Wilson-Benesch

[brit]

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... 

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... 

Guillaume

Hi Guillaume,

Thanks for this report on my system, it is always gratifying to have an independent view, especially if it is good  . 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  .

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 . 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  . Look forward to hearing (oops, terrible pun) how you get on with W-B, keep us in the picture  . 

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  .