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World premiere: Wilson Benesch Discovery 2

The Blue Marvel

Issue 2 / 2017 Reprint

L O U D S P E A K E R S

The lights went out at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden.Only a large concert grand was shimmering faintly in thespotlight, when Grigory Sokolov, one of the true piano

grandmasters, hit the stage with quick steps. And after the finalwave of coughers and throat clearers had fallen silent, Mozart couldbe heard with such a naturalness that one inevitably got theimpression: Yes, this is exactly how it’s supposed to sound. It wasa night to remember. In a concert hall even the sound of such amighty instrument is carried by an exalted lightness, if not angel-ic effortlessness. Bass, mids, highs? They don’t matter. Spatialdepth, imaging precision, »musical flow«? Nobody will talk aboutsuch things after visiting a concert. By high-end standards quite afew people would definitely find a live performance not spec-tacular enough, a realistic acoustical experience at a trade fairwould probably win an epic fail. Yes, we have pretty much lost ourway in our pursuit of the perfect sound – »naturalness« is ob-viously no more a key criterion for playback.

If also the bottled hi-fi shall be enabled to convey such greatexperiences at least to some extent using only two stereo channels,a lot of things must fit. Beside the recording technique it’s consi-stently the speakers above all which must deliver. Their linearity,radiation pattern and interaction with the playback room areessential (see issue 4/2015, »The Linear Frequency Response«). Anaccurate transient behaviour and low distortion figures followclose behind on the list. But which speaker sounds like a big Stein-way or even a whole orchestra? Simple answer: none. High-end can only try to impart a credible illusion; more is not achievable inthe comparably small living-room, period. If we nonetheless stickto our high ideal, this is still worth an applause – the gods lovethose who strive for the impossible.

Among those idealists who are still active in this sense of thehigh-end branch, Christina and Craig Milnes of Wilson Benesch

may undoubtedly be counted. Together with 16employees they’ve been aiming in the British townof Sheffield for almost 30 years to make the impos-sible possible, after all. Or at least come close to it.Wilson Benesch’s first loudspeaker, the ACT Onefrom 1994, was ahead of its time. A picture-perfect2.5-way column whose carbon fibre sidewalls weretapering backward – the world had never seensomething like this before. Fully loaded with fineScanSpeak drivers which were causing a stir in thescene back then. To me it has remained the epitomeof a Wilson Benesch until that milestone by thename of Discovery came out in 2001, which wereviewed in the third issue of that year. From nowon there were two markedly different designs which were to leave a profound impact on WilsonBenesch’s model range until today.

A loudspeaker designer needs to make a lot ofconceptual decisions. Since no driver on this plan-et can cover the audible frequency range entirely, at least two ways are required: a tweeter and a low-mid driver. The challenge is now two unite thesetwo in such a way that we perceive them as onesound source (otherwise you may just as well stickto the broadband speaker). If this doesn’t come offauthentically, everything else will be a completewaste of time: a deeper bass, more detailed highs,increased maximum sound level – all worthnothing if a multi-way system acoustically »fallsapart« at the listening spot. The reasons for this aremanifold, it may be due to a cheeky tweeter, asluggishly mumbling woofer or two drivers whichabsolutely don’t match. Who aims to realise partic-ularly striking sound qualities, is prone to walk intothis trap, for these are almost always detrimental to the homogeneity which, however, is extremelyimportant for psycho-acoustic reasons (plausibilityof perception).

While we can unhesitatingly entrust a moderntweeter with the full harmonics spectrum, the low-end extension in the bass is way more difficult.Here a loudspeaker designer sees himself con-

On discovery tour with Wilson Benesch: the

Discovery 2 is a unique loudspeaker in several

aspects – and sounds absolutely fabulous.

Review: Wilson Benesch Discovery 2 loudspeakers

Blue Marvel2/2017 hifi & records

L O U D S P E A K E R S

fronted with three parameters that heneeds to balance out for his concept:bandwidth, sensitivity, and cabinet vol-ume. No matter which way he decides,he’ll get nothing for free.

A truly deep bass and a high maxi-mum sound level require larger cabinetsand a greater diaphragm surface. And sothe trouble begins with that »boxysound« which has been an inherentfeature of the dynamic loudspeaker sinceits early days. The latter is fighting analmost forlorn battle on two problemfields. The first are the resonating cabi-nets themselves, which in spite of superthick walls and high masses can never becontrolled perfectly. The second are thesound portions radiated backward intothe interior of the cabinet, which cannever be fully absorbed, either, andwhich interfere with the music signal ifthey get out. And this they do, becausethe, in this respect, weakest spots of eventhe most massive cabinets are the oftenpaper-thin diaphragms themselves.

