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Upgraded to Wilson Benesch Arc Speakers

A

AJSKI2fly

Member
Having upgraded my turntable and amplifier, the last on the list was the speakers, I have had a pair of Dali Ikon 6 mk2 for several years and they have done me very well, but were a bit stretched getting true reproduction with my turntable and mono-block 300B amps. So some months ago I started searching for what might work well, after many discussions and listening to speakers the manufacturer of the Renaissance RA01 amps suggested I tried the Wilson Benesch ARC's, which they regularly used.

I searched around and found a pair of demo ones that Bob Hesketh had at his shop Tavistock Audio. So a few weeks ago I went along for a listen. I took along about 8 LP's having pre-selected a track from each to listen to which would get the speakers working and I would be able to assess, top, mid, bass, soundstage, voice reproduction, separation and attack. At the same time I intended to demo some PMC speakers as well. Bob was extremely helpful, he sat me down in a chair and suggested I moved it into a similar position to my home environment, and then left me to it to change records and my scoring spreadsheet. He just kept supplying me coffee. After two and half hours of listening to the ARC's, PMC 21 and 23's my mind was made up, it had to be the ARC's. Bob agreed to hold onto them for several weeks while I sorted the funds out, and we negotiated a very good price for them.

Today I went to Tavistock Audio to collect, I got back home safely and have set up the Wilson Benesch ARC speakers. They not only look good, I think my wife will be pleased with that at least, they sound fantastic. I am going through my original listening tracks used when I listened at the shop, trouble is I get an album on and then just end up listening to more of it. So far they are scoring very high, averaging between 95-100%, and they are not even bedded in. I just cannot get over how natural sounding they are, close your eyes and they just do not exist, just the music. They work extremely well with my Renaissance RA01 300B Mono-block valve amps. I heard them at Tavistock Audio with a Naim Nait amp and they also worked well with that.

Bob gave me some great help and advice, allowed me to asses everything and was in no way pushy, a great experience compared to some hifi dealers I have been to. He also helped me out with the longer Chord Epic cables, very much appreciated. If I am tempted to do any upgrading then I will certainly be going back to Tavistock Audio and will not hesitate to recommend to my friends.
 
Congrats on your new speakers, Tavistock Audio do indeed seem a good bunch in a lovely part of the country.:)
 
Thanks, I am so pleased with them, I took a bit of a risk not trying them with my amps, but it had worked out well and they have completed the sound I wanted(musical). The only possible upgrade would be better valves, but that will have to what for at least a year, and it could be an expensive can of worms.
 
AJSKI2fly said:
Thanks, I am so pleased with them, I took a bit of a risk not trying them with my amps, but it had worked out well and they have completed the sound I wanted(musical). The only possible upgrade would be better valves, but that will have to what for at least a year, and it could be an expensive can of worms.
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The trick, now, is to put all such thoughts well and truly on hold and enjoy the setup you now have. :)
 
How would you characterise their sound/ compare with previous speakers. I felt tempted to buy s/h, unheard once or twice. I really admire WB.
 
You went from floorstanders to standmounts, just like that, not a comment on the bass or soundstage..
 
AJSKI2fly said:
Thanks, I am so pleased with them, I took a bit of a risk not trying them with my amps, but it had worked out well and they have completed the sound I wanted(musical). The only possible upgrade would be better valves, but that will have to what for at least a year, and it could be an expensive can of worms.
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What amps are they, I've found great improvements can be found by replacing the rectifier valves before looking at the 300b's.

Putting a Mullard GZ34 in the preamp made a huge difference to the sound.
 
The soundstage is very good with excellent separation, they are very revealing speakers, instruments sound as they should. With respect to bass yes it is there, plenty of it, ample for my room 24' by 13'. I have the speakers 1m from one end wall and 450mm in from side walls and slightly toed in. I sit about 5.5m from them. The bass is tight, and not boomy, drums sound as you expect. The bass on St Germain - Tourist - Montego Bay Spleen hits you in the stomach as you'd expect, and not at extreme volume, I have checked on iPhone decibel meter and it's peaking at 80dB and averaging 75bB, so not loud. In fact when my wife came home I listened to Marillion - Misplaced Chilhood again with the volume lower and as I was amazed at the detail when I first listened with ARC's, they still sounded great with acceptable bass.

TheDecameron, I was in your mindset but I would say they are a truly great speaker, conservative seeing they are £3,5k new they should be, I did not pay that. There is a pair on eBay for £1350 and I would say if there in good condition their worth every penny. They are quite easy to drive, my amps are only putting out around 24W rms per channel into 8ohm, and remember I'm using a passive pre amp so only about 0.5v going into the amps so no gain, at my normal listening setting I have the pre amp set at 3/4 position so it is attenuating the output voltage down to about 0.35v into the power amps. Before buying I contacted Wilson Benesch about them asking if they experienced any issues and costs. They were very helpful and open about it, basically they said they had never had a driver failure and crossovers only rarely through extreme abuse from a failing amp. Tweeters from them are £160 and mid/bass driver is £280 so not expensive.

IMO probably one of the best speakers I've heard, amazing in all ways for the size.

These are truly amazing speakers
 
Audio Emotion have my old pair of WB Trinitys for sale - lovely speakers and with the extra carbon fibre finish they look fab as well as sounding good.
 
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