OK WILSON OWNERS. HERE IS YOUR CHALLENGE


It seems thay many of us (including myself) have been a little too caught up in personal attacks/defenses of Wilson speakers. What we really need is an honest first hand assesment of WP 7,Max2,X2 vs high end alternative selling for less-much less. So here is my challenge : I will haul my Wilson Benesch Chimeras ( 20k plain,24k as finished in burled walnut) a reasonable distance from my home near Atlanta to hook up to YOUR system in YOUR room to compare to YOUR wp7,max,x2's. Only caveat is my speakers are less efficient (88 db) so have lots of power for fair comparison. Comparison is for: accuracy , musicality, enjoyment,value and anything else YOU want. Just be willing to be HONEST in your assesment. You have MY word that I will admit it on this forum if I am wrong and will bow down to Wilson if they earn my respect in direct comparison to my beloved WB's. I believe that even in a system optimized for Wilsons you will the beauty of a high end less costly alternative. - Jim
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Khrys : Yes amplification may be an issue but there are plenty of Wilsons running on 100+ watt amps. I was really ony trying to exclude SET s. IMHO Wp 7 is not similar to Chimera. Chimera is carbon fiber and possibly the most inert cabinet in audio. The tact drivers are also propriatary and made in house utilizing 500,000 + in EU money. The only part not made by WB itself is a version of the super revelator tweeter. Without EU deveopment money Chimeras would be at least 35k. Chimeras are 2.5 way designs with 4 isobaricly 7 " woofers. This presents exteremly fast, accurate bass but little energy below 25hz. Wilsons are very good trditional kit speakers. None of this says anything about sound. For accuracy we could measure response but for enjoyment we have only our opinions. I respect yours but to my ears WP's and WBb'do not sound at all similar though you and others may indeed prefer the Wilson sound. I'm a fan of accuacy so that may explain my preference. If you are ever in Atlanta let me know and will spend some time listening. In fact, if there are any Atlanta audiophiles interested in any of this look me up. Jim
Hey Jim. Just wondering if you had any takers of your "challenge". I'd like to know the results, especially against the Maxx II since that's the only speaker that has me thinking about giving up my W/P7s.

I certainly agree that the Chimera and W/P7s sound very different but the former is clearly Benesch's version of the latter: placing a dedicated tweeter-midrange unit (modified Discovery) on top of a dedicated woofer unit(like a puppy); the essence of the W/P design.

The tweeter/midrange of the Chimera uses a 1" tweeter with a 7" midrange loaded @ 4ohms in a dedicated highly inert ported enclosure with no parallel surfaces, of the same internal volume, just like the Wilson Watt.

The bass unit of the Chimera champions Wilson's concept of multiple smaller woofers in a ported reflex design: twin 8" active units vs. four isobarically loaded 7" drivers.

Wilson's rock.
The Chimera is a Euro wannabe.
Aptly named.
Man, you really KICKED THEIR ASS, man!!!

VERY impressive.

Both hilarious AND impressive.

I can see why nobody wants to mess with you man!!

Your speakers would like KICK THEIR SPEAKER'S ASS!

AWESOME DISPLAY MAN!!
Yes Vince McMahon ,I mean westborn, the FIRST attempt at empiric evidence gathering about a controversial topic which usually degrades into typical WWF B.S. has brought just what one would expect. Hilarius bafoonery from the oh so hip cut up crowd. "Awesome performance" from it's newest member : westbornvincemcmahon graduate of Jerry Springer school of broadcasting. -Jim