»Little enclosures, little prob-lems« – that sounds logical. Andif these are even equipped with asolid metal baffle board and car-bon sidewalls, the inevitable cab-inet resonances can already bereduced to a minimum. More-over, large floorstanders havemore reflecting surface and alsomake a visually more conspicu-ous appearance. Personally I feelthat the very big bolides standright in my way for musiclistening, and as a con-sequence I’ve grown apassion for mini moni-tors over the years. TheWilson Benesch Dis-covery was and is stillbridging the gap be-tween these two fac-tions: compact enough

to not disturb and widebandenough to qualify as a full-grown speaker.

A proven trick to make dowith a cabinet volume as smallas possible is the isobaricprinciple with two wooferscoupled by an air cushion,which was invented by RCA en-gineer Harry F. Olson in the early1950s and patented by Linn in 1974. Theuse of two identical drivers requires only half ofthe cabinet volume, the moving mass is doubled,the radiating surface remains unchanged, yet theprice is a sensitivity drop by three decibels. Linn’sonce promoted view of an interior driver provid-ing ideal »constant pressure« working conditionsfor the »audible exterior woofer«, seems a littleodd today; acoustically the two drivers representone entity, of course. And mounted vertically, likein the Discovery 2, all forces act via the floor andnot upon the baffle board, as is otherwise cus-tomary – this should also add to steady mechani-cal conditions.

Since the two Isobarik woofers are comparableboth in basket diameter and diaphragm mater-ial to the low-mid driver, which is not limit-ed towards the bass frequencies, the newDiscovery may also pass as a 2.5-waysystem; as usual, Wilson Benesch

The stuff the carbon cabinets are madeof: in Sheffield Craig Milnes (left)shows Wilfried Kress the carbon fibrefabric employed by Wilson Benesch.

specifies the crossover frequencies at500 and 5,000 hertz. Above 200 hertzthe Isobarik woofer has only a vanish-ingly small proportion, but this can onlyhave a positive effect on the midrangerendering.

Equipped with a stately machine park,which I could admire on the occasion of a visit to Sheffield, WilsonBenesch pro-

hifi & records 2/2017

16-bit resolution of theCD could be achievedwith traditional ferritemagnets, and neodymi-um tweeters were by far superior in that re-spect). In the Semi-sphere dome six magnet

discs are arranged in a circle, the overleafsectional drawing shows the construc-tion and the sound guide. Another spe-cial feature are carbon strips on the rearwhich are to stabilise the textile domewhose assembly requires a steady hand(fig. above). A noise test done by myselfsuggests that the Wilson Benesch domeshows a very clean performance withsuch a wideband excitation and resem-bles more a Dynaudio Esotar 2 here thanthe proven ScanSpeak dome as it is stillused by Wilson Benesch in more budget-friendly models. In the meantime I’drather spare myself the discussion if a28-millimetre (1.1“) dome can go up to30 kilohertz or even higher. To my mind

it’s absurd, because only very few micro-phones can actually transmit such highfrequencies at all – and on CDs they willdefinitely not be present. I find it inter-esting, though, that Wilson Benesch uses no ferrofluid, not either in the

duces virtually everything in-house:carbon cabinets, drivers, copper termi-nals, decoupling feet (these are no con-ventional spikes, they rather employ theconcept of the 4-ball tonearm bearing)and all kinds of turned parts. The Dis-covery 2 is loaded with the very finestcomponents, featuring with no excep-tion the best Wilson Benesch has to offer.The Brits developed their own low-midchassis already at an early stage, the»Tactic« drivers with a modern poly-propylene diaphragm (of surface-meldedthreads). Wilson Benesch uses this 6.5“driver in different versions in all modelsfor the middle and bass range – neverbigger, never smaller. In the head-high»Cardinal« several ofthese woofers have toprovide for the desireddepth then. Larger dri-vers, says Craig Milnes,never yielded the wantedresult. They would devel-op, test – and scrap again– all imaginable variants.Another evidence of thehigh esteem in which theacoustic homogeneity isheld in Sheffield.

All Tactic2 drivers inthe new Discovery haveflow-optimised basketsand compact neodymium magnet sys-tems. The in-house »Semisphere« dometweeter may also fall back on such a pow-erful drive (in his article »Putting thescience back into loudspeakers« JohnWatkinson claimed that not even the

Filigree manual work:assembly of the carbon braces for the dome tweeter.

