So after a few weeks wait while they were being built my new Boenicke W5 SE+ in solid walnut arrived.
Despite the stated 250 hour run-in I am already blown away out of the box. It matches my NAP 250DR perfectly for my tastes. Handles everything I can throw at in the the space.
They are part of the MIT cable construction. They call it multipole technology. As I understand it they split the signal into frequencies for transport. They claim it is like using multiple cables to transport the music. Is it snake oil? I don’t have the knowledge to know but I can say it does what it says on the box:
The benefit is more lifelike vocals and instruments, mid and high frequencies become less bright or tiring, voices are clear and understandable, and bass frequencies become tight and deep.
There are two boxes in each cable. One for the amp side and one for the speaker side.
They do look nice! And I bet they sound to match. Are they really from solid Walnut, or is it a veneer?
But from an aesthetics pov I’m not sure I could live with that box hanging from the cable, especially as the speakers are so elegant. Cable being a bit thick as well for the look.
Solid wood all the way through. It’s built from glued together book matched staves. At the top you can see the staves but on the side the grain is selected to make it look like a single piece.
Here is what they look inside. Image from the internet made from one of the other wood possibilities you can choose from:
As for the boxes they look better IRL. Yeah I’d rather have without but the sound they produce together is hard to ignore.
Thanks. Interesting way of doing the speakers. Did you get to hear how the different woods compare sound wise? I can imagine they would resonate differently?
The round indentations probably have rods for bracing I imagine. Or are they related to the side-firing woofer?
I was not able to compare that no. Think the price and availability makes it hard for a dealer to have every version in all woods. That’ll be 15 sets in total
The home demo I did before buying was with speakers built out of oak.
From my memory of two months ago the ones that arrived certainly did not disappoint. More a case of “I have forgotten how amazing they are”.
My choose of walnut was an aesthetic one.
As for the internal assembly when the speakers are bolted in I dunno. So can’t say much about those indentations. Perhaps they put pillars in from strength. I dunno.
This really baffled my initially, it seemed like such a weird choice. But reading their website they seem to very much try to replicate the “concert-hall sound”. I’m guessing it’s the idea that in a large hall, a lot of the sound you hear will be reflected instead of direct.
Interesting approach to try to mimick a room their audience will be familiar with instead of a theoretical optimum.
