New Wilson Benesch Resolution Speakers

The Resolutions arrived... along with a Torus for bass support. :exciting:

With barely a few hours on them they already sound spectacular. Not to mention, they look UNBELIEVABLE! Even to a person who knows absolutely nothing about hifi, they can instantly tell these are uber expensive and uber high-end; especially when viewed from side on like you can see I have them set up in the pics below. The exposed gloss carbon fibre is stunning.

Turns out I was unnecessarily concerned about their bass prowess. They handily beat out the SF Olympica 3's that were here previously, as you would hope and expect. But the extensive auditioning I did with them at the store did not even hint at how good the bass is.

Just as Roy Gregory et al have said, the notable, standout strength is in how detailed, textured and fast the bass response is. For example, Bass guitar plucks have the proper percussion on the leading edge and then you can hear the vibration in the string that you get live. You don't just get the sound of a bass tone; you get a bass guitar string.

But they still go low too. With a tone generator, I can hear 20hz test tones in this room (down several dB) and 25hz is very solid. I do not have sufficiently accurate test equipment on hand to do a proper level analysis. But suffice to say I would not have ordered the Torus had I heard the Resolutions here first. That said, I do not regret having the extra weight to the bass. ;)

The other standout quality is the soundstaging/imaging. Each instrument in a good recording is fastened to its own distinct space, separate from the others. You can literally stare at the speakers and try to will your ears to hear sounds from the speaker, and you fail. They disappear like no other speaker I've heard; certainly no large floor stander.

So, fortunately, the overall step up from the Olympica's is significant across every parameter. The Resolutions are more transparent, more detailed, more dynamic and everything sounds more realistic, but at no sacrifice of warmth or ease of listening.

Shockingly, for all the detail and transparency, the Resolutions are more natural sounding. By which I mean, for example, I never knew the Olympica's - or any other speaker's - representation of running water lacked 'wetness', until I heard it on the Resolutions. Similarly, I never previously understood people talking about metal cymbals sounding metalic. But now I know exactly.

In case you cannot tell, I am extremely impressed. These are world class speakers of the highest order.

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Wow! And congratulations! They looks amazing, and so does your apartment and your view!! Looks like a perfect fit. These are amazing speakers. I just borrowed a pair of Discovery II's which I also found super delicate, both in finish and sound, quite magical really but unfortunately they were too big for my room, they really wanted more space than I could give them. If I ever get a bigger listening room the Wilson Benesch speakers will definitely be up for consideration again. I could only dream about the Resolutions though.
 
Wow! Those look absolutely stunning!

These were for me one of the best speakers I heard in Munich a few years ago. Paired with Ypsilon gear they had a delicacy that was to die for. What electronics do you have them paired with?



.
 
Thanks VoicesInMyHead and Nikhil.

The Resolutions do dominate the room a bit. But they are so, so impressive, and look so luxurious, I think they can be forgiven. ;)

Nikhil, the Resolutions are powered by a Devialet 400 with Transrotor turntable (plus Gigawatt power conditioner and Tara Labs cables).

VoicesInMyHead, thats surprising about the Discovery's? What have you gone with instead?
 
digitalvinyl said:
The Resolutions arrived... along with a Torus for bass support. :exciting:

...

Just as Roy Gregory et al have said, the notable, standout strength is in how detailed, textured and fast the bass response is. For example, Bass guitar plucks have the proper percussion on the leading edge and then you can hear the vibration in the string that you get live. You don't just get the sound of a bass tone; you get a bass guitar string.

But they still go low too. With a tone generator, I can hear 20hz test tones in this room (down several dB) and 25hz is very solid. I do not have sufficiently accurate test equipment on hand to do a proper level analysis. But suffice to say I would not have ordered the Torus had I heard the Resolutions here first. That said, I do not regret having the extra weight to the bass. ;)

The other standout quality is the soundstaging/imaging. Each instrument in a good recording is fastened to its own distinct space, separate from the others. You can literally stare at the speakers and try to will your ears to hear sounds from the speaker, and you fail. They disappear like no other speaker I've heard; certainly no large floor stander.

So, fortunately, the overall step up from the Olympica's is significant across every parameter. The Resolutions are more transparent, more detailed, more dynamic and everything sounds more realistic, but at no sacrifice of warmth or ease of listening.

Shockingly, for all the detail and transparency, the Resolutions are more natural sounding. By which I mean, for example, I never knew the Olympica's - or any other speaker's - representation of running water lacked 'wetness', until I heard it on the Resolutions. Similarly, I never previously understood people talking about metal cymbals sounding metalic. But now I know exactly.

In case you cannot tell, I am extremely impressed. These are world class speakers of the highest order.
Click to expand...

Congratulations! It is refreshing to see a system in a room that can be enjoyed by all in the family.

Your observation on the sound of the bass guitar string tallies with my impression of the sound of string instruments when listening to the WB Endeavour - the sound the bow drawing across the string, the vibration of the string, followed by the resonance of the wooden body of the instrument. Very startling when I first heard it, since it was totally unexpected. The higher end WB models (Endeavour vs Discovery II, for example) initially appear lean but are not. They have realistic weight and are consistent with what I hear from live acoustic instruments in a decent hall.

Btw, I heard the Endeavours with the Gryphon Mephisto. Amazing combination, with a sense of depth that goes way beyond the wall behind the speakers.

Enjoy your new speakers!
 
Digitalvinyl - congrats on the WB’s. What a wonderful looking system.
 
