WILSON BENESCH Omnium - IGx
Floorstanding loudspeakers
These Omnium speakers are a technological marvel and a wet dream of audio engineers. I cannot remember the last time when I had to use dictionary to understand all the finesse that was thrown into loudspeakers. And they are not even the top of the line for the manufacturer – this spot is reserved for Eminence model with which the Omnium have a lot in common.
Function and form
The Omnium are slim and tall 2.5-way speakers. With 1.7-meter height they are just 200mm wide, so they look very unintrusive in a room, apart from the forward-shaped carbon top plate that made me feel as if the speakers were ready to jump at me. No wonder that the elaborately CNC-machined base must be heavy (30kg) to prevent the speakers to be knocked-out accidentally. Lower bass, upper bass, and midrange are shared between six (!) 170mm polypropylene “Tactic 3.0” drivers, at the tweeter position, carbon-silk dome is used.
The vocabulary of Wilson Benesch is full of Fibonacci sequence references (they also give the name to their new range of speakers), shapes derived from nature, biopolymers, monocoques, carbon fiber, advanced technology composites, poly-alloy, nylon, 3D printing, hybridized semisphere domes, and Isotactic and Isobaric driver structures. I have found their descriptions rather intriguing from marketing perspective and dare not to elaborate on them. Please refer to their website as it goes great lengths in explaining everything. No matter which newspeak they use, they know how to build loudspeakers; since 2013 when we reviewed their Discovery model, it has been leading our chart of stand-mounted speakers. It is still in production, in the “3Zero” version. The Omnium is specified as 4.5-ohm speaker with 89dB sensitivity, starting to play at 27Hz (-2dB point). It is available in many panel finishes, carbon, wood, and paint. Choose what you like or ask for the finish of your dreams – Wilson Benesch will make it for you.
Bass management
In short, I would say that the Omnium alone sounds like what it looks like – elegant, agile, clean, and slim. It does not push bass forward. It was apparent in seconds as the double bass line of Spanish Harlem (Rebecca Pidgeon, FLAC 25bit/88.2kHz) kicked in. I heard the same track in the very same room with many other speakers and the Omnium fails to provide the same amount of heft and punch. Don’t get me wrong – the Omnium are impressive speakers and when played loud they can provide tons of bass definition and good weight, but they lack the sheer volume and mass of the bottom end that I’d expect from a loudspeaker of this size. Their bass is wet (as opposed to dry), have a bloom quality to it and entertains. However, it is not Wilson Audio’s slam-bass, it is Wilson Benesch’s bass (or Borresen’s, or Perlisten’s). Proportionally, I wish I heard a bit more voluminous low end. That’s why the IGx extension exists.
Clarity & delicacy
The IGx follows similar form factor like the Torus subs that made Wilson Benesch famous in the past. The cabinet is round (510mm in diameter and 432mm tall including spikes) and and heavy (54kg). It accepts signal on RCAs and XLRs, as well as on high level Speakon connector if you want to take the signal from a speaker’s terminals. The controls are located at the bottom front of the IGx and allow for continuous phase adjustment between 0 and 180 degrees, crossover setting between 30 and 90Hz, and gain adjustment from -30dB to +45dB. Inside, Wilson Benesch uses 500W Class D amplifier that drives two big motor structures that reside around a massive vertical steel core that connects them in a push-pull operation principle. Two composite cones (carbon fibre and PET sandwich) fire to the floor and to the ceiling simultaneously. Wilson Benesch specifies the IGx to deliver power in -3dB tolerance between 12Hz and 90Hz (depending on the crossover setting). In the manual, recommended settings as well as recommended placement schemes are shown for pairing the IGx with Omnium and other Wilson Benesch speakers. I ended up with settings that were slightly more conservative than recommended.
Tonal accuracy
In 1998, Madonna was not yet a caricature of herself and the Ray of Light (FLAC 16/44.1) was released a very solid pop album full of great tunes. Frozen is very engaging through the Wilson Benesch system, with the song’s special effects surrounding me in a three-dimensional space. The Omnium and IGx show both positives and negatives (the rhythm section screams for re-recording), they do not editorialize or paint the sound pink. Yet, they are never merciless in how they send the sound to ears; there is a strong sense of ‘cultivation’ and ‘maturity’, whatever it means. They reminded me (in a very good way) about the sound quality of Dynaudio’s top of the line speakers, the Evidence Master which Audiodrom reviewed 10 years ago (time flies fast). Yet, the Omnium and IGx combination sound cleaner, more transparent, and weightier. It should, it is 50% more expensive than the Evidence Master was.
If I should pinpoint just one area where the Omnium – IGx system excels, it would be the midrange. It is smooth, colourful, detailed, and true to source. No wonder therefore that especially classical tracks, like Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons played by Janine Jansen (and released by Decca) sound so sweet and breathtaking through the Wilson Benesch. One can almost smell the resin melting on the strings during energetic sweeps. The individually miked violin is surrounded by audible ambience, it does not sound wiry or thin, and it is perfectly anchored between the speakers with no splashes to the sides.
Spatial resolution
As I see it, the Wilson Benesch Omnium are great speakers, but to perform their best, they need to be complemented by the IGx subwoofer. That drives the asking price for the combo (€125 000 + €30 000) quite high. It also makes them a little less expensive than the new YG Acoustics Sonja 3.3 (€190 000) and same priced as the Sonja 2.3i (€150 000) that both are (in side-by-side comparison that I could make) even more complete and better-balanced sounding speakers. It is also important to realize that the IGx subwoofer units are not small by any means, and they need to be carefully positioned at the line with the Omniums, thus taking the floor space that is usually occupied by an audio rack. So, there are some pros and cons to be weighted.
If you have the money and if you like the sheer amount of engineering and storytelling that sits behind these speakers, and if the futuristic appearance appeals to you, then go for it. You won’t be disappointed.
Recommended resellers
Dreamaudio, Bratislava, +421 907 838 806
Manufacturer's website: http://wilson-benesch.com
Associated components
- Sources: Taiko Extreme Server, Router a Switch, Lampizator Horizon DAC, Ypsilon 1000SE DAC Silver Edition, Paul Pang Quad Switch
- Amplifiers: Ypsilon PST 100MkII Silver Edition pre, Ypsilon Hyperion monobloky
- Interconnects and speaker cables: Stage III Concepts Xphynx USB, Ckahron XLR, Cerberus speaker cable (single wire)
- Power conditioning: Telos Power Station Tai Chi Yin a Yang, Telos Grounding Station, Stage III Concept Leviathan a Poseidon, Silent Laboratories SW 1,2,3
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