A Boenicke day at Gent, May '19.
 

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Gent (or Ghent, if you want), to see and hear the speakers of Sven Boenicke.
Lieu: Wide Screen Audio.

I had heard the little W5s last year, during the X-Fi show in the Netherlands, and Jacques and I walked away highly impressed. The soundstage and bass these gorgeous Lilliputians produced was amazing.

Another reason I specifically wanted to attend the Boenicke show was the presence of the Swiss creator himself.

So, on that Sunday morning I made sure I was on time, because I wanted to be one of the first visitors.
This would give me the opportunity to hear some of my favourite test tracks.

It worked out well, I arrived before any other attendees.
I talked a bit with Sven.
He started as a one man company, now there are three persons working at Boenicke Audio.
He is also a sound engineer, which of course helps him to voice his speakers.

There 4 models in the lineup: the W5, W8, W11 and W13. Each model has 3 levels: the basic version, the SE, and the SE+ version.
The owners of the shop said they were surprised that the better components used in the SE and SE+ versions upped the already good performance of the basic model in such a drastic way.

All 4 models were represented in the store.
3 were installed in a system.

We started with the W8 SE+.

As my wife Meta couldn't join me, you'll have to do without her photographical skills, and bear with my iPhone 7+ pics. :D

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6289.jpg

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...IMG_6287_2.jpg


Source: a dCS Bartok:

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6290.jpg


Amplifier: a SPEC class D integrated amplifier:

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6292.jpg

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6291.jpg


You'll notice that you probably don't know the brand of cables.
You're right, more about that later.

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6293.jpg

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6294.jpg


The 2 youngsters who came also quite early proved to be real music lovers and connoisseurs!
Yippee, young blood in our hobby!

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Fit and finish of these rather small speakers is top notch.

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6296.jpg


The W8 is a 3-way speaker.
The woofer is side-firing.

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6297.jpg

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6300.jpg


The SE+ model offers a clever suspension system, called 'Swing Base', to isolate the speaker from the wooden surfaces of so many living rooms.
They isolate better than spikes.

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6298.jpg


'Swiss happiness in a box'...

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6299.jpg


The innards of the W8 & W5:

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6288.jpg

You know my test tracks by now:

This wonderful mono recording, to test human voices:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....B2f8Z%2BHL.jpg


For ambient sounds:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1CILpuatvL.jpg


For textures of acoustic instruments:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....VL._SY879_.jpg


And this well recorded harpsichord:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....GL._SX679_.jpg

Thanks, Bart. I like their marketing slogan “Swiss Happiness in a Box”. Sounds like something a Swiss chocolatier might say.

And the photography ain’t too shabby. You must have a good teacher.

How did the Boenicke W8 fare so far?

Well, detail, mids and highs, and soundstage were pretty good.
Ella & Louis sounded very natural, Muddy Waters also.
But I was disappointed about the bass.
That became more apparent with the Bruno Cocset album.
A speaker that costs 16K per pair needs more grunt.

We continued with Madredeus' 'Ainda'.
Track 9 'Ainda' has a continuous bass foundation which was simply lacking here.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1j7gQ9iwkL.jpg


And then this album: the second piece 'Ciacona in D minor' from Pachelbel is a real torture track:

https://static.qobuz.com/images/cove...430784_600.jpg


It is available on Qobuz (24/96) and Tidal.
Try it out!
Big fun.
It is magnificent and will pressurise your room in an impressive way.
Your furniture will rattle if you listen in your living room.
You will notice all things that are loose! :D

One condition: your speakers must be able to dive well under 30 Hz.
I severely missed this here.
Only the overtones of the organ were present.

I was unhappy, even to the point that I thought about not posting a review.
I don't do negative reviews.
Only when something in a hifi show is really bad, I'll report about it briefly, and move on to the good rooms.

But you are reading this, I did post this, so there must have been something pleasing to my ears that day.

Let us go to the W13 SE+...

I had expressed my doubts about the bass on the W8 SE+, and had said I was not hearing what I usually hear at home when playing this track.
So we moved to the other room, where the W13 SE+ was ready to play the same track.

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6301.jpg


This speaker still isn't big, but it has 2 woofers of 13 inches, with their own amplification.

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6302.jpg


According to the room, you can even tune the bass:

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6303.jpg


It makes these speakers semi-active, and that gives you a wider choice of amplifiers able to drive them.

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6304.jpg

So, what about the organ track now?!

Yes!!
Yes yes and yes!
Sven even wanted to tune the bass down, but I assured him it has to sound like this.
When you are in the church where it was recorded, you do feel the organ in your guts!
We were smiling, as the paintings on the wall were rattling indeed, and the deep, warm organ notes caressed our bellies... :D

Also the Madredeus track now fully bloomed.

As everybody knows, when the bass is right, also the mids and highs flourish more easily.
The soundstage opened up, we could hear more detail, everything became more transparent, lifelike, natural.