Digitalvinyl , congratulations on the speakers , and what a great looking room you also have. ...the setup looks really great.
 
digitalvinyl said:
The Resolutions arrived... along with a Torus for bass support. :exciting:

With barely a few hours on them they already sound spectacular. Not to mention, they look UNBELIEVABLE! Even to a person who knows absolutely nothing about hifi, they can instantly tell these are uber expensive and uber high-end; especially when viewed from side on like you can see I have them set up in the pics below. The exposed gloss carbon fibre is stunning.

Turns out I was unnecessarily concerned about their bass prowess. They handily beat out the SF Olympica 3's that were here previously, as you would hope and expect. But the extensive auditioning I did with them at the store did not even hint at how good the bass is.

Just as Roy Gregory et al have said, the notable, standout strength is in how detailed, textured and fast the bass response is. For example, Bass guitar plucks have the proper percussion on the leading edge and then you can hear the vibration in the string that you get live. You don't just get the sound of a bass tone; you get a bass guitar string.

But they still go low too. With a tone generator, I can hear 20hz test tones in this room (down several dB) and 25hz is very solid. I do not have sufficiently accurate test equipment on hand to do a proper level analysis. But suffice to say I would not have ordered the Torus had I heard the Resolutions here first. That said, I do not regret having the extra weight to the bass. ;)

The other standout quality is the soundstaging/imaging. Each instrument in a good recording is fastened to its own distinct space, separate from the others. You can literally stare at the speakers and try to will your ears to hear sounds from the speaker, and you fail. They disappear like no other speaker I've heard; certainly no large floor stander.

So, fortunately, the overall step up from the Olympica's is significant across every parameter. The Resolutions are more transparent, more detailed, more dynamic and everything sounds more realistic, but at no sacrifice of warmth or ease of listening.

Shockingly, for all the detail and transparency, the Resolutions are more natural sounding. By which I mean, for example, I never knew the Olympica's - or any other speaker's - representation of running water lacked 'wetness', until I heard it on the Resolutions. Similarly, I never previously understood people talking about metal cymbals sounding metalic. But now I know exactly.

In case you cannot tell, I am extremely impressed. These are world class speakers of the highest order.

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Click to expand...

Looks fantastic! Belated Congrats!
 
Great-looking room and set-up. Congratulations!

With regard to the Torus, it's worth noting this isn't just about bass depth - there are a couple of other benefits as well. Firstly you get a proper "slam" with the bass that is missing with the Resolutions on their own, and secondly the sound-stage is much airier and more spacious. It's very easy to demonstrate by just switching the Torus off.
 
Thank you everyone.

heihei said:
Great-looking room and set-up. Congratulations!

With regard to the Torus, it's worth noting this isn't just about bass depth - there are a couple of other benefits as well. Firstly you get a proper "slam" with the bass that is missing with the Resolutions on their own, and secondly the sound-stage is much airier and more spacious. It's very easy to demonstrate by just switching the Torus off.
Click to expand...

Heihei, out of interest, how have you integrated your 2 Torus's with your Resolutions? I realise it is going to be completely different in different rooms. But I know you've dialled the bass back on your Resolution's, but then added the Torus's. So what crossover point are you using on your Torus amp and have you used the jumpers underneath the amp to add +6db anywhere?
 
digitalvinyl said:
VoicesInMyHead, thats surprising about the Discovery's? What have you gone with instead?
Click to expand...

I really liked the Discovery II's and if I could I would really liked to keep them. Maybe some other time.... :) But moving even higher up the ladder as you've done would of course be the real dream.

It's not 100% decided yet but I'm right now evaluating (and leaning heavily towards) the relatively new brand Kroma Audio with their also quite new "Mimi" model, which I created a thread for here a few days ago. They are about half the price of the Discovery's so not really a fair comparison, and also a very different speaker. It works better within my small space, it sounds very natural and is quite an entertainer in a small box.
 
VoicesInMyHead said:
I really liked the Discovery II's and if I could I would really liked to keep them. Maybe some other time.... :) But moving even higher up the ladder as you've done would of course be the real dream.

It's not 100% decided yet but I'm right now evaluating (and leaning heavily towards) the relatively new brand Kroma Audio with their also quite new "Mimi" model, which I created a thread for here a few days ago. They are about half the price of the Discovery's so not really a fair comparison, and also a very different speaker. It works better within my small space, it sounds very natural and is quite an entertainer in a small box.
Click to expand...

Those are really interesting speakers, VoicesInMyHead. Nice to see more unique materials science at work. And thats extraordinary sensitivity from a speaker so small with an inert cabinet. Great find.
 
I see a recent photos of Resolution speakers in different setups and I noticed that speaker connections every time connected differently.

I personally connected my Resolution speakers to the most bottom connection that way I get more base.
Recently I noticed photo with connection to most upper one.

Is there something new with crossover in latest Resolution releases, mine 2 years old.
Attaching photo with upper connection. IMG_4176.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I think these are connected the same as you and I, Stigmater? The jumpers appear to be linking the top and bottom pairs of inputs, for maximum bass, as you and I have done. They have then connected the speaker cables to the top inputs rather than the bottom, which makes no noticeable difference. I connected mine this way originally, then swapped to the bottom because it was aesthetically cleaner looking. In fact, if you look at the 2 photos I posted previously, you can see in one photo I had the speaker cables connected to the top, and in the other they were connected to the bottom. I did casual listening tests in both positions, a few times each, and could not hear any difference.

Stigmater said:
I see a recent photos of Resolution speakers in different setups and I noticed that speaker connections every time connected differently.

I personally connected my Resolution speakers to the most bottom connection that way I get more base.
Recently I noticed photo with connection to most upper one.

Is there something new with crossover in latest Resolution releases, mine 2 years old.
Attaching photo with upper connection. View attachment 26750


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
 
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