Note that this is a discontinued product. You may want to visit the brand's page here to browse their newer products.
What reviewers think
Bloggers and YouTubers have tried this product—so we've summarized their strongest opinions below. Links to full reviews follow.
Product Strengths
- Astonishing transient speed and dynamic agility, fostering the impression of removing a dynamic-compression filter between the listener and the music
- Resolves pitch, texture, and transient information in the bottom end in a revelatory way
- Strives to be a perfectly colorless, transparent window on the music, minimizing additive distortions
- Creates a sense of openness and transparency through the midrange and treble
- Incredibly stiff and well-damped cabinet, thin-walled, and quiet
Product Considerations
- Does not reproduce high-level, low-frequency impacts such as bass drum whacks on some orchestral recordings
- Bass presentation is not the last word in muscularity, power, weight, or room pressurization
- Overall tonal balance leans toward the light side, with a slightly greater emphasis on upper harmonics rather than on fundamentals and lower harmonics
- Can be too revealing of flaws in recordings and may require careful system matching
Takeaway: The Wilson Benesch Eminence is designed to convey music's dynamic expression, rhythmic flow, and timing with unparalleled accuracy. It reveals new levels of detail in familiar recordings, offering a transparent window into the original performance.
What are hifi reviews useful for? (1) Identifying products you should demo in person at a dealer. (2) Learning which products reviewers unanimously praise as the best they've heard (this means they probably are legitimately great). (3) Identifying a product's attributes that satisfy your idiosyncratic needs and tastes. Beyond that, we often discount what reviewers say because they heap praise on most products—and are often apprehensive about publishing strong criticism or comparisons between products. Further, they seldom have more than a few products on-hand, often relying on their memories to compare past products. Always listen for yourself.
All
Eminence
reviews
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An excellent review of a great product
/
Publisher
/
3/1/2022
An excellent review of a great product
Publisher
/
3/1/2022
Video Review
Manufacturer details
Features
Specifications
- Drive Technology: Upper Bass 1 170mm(7") Wilson Benesch Tactic 3.0
- Drive Technology: Upper Bass 2 170mm(7") Wilson Benesch Tactic 3.0
- Tweeter: 25mm (1") Wilson Benesch Fibonacci Hybrid Silk-Carbon Tweeter
- Midrange: 170mm(7") Wilson Benesch Tactic 3.0
- Low Bass 1: 170mm(7") Wilson Benesch Tactic 3.0
- Low Bass 2: 170mm(7") Wilson Benesch Tactic 3.0
- Isobaric Drive System: 2x 170mm (7") Wilson Benesch Tactic in Clamshell Formation
- Type: 2.5-way
- Impedance: 4.5 Ohms
- Sensitivity: 89dB @ 1-Meter on axis, 2.83V Input
- Frequency Response: 24Hz - 30kHz +/- 2dB
- Height: 1905mm (75")
- Width: 205mm (8.1") Baffle // 613mm (24.1") Widest Point of the Foot
- Depth: 624mm (24.6")
- Weight: 145kg (320 lbs)
Description
In 2018 Wilson Benesch unveiled Eminence – the most ambitious loudspeaker design in the company's three-decade history. The Eminence became a messenger for the next generation of reference Wilson Benesch loudspeaker design, introducing for the first time the A.C.T. 3Zero Monocoque, the Tactic 3.0 drive unit and the Fibonacci Tweeter. The Eminence quickly received acclaim from the most important critics in the industry and without exception, it was identified as a landmark achievement not only for the brand but within high-end audio design.
Release Timeline
Manufacturer Site
Brand highlights
Taking a step back to look at reviewers' thoughts of the brand's entire lineup—not just this product—what stands out most is the following:
- Wilson Benesch stands out by manufacturing nearly all parts in-house, including drivers and even carbon fiber enclosures, providing greater control over quality and performance.
- They distinguish themselves through research into advanced materials, including bio-composites developed through collaborative projects with European research institutions, as a sustainable alternative to carbon fiber.
- A key differentiator lies in Wilson Benesch's design approach which prioritizes transient performance and dynamic coherence, even if it means trading off mid-bass warmth and weight, leading to a distinct sonic signature.
- Wilson Benesch emphasizes a minimalist approach to crossovers, even running some drivers full range, striving for signal purity and coherence which sets them apart from brands using more complex filter networks.
Select products
Select product comparisons
A.C.T. 3Zero
- Positioning: A classic line that embodies the heritage of Wilson Benesch with advanced composite technology.