I congratulated Sven by saying: "This is a wonderful, full range speaker, with a very high WAF!!".


Pre amp: ARC Ref 6:

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6306.jpg


The juice was provided by the VTL S-200 power amp:

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6307.jpg

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6308.jpg

I heard the W13+ SE and W11 SE in Munich and was shocked by how good they were. Big room, somewhat small speakers and I kept looking around the room for surround speakers of some form, subs, etc...found none and simply sat back and enjoyed a huge surprise from this speaker. They had ample bass to spare...

When you see the room, you will notice it is not well treated.
A choice of the shop owners.
It makes it all a bit too lively.
But you could easily appreciate the immense qualities of the Boenicke W13 SE+.
I'm 100% sure it can shine even more in a somewhat better damped room.

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6309.jpg


Wooden midrange!
It sent gorgeous sounds into the room...

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...IMG_6313_2.jpg


Sven explaining.

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6314.jpg

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6315.jpg

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6317.jpg


He poked in the midrange driver in a way that made us hold our breath...

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6316.jpg


You wouldn't do that with aluminium drivers...

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Source here: dCS Rossini and Clock:

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6318.jpg


Notice the tweeter on the back of the speaker, that provides even more ambience:

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6329.jpg

Then a pair of the basic version of the W5 was put in its place.
I found it a bit awkward, so close to their bigger brethren.

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6323.jpg


The new version of the W5 goes deeper (reaches 45 Hz officially, but I think it dips even deeper).

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6320.jpg


The stands seem wobbly, but have the same intent as the suspension of the SE+ versions of the W8, W11 and W13: isolation from the ground.

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6321.jpg


A little SPEC amp was providing the power, the source remained the dCS duo.

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6319.jpg

The W5s are simply amazing!
They offer at least 80% (I dare to say even 90%) of the W8s, in a really tiny package.
If you have a 5K budget, and you value purity, soundstage and transparency, put these absolutely in your list of audition!
Make sure you have a decent amplifier though.
Their sensitivity is low.
And they will reveal all upstream weaknesses.

The rest of the range on static display:

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6328.jpg

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6327.jpg

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6325.jpg

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6326.jpg

Sven talked about his plans to make his own amplifiers, and even a DAC.

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6330.jpg


There is already a range of Boenicke speaker cables.

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6331.jpg

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...e/IMG_6332.jpg


These are new, and I have no idea about the prices.

This is the price list of the speakers in Belgium:

http://metazahren.com/photography/ge...IMG_6333_2.jpg


You notice the important price difference between the basic version and the SE and SE+.
On his website, Sven explains the difference in materials of these versions.

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Conclusion:

The W5 is a fantastic little speaker.
To look at, to listen to, to touch even.
It might be all the speaker you'll ever need, if you can live without the lowest octave.
It has an impressive soundstage.
New attendees were trying to figure out whether the W13s or the W5s were playing...

The W13 SE+ is one of the best speakers I've heard.
Bass is top notch in all aspects, quite a thing for a speaker that is only 104.7 cm high and 17.9 cm wide.
It is fantastic for classical, as well as jazz, and pop.
Very natural sound.
Do audition it if you are shopping in this category.
Your wife will be very grateful, and you won't miss anything by not buying speakers that are 3 times as big and weigh 5 times more.
(I want a pair! In a second room! :D).

The W8 SE+ is a good speaker, but not one I would put in my top 10 list in that price range.

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Gary, thank you.

But do eat Belgian chocolates! :D

Mark, you're absolutely right. For me, they enter right into my top 10 of all speakers that I have heard so far.

+1

Thinking back frequently on these speakers..had to be one of my top 5-7 favorite sounds in Munich and shortlisted for my all time best list as well.

And this is a great recording done by Sven Boenicke:

https://static.qobuz.com/images/cove...989528_600.jpg

We are fortunate that Aldi brings in Belgian chocolate for us. :thumbsup:

Thank you Bart for an entertaining read. More than likely I will never get the chance to hear his speakers but your comments about the track, Madredeus' 'Ainda' peaked my interest. I streamed the track Ainda and ordered the CD. Thank you.

- Bob

Bob, you're welcome.

Regarding your remark that I've put in bold: please do come out of your house too hey! :D

Bob - Bart is serious. Not only will you have the opportunity to listen to his & Meta's great system, you will be welcomed by as gracious a host and hostess as you could ever hope to meet. :thumbsup: Worth your trip to Belgium. :yes:

Bart, thanks - very enlightening, and Gent is a great town (home to one of my other account-draining hobbies' dealers, that of antique maps).

Paul, where would that shop be?
My father-in-law has that same hobby...

Bart - maybe you should dip your toe into vinyl. :yes:
This is a sign in the window of a used record shop in Antwerp (near the train station). ;)

https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...1&d=1560362293

Glenn, been there, done that.
It is not going to happen.
Nice to feel and smell it indeed.
But my future investments will be into digital.