New Wilson Benesch Resolution Speakers

I have a pair of Resolutions on home demo at the moment, after spending some time with an Endeavour + Torus set-up. In the flesh they are stunning, although the isobaric bass units are an acquired taste so they look best with grills in place.

These speakers are not lacking in bass - it's there aplenty and in some depth too. This was confirmed by WB, saying this was very much part of the design brief for these speakers. They are also less analytical (read total clarity), but this could be due to the newness of the speakers and them needing further running in (currently have approx 125 hours on them).
One point of note is the exceptional sound staging - probably the best I've heard - and proper 3D stuff too, i.e. not just left to right but front to back too.
 
How do they compare to the Endeavour + Torus combination? What are you using to drive the Resolution?

As for the soundstage, I have also found the Endeavour and Discovery II to offer excellent soundstaging, in particular, depth and height so looks like the Resolution offers more of the same.
 
As an overall view, I prefer the Resolutions but with the proviso that (a) I've only spent a couple of hours with them, (b) they are only 125 hours in, and (c) they are being driven by different amps (in this case CH Precision A1). This is largely due to the better coherence of a full range vs standmount + sub.
That said, there are a couple of things I have yet to form a view on, which are those noted earlier, namely the prominence of the mid-bass, and the less analytical presentation. This needs more time with the Resolutions, longer run-in, and ideally using the same amps.
 
I thought it worth jotting down some listening notes as an update to the above. After my initial feedback, the guys from WB came back and repositioned the speakers and took down the bass a notch with a resistor bridge on the isobariks.

The result was transformational and as a result, the Resolutions took us to a pretty magical place musically, with some very moving listening sessions and on one occasion a few tears too. What I’ve learnt is that this comes about by giving a true insight into the performance of the musicians, be that a live recording or a studio session, where you connect with the emotions being expressed. There are a number of aspects of the Resolution’s performance that enable this.

To start with, they are extremely transparent thereby reflecting all the upstream information being presented to them in an accurate way, but without becoming too analytical that you forget the music. This was notably improved by adding spikes as well as dialling in the bass to the room. As such, the differences between amplifiers we tried was easily conveyed.
Transparency in extreme can lead to a lean and / or cold presentation but this is not the case here: the timbral accuracy is so good that the natural warmth of the music comes through and is maintained across the frequency range. For example mid-bass tones have a lovely woody texture to them, whilst trumpets have a natural harmonic to their sound even when playing loud.

Music seems to flow from the speakers rather than being forced. As well as being a far more pleasurable experience, this means they have the ability to play at a wide range of volumes whilst still keeping the engagement – not becoming flat and dull at quiet levels, and not becoming painful at louder volumes. This also seems to apply across genres too, including electronica and dance where the speakers give a sense of being unbreakable.

A major strength is clearly the soundstage. I’ve often read about a so-called 3-D soundstage but not fully believed in it or even understood what it could add to the listening experience, let alone heard it. That’s now changed, as the Resolutions certainly creates one, and is definitely a big addition to engaging in the music. The ability for the speakers to disappear is again something I’ve read about but not heard, but listening to these in the dark is a somewhat surreal experience as you’d be very hard-pressed to point to them.

The bass is fantastic, and whilst not plumbing the extreme depths of some designs, gives a good visceral impact on percussion and is texturally really pleasing. I’m intrigued to see what a pair of Torus could add but that is more from the perspective of having your cake and eating it rather than feeling the Resolutions are deficient in any way.

The engineering in the speakers is very visible, with fit and finish being extremely good. In the flesh they look stunning, striking a good balance between having presence but not dominating, and this was true in both large and smaller rooms.

The only real downside is that they clearly need time and effort to set up, particularly with regard to tuning the bass and allowing for room interactions. In a perfect world the bass would go down to levels that obviated the need for subs, but I suspect this is beyond the realms of physics and would be offset by a drop in some of the above strengths.
 
Nice update. When I owned the WB ACTs, I tried a single Torus and it was amazing, deep chest stuff, but overkill for the room.


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I started a thread recently about the Salon 2s vs the Persona speakers. Mikes comments and the price have put me off the latter (bearing in mind the discount I could get on the Salons) but I think I should check out the WB range, especially as their factory is 40 miles from where I live. Any WB owners out there who also have experience of The Salons?
 