- Description: Features a biocomposite monocoque that enhances damping and silence, setting it apart from previous carbon fiber models. It includes an Isobaric Drive System for tight bass, unlike the Resolution 3Zero which focuses on full-range performance.
Resolution 3Zero
- Positioning: A high-performance floorstanding speaker designed for power and control.
- Description: Uses an Isobaric Drive System for controlled bass and a biocomposite monocoque for acoustic excellence, offering more power than the A.C.T. 3Zero. Its design allows for a full-range experience, unlike the standmount Endeavour 3Zero.
Endeavour 3Zero
- Positioning: A flagship standmount loudspeaker with advanced materials and design.
- Description: Combines a Fibonacci hybrid dome tweeter and Tactic 3.0 drive units for seamless integration, offering a more compact solution than the Resolution 3Zero.
Omnium
- Positioning: A modular design that represents the evolution of Wilson Benesch's loudspeaker technology.
- Description: Features a biocomposite monocoque and a massive aluminum foot for stability, providing a more refined sound than the A.C.T. 3Zero. It offers a balance of power and elegance, unlike the more compact Endeavour 3Zero.
Eminence
- Positioning: The flagship model of Wilson Benesch, representing the pinnacle of their loudspeaker design.
- Description: Integrates ten drive units with a biocomposite monocoque for exceptional coherency, surpassing the Omnium in scale and design.
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Avg. Product Price
$100,001+
Used For Sale
19
Available (Scroll Down)
Brand Popularity
221
of 900+
Badges
Top 50 Brand
Top 250 Brand
Products Listed
11
Founding Year
1989
Our take on the brand
Wilson Benesch pioneered the use of carbon fiber in audio products, starting with their 1991 turntable, and continues to use this material extensively in their loudspeakers for its unique structural advantages. Their speakers feature an isobaric driver configuration that enables deeper bass from smaller cabinets, and they manufacture almost all components in-house, including their distinctive curved monocoque enclosures that reduce resonance.
Look inside the brand
Brand Page
Our interview with the brand
What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?
Engineering taken to the ultimate level. That’s what our brand and engineering are abou. We want to make the absolute finest sounding speakers that science can produce. We’re constantly looking at new engineering and materials to rethink as much as possible.
Let’s start with the tweeter: Normally you have soft dome, magnet structure, etc. But in the construction of how we do it, there’s a whole chambered element behind the tweeter, and we slice the soft dome down the middle and insert material to augment rigidity—to reach the frequencies a hard dome could do. It’s the beauty of soft dome with the breadth of a hard dome.
Next, our isobaric loading: Our drivers face each other to increase speed and decrease cabinet space. This also helps drivers more easily cross into where the tweeter takes over, making for a more seamless transition between drivers.
What's your approach to customer support?
What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?
What other products pair best with yours?
From our interview with
Eric Smith
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Brand Page
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Wilson Benesch
Omnium
160000
/
Released
2022
The Omnium is a celebration of the "modular design" that Wilson Benesch added to its design philosophy when it released the ground-breaking Odyssey Range in 2001. With each new design, the modular design approach builds upon the lessons of its predecessor. Like the Porsche 911, the Omnium is then not a singular design, but rather the latest evolution of a living lineage – more than 30-years of incremental improvement in the pursuit of genuine world-class audio reproduction.
Wilson Benesch pioneered the use of carbon fiber in audio products, starting with their 1991 turntable, and continues to use this material extensively in their loudspeakers for its unique structural advantages. Their speakers feature an isobaric driver configuration that enables deeper bass from smaller cabinets, and they manufacture almost all components in-house, including their distinctive curved monocoque enclosures that reduce resonance.
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- The Omnium's design prioritizes whip-fast transient response, dynamic agility, speed, and articulation, creating a lively and upbeat sound
- Tonal neutrality and absence of coloration allows it to disappear as a sound source
- Advanced materials are built into the cabinet, including a bio-composite enclosure and meticulously researched technology
- It is quick and detailed, with that speed extending all the way to the lowest bass with no dynamic discontinuity
- The midrange is extremely transparent and highly resolving of instrumental timbre
Product Considerations
- The Omnium trades away midbass warmth and power for spectacular dynamic performance and coherence, resulting in a lean, tight, precise, and articulate sound
- It may not be suitable for those seeking a visceral bass impact that involves the whole body in the music
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The Omnium shares the same design philosophy, drive units, and cabinet construction as the Wilson Benesch Eminence, but in a slightly shorter cabinet with one fewer drive units, and the Omnium may have a slightly more refined sound, with superior resolution and an even quieter enclosure
Takeaway: The Wilson Benesch Omnium is a technologically advanced loudspeaker with a focus on speed, detail, and neutrality, making it a great choice for listeners who value accuracy and transient response. With the addition of the IGx Infrasonic Generator, the Omnium's tonal foundation is restored without compromising its unique qualities.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Wilson Benesch pioneered the use of carbon fiber in audio products, starting with their 1991 turntable, and continues to use this material extensively in their loudspeakers for its unique structural advantages. Their speakers feature an isobaric driver configuration that enables deeper bass from smaller cabinets, and they manufacture almost all components in-house, including their distinctive curved monocoque enclosures that reduce resonance.
