Wilson-Benesch

[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