Hi all
Month ago I finally received my pair of Resolutions
Done break in for a month and now I think I can share my thoughts.
I heard Resonlution before only at Munich Show this year, I remember that I liked it very much but if you ask me now how exactly it sound back then I wouldn’t tell since quite much time pass by.
Just to mention, Resolution at show was paired to all CH precision equipment which is very good and of course expensive.
Now my setup is Vitus Signature pre and power SL-102 and SS-025 + Linn Klimax DAC
and my impression of speakers would be like that:
They have a very good stage , to my taste not enough bass and not enough mid bass which is very critical to me because that’s exactly what I looked for in this speakers.
In general the sound far from harsh and quite pleasant, but i wanted to have this a little blown mid bass that I don’t have.
Maybe the case is my equipment not powerful enough to reveal WB Resolution potential, I don’t know.
Recently I visit a friend who did speaker and power upgrade, he got Marten Bird 2 and NAT Audio tube power amp, the sound he got is amazing , he got that magical mid bass that I looked for.
So in general I quite disappointed since this upgrade was not cheap at all and looking for solutions, maybe not all is lost and what I have to do is power upgrade to finally get what I looked for.

955e34760b1f44ce21d4999cdf0037e0.jpg



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STigmater: strange that your comments about the bass and mid -bass are almost the exact opposite of HeiHei's, see posts 22 -24. Perhaps it is an amp problem?
I'm arranging to audition the Discovery 2 and the ART Evo. If I like them I will then audition the Resolutions.
 
Stigmater said:
Hi all
Month ago I finally received my pair of Resolutions
Done break in for a month and now I think I can share my thoughts.
I heard Resonlution before only at Munich Show this year, I remember that I liked it very much but if you ask me now how exactly it sound back then I wouldn’t tell since quite much time pass by.
Just to mention, Resolution at show was paired to all CH precision equipment which is very good and of course expensive.
Now my setup is Vitus Signature pre and power SL-102 and SS-025 + Linn Klimax DAC
and my impression of speakers would be like that:
They have a very good stage , to my taste not enough bass and not enough mid bass which is very critical to me because that’s exactly what I looked for in this speakers.
In general the sound far from harsh and quite pleasant, but i wanted to have this a little blown mid bass that I don’t have.
Maybe the case is my equipment not powerful enough to reveal WB Resolution potential, I don’t know.
Recently I visit a friend who did speaker and power upgrade, he got Marten Bird 2 and NAT Audio tube power amp, the sound he got is amazing , he got that magical mid bass that I looked for.
So in general I quite disappointed since this upgrade was not cheap at all and looking for solutions, maybe not all is lost and what I have to do is power upgrade to finally get what I looked for.

955e34760b1f44ce21d4999cdf0037e0.jpg



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
Click to expand...


Looking at that pic and not knowing the speaker i would guess and say most likely a room /acoustic/ speaker position issue , Try playing with speaker/ listening chair location ...

regards
 
Hi Stigmater, everyone,
I could imagine your are right assuming the amp is not a good match. I have WB Act 1 Evo and had a Vitus SIA025 (which I found an absolute mismatch - Vitus not fast and powerful enough). I now have a Modwright KWA150 SE Amp and it sounds great. This was based on the reco of a dealer/hifi consultant/developer who knows WB quite well ... according to him they can be a bit diva-like, but when you get it right with the system, they sing ...
Best,
PasoDeLobo
 
I'm surprised at your findings with regard to mid-bass as my findings (outlined in previous posting) were the opposite - too much of it which was dialled down by WB. I can understand the lower bass - given the design, these speakers are never going to compete with big single bass driver speakers, which is why I have a pair of Torus subs lined up to try when my Resolutions arrive.

With regard to amplification, I'm not convinced Vitus and WB are a great mix. I tried the Endeavour with an SS-103 and was ok, but WB speakers major on resolution (forgive the pun), transparency, lightness of touch, speed, and therefore need an amp with similar qualities, which is not Vitus imho.
Although not especially sensitive, the simple cross-over design means WB speakers are not a particularly demanding load, so I don't think power is the issue.

FWIW, I'm using Berning Quadrature Z's with mine - although valve-based, they excel in the areas noted above.
 
Thanks a lot for all answers, I still think VA is a great amp but willing to try tubes, I never had tubes so it will be my first experience , what do you say, VAC phi 300 should be a match for my resolutions?


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If you can lay your hands on some of the ARC gear maybe you should give it a chance as IMHO they could give what you are looking for...

Good luck with your quest!

Cheers;
G
 
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