Product Page
Product Page
Burmester
BC150
150000
/
Released
2021
The new BC150 loudspeaker model by Burmester is now making the innovative leaps in sound quality, technology, and design from the Signature Line possible for other product lines. Within this loudspeaker model, elements of the BC350 loudspeakers from the Signature Line were incorporated.
Burmester, a high-end audio brand renowned for its German craftsmanship, designs and handcrafts its components in Berlin. Known for its distinctive industrial aesthetic with chrome finishes, the brand supplies premium sound systems for Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Detailed, exciting, dynamic, and transparent sound
- Vanishingly low cabinet coloration, contributing to speed and detail
- Lung-emptying, bowel-clearing, demolition-grade bass
- Bass integrates well with the rest of the frequency range for an integrated musical performance
- Voices have breath and contour, yet the result always retains a minimum of warmth
Product Considerations
- Room acoustics should be a strong consideration, as the BC150 reveals room issues
- Needs a lot of quality electronics upstream
- Requires firm control and ample current capacity from the amplifier
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The BC150 sounds more like a Burmester B38 with greater abilities to scale
Takeaway: The Burmester BC150 is a high-precision audio instrument that is both musically communicative and musically analytical, offering a detailed and transparent listening experience. It offers clarity and purity of sound, and brings music to another level.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Burmester, a high-end audio brand renowned for its German craftsmanship, designs and handcrafts its components in Berlin. Known for its distinctive industrial aesthetic with chrome finishes, the brand supplies premium sound systems for Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.
Product Page
Product Page
Borresen
M3
283975
/
Released
2023
The M3 speakers are the perfect blend of form and function, which reflects the excellent and highly productive partnership between two great minds in the audio industry – Michael Børresen and Flemming Erik Rasmussen. The sleek and elegant design of these speakers, combined with their outstanding audio performance, makes them a testament to Audio Group Denmark's commitment to audio excellence.
Børresen Acoustics stands out for its iron-free magnetic motors and cryogenically treated metal components, which reduce inductance for clearer sound. The brand's speakers feature unique elements like zirconium-based 3D-printed baskets and a patented ribbon tweeter design, combined with series crossover networks for phase-locked electrical current across frequencies.
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- The M3 presents music with an unprecedented degree of individuality and specificity, without sacrificing tonality, texture, or body
- Remarkable level of resolution
- Astonishing transparency and is resolute
- Accurate tonality and represents timbre faithfully
- Exceptional high-frequency detail and speed due to a planar tweeter
- Accepts only banana terminations
Product Considerations
- The planar tweeter misses the very last measure of extension, shimmer, and effortlessness accomplished by the very best available today
- Low-frequency extension was limited to the high 20 Hz, low 30 Hz range
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Compared to Magico M9, the M3 has recalibrated the resolution yardstick by which all other loudspeakers must be measured and compared
- Compared to Von Schweikert Audio ULTRA 9s, the M3 has recalibrated the resolution yardstick by which all other loudspeakers must be measured and compared
Takeaway: The Børresen M3 loudspeakers boldly represent the realization of striking potential in audio and push known boundaries. People who choose the M3 will enjoy a specific level of playback that is unavailable from other loudspeakers.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Børresen Acoustics stands out for its iron-free magnetic motors and cryogenically treated metal components, which reduce inductance for clearer sound. The brand's speakers feature unique elements like zirconium-based 3D-printed baskets and a patented ribbon tweeter design, combined with series crossover networks for phase-locked electrical current across frequencies.
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Wilson Audio
Alexx V
154000
/
Released
2021
The original Alexx loudspeaker, launched in 2016, quickly gained critical acclaim throughout the industry. Alexx benefited from several elements developed during the five years Wilson Audio's founder David A. Wilson, and his unwavering R&D team, brought to life his magnum opus: the WAMM Master Chronosonic. Now, five years after the monumental accomplishment of the WAMM, Alexx V builds upon the original Alexx's success by offering a completely re-engineered performance envelope without greatly increasing the footprint. Comparing the overall size of Alexx V to the original, Alexx V is only 1" deeper and 1" taller while maintaining the same width.
