Boenicke

Don’t buy something you haven’t heard unless you can make a good enough deal to not take a significant loss when you sell it.

@jperry  it will be a killer deal from my dealer (he's too far to visit!).
From what I've read they sound excellent & I like the adjustability. 

What do you use?

@infection ,

I have ProAc speakers right now. You can see my system on line here at Audiogon. On my way to those I bought and sold many speakers on the used market while looking for the right thing for my system.

I have not heard the Boenicke speakers, and they have some great reviews. My comment was only a general comment based on my experience. I bought and sold a number of highly reviewed speakers along the way that were fine, but not to my personal taste.

Good luck with your search.

They are cut from the same cloth as the truly wonderful W5. Not heard them, but I think they might be killer.........

@gawdbless  -  yeah I have a feeling I'll love them...

@jperry  -  nice room & system. What do you like about the ProAcs?

@infection ,

Thanks for nice comments.

I like the natural sound (great on female voices in particular), imaging and the way the ribbon tweeter integrates seamlessly with the cone speakers.

If this is an important decision to you perhaps you might find a way
to go hear them? (As well as all the other contenders on your list. Call it a vacation unless your significant other is coming too. In that case it is just a "Getaway". Send her shopping somewhere else for the day while you do some listening!!

here are two I found on the web that deal with Boenicke.
I would dearly love to hear the bigger brothers to the W5.

https://pranadistribution.com/new-index/
https://www.parkavenueaudio.com/

@infection, I’m guessing you’re in the USA? If in U.K. I can provide a home demonstration.

In USA Audioprana is the distributor and there are a number of YouTube videos by them you might want to check out.

The W5, W8 and W11 all exhibit similar characteristics, being very naturally balanced and open sounding, not constricted all all, and particularly with the W11 an amazingly good tight and extended bass. All three designs use solid timber cabinets which are CNC machined inside forming a clam shell construction. All the drive units are carefully selected and matched, the timber midrange unit on the W11 being unique. Sven Boenicke uses top quality network components throughout. All his speakers employ a unique decoupling system which produces a much clearer stereo image.

We use amplification by Mola Mola which is an incredibly good combination, both being extremely neutral and capable of really good transient response and upper and lower bass detail.

@boenicke_audio  Good to have you on board. Looking forward to your ongoing contributions.

I demoed 15 speakers in the last year and ended up with Boenicke.  I wrote a review of them all here:
http://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/a-brief-review-of-15-high-end-speakers-on-home-demo-including...

The link does not work....

@boenicke_audio

I'm curious:  Will Boenicke produce speakers in custom wood finishes?

Thanks.

Sounds expensive :)

@boenickeaudio"

"...thankyou for your support."'  Formerly dba Bartles & James Audio.
Sure hope a few geezers are hangin' 'round here or it could be crickets for me.

@boenicke_audio - thank you for offering your help.
Is the W8 SE a substantial upgrade from the standard?

Sven,
the wooden mid cone driver we can find in the W11 and above model seems to be a big upgrade from the one installed in the W5 and W8. So : why don’t you put in inside the smaller models also ?
Sometimes  you don’t have the room for big speakers but you still want the best quality anyway ?

But you could build a smaller wooden one couldn’t you ?

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/boenicke6/1.html

Great review of Boenicke W11’s including comparisons with the W8.

We have here in U.K., W11’s and W5’s on permanent demonstration, used with Mola Mola pre/dac and Mola Mola power amps. Digital sources include the Fidata server.

Hi Rich

I have the smaller W8 SE+ speakers which are basically a little brother of the W11 but retain a similar set of components.

The speakers are fabulous with acoustic and classical music in particular - vibrant, rich tonality with an amazingly deep 3-D soundstage and great timing. The bass and mid range are astounding in terms of depth and realism with a natural but not harsh top end - the high frequencies are not as extended as other designs so if you like techno I would not go for these speakers. there ability to reproduce vocals and string instruments in particular is mesmerising

For me the speakers were love at first listen. I visited my dealer intending to audition and purchase Manger P7s. On the off chance I asked to listed to the Boenicke's and quite simply burst out laughing when they started playing - I have never heard a speaker quite like them.

They are current hungry and I run Devialet 800 - dual mono amplifier producing 800 w in 8 ohms and have the Devialet SAM profile turned on. TH takes the bass down to 23Hz! I use HiDiamond 8 cable which is a nice match

The W8's are perfect for my small 18ft x 15 ft room. I was advised that the W11's would over power my room and need a lot of space.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Is there a hidiamond dealer in the USA?  I'm interested in their speaker cables.
Thx, Ken

@rubinken - Apparently they have no current distribution in the US or Canada. Used to be a Canadian distributor that handled all of North America but that was several years ago and he no longer deals with the line. http://www.hidiamond.eu/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=163&Itemid=219&lang=en

Thanks.

I have the W 11 in my middle sized 4 * 7 meter under the roof room, it sound very good, the speakers disappears to build and real soundstage.
I confirm they are power hungry, i first had a Gryphon Diablo 250 and it went to overheat after less than 10 hours of normal volume, around 70db,  playing. It even burned the fuse once.
I have now a Mc462 with 2*450 watt and it work terrific, and it's not oversized at all, that's what they want...

I just heard the w5s at Park Ave Audio in NYC  and was blown away by the sound stage and musicality. Andrew (the sales consultant) was sold on them and he’s a n audio nerd. Fantastic speakers driven by Hegel 590. Amazing sound. Imaging and ability to fill the room blew me away. I definitely want a pair. , just need to save, they are not inexpensive and like power.  

I'm spoiled now.. and can’t go back.

It appears some of you were replying to "@boenicke_audio" but I can't see any posts from him, did the mods actually remove his posts?? Wow...

@infection so did you buy it?

@brianportugal I saw them in Munich (never heard them) but I was blown away, it screamed QUALITY!

I've had the W8 and still grieve selling them.  The sound is so disproportionate to the speaker's small size it seems like some kind of magic.  One warning, you need a serious amplifier as the little rascals are very very power hungry and are a difficult load with impedance dipping to just below 2 Ohm.  However, on the right power amplifier - pure bliss.  

 

I wonder what about the design (choices) make the Boenicke speakers such a demanding speaker to power.  ??