© monomedia Verlag, Schwabstraße 4, D-71106 Magstadt, Germany, www.monomedia.dehifi & records is published quarterly, annual subscription fee in Germany v 46, outside Germany v 56

www.wilson-benesch.com

in the Discov-ery he sticked to the

proven 6/6/12 conceptin view of the greater

linearity.The set-up avoids an overem-

phasis in the bass and the highs. CraigMilnes targets an agile and precise bass,hence some Wilson Benesch speakerstend towards the lean side (lately theSquare models in issue 3/2015), but theDiscovery has exactly the right figure.Since HF drivers cannot uphold a perfectomnidirectional sound distribution inthe uppermost octave, a compromise isneeded here as well: an elevation on axishelps the 30-degree curve which deter-mines the direct sound impression withspeakers that are not angled in. In returnthe radiated HF energy is boosted whichbecomes apparent to a greater extent inless dampened rooms. Also in this disci-pline the Discovery 2 keeps up a British,cultivated style and prefers to remain un-obtrusive than strike with exaggerations.In the critical presence range it shows anaristocratic restraint. In short: it is well-mannered. And yet, or just because ofthis, it sounds phantastic.

Since the vertical radiation pattern islargely anisotropic or direction-depen-

L O U D S P E A K E R S

ScanSpeak textile dome tweeter custom-made to in-house specifications. The factthat practically nothing of the originalDiscovery has survived in the newmodel, is also reflected in the price tag:the Discovery 2 costs more than twice asmuch as the first version 16 years ago.But this is a fate high-carat loudspeakersare sharing with many other manu-factured goods, similar obervations canbe made with noble fountain pens andmechanical wristwatches – not all thingsbecome cheaper every day.

Thus the Discovery formula is clear: ahightech enclosure with, owing to theIsobarik woofer, as small dimensions aspossible, loaded with cutting-edge dri-vers, yet classic cone materials. Thecrossover can do completely withoutcorrection elements and is therefore notof the complex type. You can see itpictured below, the filter steepness is 6 dB for the bass and the low-mid driverwith its unfiltered low end, and 12 dB for the HF dome tweeter. Craig Milneshas been known recently to use prefer-ably minimalist crossovers and low-middrivers without any filtering at all, but

Lab Report

Nominal impedance 4 ΩMinimum impedance 3.5 Ω @ 39 Hz Linearity (300 Hz -10 kHz, on axis) ± 2.7dBLinearity (300 Hz -10 kHz, 0/15/30º) ± 3.2dBSensitivity (500Hz -5 kHz) 87.0dB

Frequency Response on axis/15°/30°

Frequency Response vert. ±10 cm

Waterfall Wilson Benesch Discovery 2

Tonal Balance in-room, on axis

1,0 metre, 1/1 octave

Linearity Wilson Benesch Discovery 2

hifi & records 2/2017

Wilson BeneschDiscovery 2

WxHxD 23 x 110 x 40 cmWarranty 5 yearsManufacturer Wilson Benesch

Falcon HouseLimestone Cottage Lane

Sheffield S6 1NJWeb wilson-benesch.com

its way to paint fine details without everdrifting off into clinical analysis, its cred-ible room imaging command our duerespect, but what really matters: theDiscovery 2 makes me forget so effort-lessly that I’m listening to two speakers.Essentially I cannot pay a bigger compli-ment to Wilson Benesch, the second Dis-covery is yet again a milestone.

An incredibly fas-cinating loudspea-ker which deser-

ves to be combined with the best sourcesand amplifiers. Only very few dynamictransducers sound as little »boxy« as theDiscovery 2. This quality has its price,but those who, like myself, have a rathercritical attitude towards the battleshipspeakers, will find a life-time partner inthe Wilson Benesch Discovery 2.

Wilfried Kress

Result

dant, one shouldn’tsit too high, other-wise the presencewill suffer, the standard ear height ofabout three feet is perfect (please do nev-er judge the Discovery 2 while stand-ing!). By angling in the acoustic balancecan then be adjusted beautifully. Alreadywith the first few bars, the placementhadn’t yet been optimised at all, theDiscovery 2 made one thing very clearfrom the start: here we’re talking aboutserious music reproduction, here some-thing is happening between the speak-ers. Voices sounded so lifelike that oneturned their heads instinctively. Evenfrom the side room one still had a feelingthat there was really somebody talking orsinging. Fascinating!

After that I fell completely for it, anobjective, neutral evalution is hardly pos-sible for me any more. Hi-fi and high-end criteria? See Baden-Baden, forget it.This is the first loudspeaker since theMagico V2 which keeps »sending me offon a journey«, as I had once put it. Itsunique purity (once again the cabinet!),

The sectional draw-ing of the Semi-sphere dome(right), the exteriorIsobarik woofer(left) plus thecrossover and ter-minal of the Dis-covery 2 (below).

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