Wilson Audio is often considered the quintessential American high-end hi-fi brand, a staple in premium audio dealerships across the country. Many reviewers use Wilson speakers in their own home systems, reflecting their reputation for outstanding dynamics, bass depth, and the ability to reproduce classical music with remarkable realism. Wilson focuses on creating an uncolored sound, aiming to replicate the experience of live, unamplified performances.
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Sublime image size and expansiveness, coupled with an ability to be driven as hard as your ears or your amps can take
- A sense of balance to the sound of the Alexx V makes renewal possible, expressive and articulate from the deepest bass to the highest treble
- Trickle-down benefits from the WAMM Master Chronosonic and Chronosonic XVX
- Bass performance is otherworldly
- The Alexx V has the ability to uncover and continue to deliver micro-details at extremely high SPLs, even after that slam of a transient
Product Considerations
- Some power behind the throne is needed, because the loudspeaker's impedance plot drops to two ohms at 250Hz
- The dome tweeter does sacrifice the last ounce of micro-detail, compared to the insane resolving power of the best diamond and beryllium drivers
- The choice of finish needs to be considered with care
- Cable management can impact performance
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Compared to the original Alexx, the Alexx V is a massive improvement—closer to a baby XVX in so many ways
- Compared to the Alexia 2, the Alexx V was more than a mere additive sum, a step-function improvement
- Compared to the Wilson XVX and WAMM Master Chronosonic, the tweeter is effortless and resolving by normal standards, but no match for the extraordinary levels of detail retrieval
Takeaway: The Alexx V offers a sublime listening experience with excellent balance and dynamic range that allows the listener to get closer to the music. It is a worthy contender for those looking to upgrade their listening experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Wilson Audio is often considered the quintessential American high-end hi-fi brand, a staple in premium audio dealerships across the country. Many reviewers use Wilson speakers in their own home systems, reflecting their reputation for outstanding dynamics, bass depth, and the ability to reproduce classical music with remarkable realism. Wilson focuses on creating an uncolored sound, aiming to replicate the experience of live, unamplified performances.
Product Page
Product Page
Linn
360
110180
/
Released
2023
360 is audibly invisible. It produces a performance with unprecedented clarity and realism, that's entirely absent of sonic colouration. Incorporating innovative drive unit and amplifier technologies, 360 turns out our lowest ever levels of audible distortion. The honed curves of its cabinet are partnered with meticulously matched drive units to deliver the cleanest possible dispersion characteristics.
Linn is a hifi brand known for its modular designs, particularly the Sondek LP12 turntable where users can upgrade virtually every component over time to maintain performance across decades. The brand stands out for developing its own technologies in-house, including the Organik DAC with FPGA processing and Space Optimisation, which models room acoustics without needing microphone measurements.
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Excellent imaging, providing a strong stereo image for multiple listeners due to wide dispersion and Space Optimisation+
- Flexible and capable of playing all kinds of music, getting out of the music's way, and suitable for both large and smaller rooms
- Dynamic, detailed, and can play at a wide range of volume levels, from quiet listening to near PA levels
- Features a new driver array, including a Beryllium dome tweeter, thin-ply woven carbon fiber midrange (used on NASA's Mars Rover), and aluminum-magnesium alloy bass units
- Incorporates new amplifier technologies—'Power DAC' for the lower bass and 'Adaptive Bias Control' for the mid and treble—reducing distortion
Product Considerations
- The midrange dome is exposed, which might be a concern with children
- Owners of previous Linn systems may find the price difficult to accept
- Some audiophiles may prefer Linn to trawl its past rather than building its future, and they will want an Isobarik
- Some audiophiles may not be able to see past the LP12
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The 360 offers significantly improved imaging and soundstaging compared to the Klimax 350
Takeaway: The Linn 360 is a high-end loudspeaker that provides excellent sound quality and flexibility, making it a great choice for enjoying music with friends or for personal listening sessions. Its innovative design and technology deliver a detailed and immersive audio experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Linn is a hifi brand known for its modular designs, particularly the Sondek LP12 turntable where users can upgrade virtually every component over time to maintain performance across decades. The brand stands out for developing its own technologies in-house, including the Organik DAC with FPGA processing and Space Optimisation, which models room acoustics without needing microphone measurements.
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