilson-Benesch speakers (can't remember which model now) it seemed terribly difficult to arrange an audition as there were just no dealers in the South East. In the end it never happened, although to be fair Wilson-Benesch did eventually get in touch to offer me a home demo, it was just a bit too late since I had already committed to the Sophias...

So I am now thinking about revisiting Wilson-Benesch and have sent them an email asking what the possibility would be of home auditioning their A.C.T. One Evolution speakers.

To be continued I guess...  Smile

Guillaume

Hi Guillaume,

Thanks for this report on my system, it is always gratifying to have an independent view, especially if it is good  Big Grin . I have been using W-B speakers for many years, starting with the original ACT1 before moving to the ACT. I know that there are a number of W-B users, here on the forum, and a separate thread to allow a sharing of impressions is a great idea. 

I have always been impressed by the W-B sound - you have already mentioned their amazing imaging and musicality - and their ability to just "disappear".  I find that they just allow you to sit and enjoy music. I am not going to attempt an explanation of what they do to SQ because that is a personal thing with too many variables - room, furnishings,  musical taste, ancillary equipment, favourite tipple, etc, but just say that, to my ears, they do it right Smile .

Totally agree that W-B does not get the exposure, certainly the UK that is, they deserve. When I first purchased my ACT1, it was from Kj West, in London, and there were quite a few other dealers around. When I wanted to change to the ACT, I could not find any dealers at all in the UK and ended up contacting W-B direct. I must admit that having made contact, they did respond very well and came to the house with speakers to demo (the C60, which was a terrific speaker but, at that time, only available in a very dark colour which did not suit our lounge decor, so consequently received the thumbs down from HWMBO Rolleyes. The other was the Vector, which, whilst being an excellent speaker, was not enough of an upgrade from my ACT1). I finally found the ACT as a NIB ex demo. Anyway, not to labour the point any further, IMHO, W-B deserve better recognition and their ACT One Evolution is certainly a good, but quite pricey, choice Tongue . Look forward to hearing (oops, terrible pun) how you get on with W-B, keep us in the picture Angel . 

David

as a ps to this. wwm  (aka Bill) was with me when W-B came to demo the C60, and the Vectors. I know that Bill is the proud owner of a pair of C60s and I think he would agree that they are terrific speakers, and it is a great shame that they (and the ACT speakers, for that matter) have been discontinued  Huh.
(18-Aug-2017, 15:02)brit Wrote: [ -> ]I have always been impressed by the W-B sound - you have already mentioned their amazing imaging and musicality - and their ability to just "disappear".  I find that they just allow you to sit and enjoy music. I am not going to attempt an explanation of what they do to SQ because that is a personal thing with too many variables - room, furnishings,  musical taste, ancillary equipment, favourite tipple, etc, but just say that, to my ears, they do it right Smile .

I know exactly what you mean Smile I have been using W-B speakers about 14 years now and every single day I find them amazing. Initially I had W-B Arcs for 10 years, then I got Vertex (actually I still have them as surround speakers in my HT setup), and now I'm having the Discovery. Actually I have been trying to find better speakers than these during the last couple of years but that has been really difficult thing to do. W-B Discovery just does so many things right that it's hard to find something that is clearly better.

I would love to hear the Discovery II and Act One Evolution. I'm sure that those are really, really good.
It's curious that Wilson-Benesch do not have more dealer representation in the UK, this surprises me a little. The reason being that they do attended the Bristol Sound and Vision show each year, usually putting on very good demonstrations in one of the biggest and arguably nicest rooms in the show. Maybe that's all they do? One comment, and slightly irrelevant to all this, is that whoever chooses the music for the Wilson-Benesch room at the Bristol show either has a very strange taste in music, or perhaps a peculiar idea of what type of music audiophile types visiting shows expect to hear. (this is a little harsh, based on about 15 minutes in the room in 2016)

That said, they usually pull off one of the better sounding rooms at the show each year. Maybe this generates enough interest and business for them in the UK? Plus I know that their turntables are well respected, with almost a cult following for the Wilson-Benesch 'Full Circle'.
Good news! Have a home dem booked for a couple of weeks' time.  Cool

Guillaume
Hi,

I've used Wilson Benesch Discovery speakers for the past few years (after trying many other brands) and agree with Petrik that they're hard to beat - dynamic, transparent and uncoloured but not fatiguing in any way. They don't have the 'thunderous bass' of their larger speakers - which is a good thing in my study - but the addition of a Torus 'Infrasonic generator' would take care of that if I wanted to move them to a larger room.


I understand W-B are focusing more on the Far East these days (higher profits) and decided that they dont need a UK dealer network. They are very happy to arrange home demos anywhere in the UK directly themselves and I can't praise their after-sales service highly enough after I had a trip up to their factory in Sheffield late last year when they replaced a failed tweeter for me.  The replacement plus a full check of both speakers was carried out in just a couple of hours at a very reasonable cost. They're nice people to deal with as well.
Excellent speakers. Here's what I posted elsewhere on the Endeavour:

===

Since the Vector was not in stock, the dealer suggested the Endeavour. I had a lengthy session with the speakers driven by the Gryphon Mephisto amplifier and TAD source and pre-amp. Ostensibly a stand mount, it as tall as most floorstanders at 58", and rather imposing in appearance.

Despite it not being fully run-in, it was rather beguiling. Very airy and open sounding, without any sense that the sound was emenating from speakers. On well recorded choral music, height layering - the different elevation/steps on which the choir members were standing - was clearly perceptible.

The demo room was big, with the speakers about 7-8 feet away from the back wall and 5-6 from the side walls. What struck me was that the perceived soundstage appeared to extend beyond the room boundaries, especially depth. They are not forward sounding though, with the sound starting from behind the speaker plane.

Vocals were life-like, rich and nuanced. There was proper scale to singers and, while I am not sure that I am properly describing this, the transition from chest to head sounds was clearly discernible.

The mid-bass was impressive but there was a certain tightness, which I suspect would improve with break-in. On the bass performance, that was something that I paid particular attention to, since most of the Endeavour's competitors at this price range would be floorstanders. The bass drum in "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana (Telarc, Donald Runnicles, Atlantic SO version) and the tympani in the First Movement of the New World Symphony (Chesky, Jascha Horenstein, RPO version) had the right impact, with no bloat or overhang. There was no issue with either punch or dynamics with other bass instruments/sounds.

What struck me though was this sequence of sounds; the mallet hitting the drum skin, the drum skin compressing and the sound billowing from the drum body, with discernible but natural overtones and decay. I hear this from percussive drums in real life.

Possibly a bit dark - could have been the Mephisto - but the treble was clear yet natural, especially on triangles. Sounded a bit quiet in this region but no lack of extension or air when called for.

The build quality is amazing - WB has its own YouTube channel on the manufacturing process. No less impressive than the CNC milling used by Magico.

The overall look is luxury high tech. Satin textured anodised aluminium, juxtaposed with carbon fibre and exotic veneer trim/accent panels.

Not cheap but one can see where the money was spent.
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