Wison Benesch Loudspeakers & Naim
Posted by: terryborth on 22 August 2003
Has anyone in the forum heard wilson benesch loudspeakers with Naim's electronics? I am especially interested in how the act speakers would sound with Naim?
Posted on: 22 August 2003 by Frank Abela
terryborth
I tried the ACTs with Naim and other makes and found them to be very good at the round earth stuff with great resolution, space and soundstaging, but they were awfully boring. The pace and rhythm was simply not there. Very sad, since I am a great believer in the Arc, Act1 and Act2 which I think are great fun with very valid musical attributes. Personally, I'd take the Arc over the ACT any day - and that's 1/3rd the price.
Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.
I tried the ACTs with Naim and other makes and found them to be very good at the round earth stuff with great resolution, space and soundstaging, but they were awfully boring. The pace and rhythm was simply not there. Very sad, since I am a great believer in the Arc, Act1 and Act2 which I think are great fun with very valid musical attributes. Personally, I'd take the Arc over the ACT any day - and that's 1/3rd the price.
Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.
Posted on: 22 August 2003 by David Antonelli
Frank,
If that is true, it's too bad about the ACT, as the ACT 2 is an awesome speaker in all categories, especially with Naim electronics. Driven by CDS2/552/500 at high noon on the volume register all we had was pure unconditional music with all the fuzzy wonders of round earth tied in with lightening bolt PRaT and ballet-like cohesion. And the speakers were threatening to blow the walls off without a trace of distortion. From Le Tigre to Liszt, they did it all without a flaw and at breathtaking levels of excitement.
Dave
If that is true, it's too bad about the ACT, as the ACT 2 is an awesome speaker in all categories, especially with Naim electronics. Driven by CDS2/552/500 at high noon on the volume register all we had was pure unconditional music with all the fuzzy wonders of round earth tied in with lightening bolt PRaT and ballet-like cohesion. And the speakers were threatening to blow the walls off without a trace of distortion. From Le Tigre to Liszt, they did it all without a flaw and at breathtaking levels of excitement.
Dave
Posted on: 22 August 2003 by blythe
I tried a pair of ACT's and found them to be boring in the extreme. That was before I knew thier cost and was even more disappointed to hear that they were in the region of £7000.
They sounded to me like half decent £2000 speakers.......
Computers are supposed to work on 1's and 0's - in other words "Yes" or "No" - why does mine frequently say "Maybe"?......
They sounded to me like half decent £2000 speakers.......
Computers are supposed to work on 1's and 0's - in other words "Yes" or "No" - why does mine frequently say "Maybe"?......
Posted on: 22 August 2003 by Derek Wright
I have a pair ACT2s with my system and I have listened to a pair of ACTs with an XPS2 252 300 - we used a pair of ACT2s initially to acclimatise to the setup and then switched to the ACTs - they were superb, the ACT2s by comparison sounded very harsh when they were switched back in at the end of the session.
The areas of improvement I noticed with the ACTS cf the ACT2s were very similiar to the things I am noticing by replacing a 52 with a 552.
I was listening to orchestral music with church organs and a some Rodney Crowell.
Give the ACTs a trial - you need to have them in open space as opposed to Naim speakers being close to a wall
Derek
<<Have you checked your PTs today>>
The areas of improvement I noticed with the ACTS cf the ACT2s were very similiar to the things I am noticing by replacing a 52 with a 552.
I was listening to orchestral music with church organs and a some Rodney Crowell.
Give the ACTs a trial - you need to have them in open space as opposed to Naim speakers being close to a wall
Derek
<<Have you checked your PTs today>>
Posted on: 23 August 2003 by Martin R
I hear small Wilson Benesch speakers with all the small Naim gear in my living room every evening .... and they are pretty sweet too.
But to be serious: did anyone have the opportunity to listen to the Chimaera and maybe compare it to the different ACTs ... and what about the speaker in between ... the Discovery ? I remember (although I'm not sure) that a few weeks a forum member posted that he wants to test the Discovery as well as the new ACT in his Naim system but I do not remember who it was. Maybe he reads these lines now and could give us a comment ....
Martin
But to be serious: did anyone have the opportunity to listen to the Chimaera and maybe compare it to the different ACTs ... and what about the speaker in between ... the Discovery ? I remember (although I'm not sure) that a few weeks a forum member posted that he wants to test the Discovery as well as the new ACT in his Naim system but I do not remember who it was. Maybe he reads these lines now and could give us a comment ....
Martin
Posted on: 23 August 2003 by David Antonelli
Martin,
I heard the Chimera extensively, but with a Nottingham TT and chord electronics and had a chance to compare it to the ACT 2. It sounds bigger, faster, and more cohesive, with a great lightness of touch in the bass imparted by the isobaric tactics. But it has a generic similarity to the ACT2 in terms of the WB sonic signature.
Even more than most speakers, the Wb line is very sensitive of the electronics they are coupled with. They really do not have a "sound" per say. Driving my ACT 2 with CDs2/52/250 gave that "old naim sound", while using the 552/500 gave "the new naim sound" Since there are so many design similarities between ACT 2 and ACT (redesigned port and metal replacing wood being the major differences), I would expect the ACT to sound somewhere between the ACT 2 and the Chimera. Deeper, less distorted bass and even less stress at higher listening levels. They say the ACT has the most innert enclosure ever made for a speaker. Maybe "boring" in this context is simply "less distortion". Kind of like going from Hicap to supercap. The lesser power supply gives the superficial appearance of more excitement in the trebble, when really it is just more "on the edge of your chair" noise.
Dave
When I have a chance i will home demo the act, but probably not till after I get a 552.
I heard the Chimera extensively, but with a Nottingham TT and chord electronics and had a chance to compare it to the ACT 2. It sounds bigger, faster, and more cohesive, with a great lightness of touch in the bass imparted by the isobaric tactics. But it has a generic similarity to the ACT2 in terms of the WB sonic signature.
Even more than most speakers, the Wb line is very sensitive of the electronics they are coupled with. They really do not have a "sound" per say. Driving my ACT 2 with CDs2/52/250 gave that "old naim sound", while using the 552/500 gave "the new naim sound" Since there are so many design similarities between ACT 2 and ACT (redesigned port and metal replacing wood being the major differences), I would expect the ACT to sound somewhere between the ACT 2 and the Chimera. Deeper, less distorted bass and even less stress at higher listening levels. They say the ACT has the most innert enclosure ever made for a speaker. Maybe "boring" in this context is simply "less distortion". Kind of like going from Hicap to supercap. The lesser power supply gives the superficial appearance of more excitement in the trebble, when really it is just more "on the edge of your chair" noise.
Dave
When I have a chance i will home demo the act, but probably not till after I get a 552.