The Wilson Benesch Centre loudspeaker is a versatile high performance center channel loudspeaker that fully complements all the other speakers in the Odyssey range. Although it may appear to be a 2-way speaker with twin bass midrange drivers it actually is a true linear phase 2.5-way design that has more in common with the Curve than the Arc speakers. Again the trade mark Wilson Benesch advanced carbon fiber A.C.T. monocoque cabinet walls are used that dramatically reduce cabinet resonance and coloration. In a home theater set up, the center channel speaker handles the lion share of the programme material, particularly dialog. The Wilson Benesch Centre Loudspeaker has some of sonic attributes of electrostatic speakers which physically because of their size do not lend themselves to center channel applications.

The advanced carbon fiber A.C.T. monocoque cabinet walls give an open naturalness to dialog with none of the boxiness that M.D.F. speakers tend to have.

The Wilson Benesch Centre Loudspeaker is a true linear phase design and this is another reason for its remarkable clarity and cohesive image space. Wilson Benesch was one of the first manufactures to abandon complex crossovers that introduce voltage/current phase anomalies with resulting distortion of the original audio signal. The "Tactic Bass-Midrange" and the "Tactic Bass" are housed in two separately ported differentially tuned chambers within the cabinet and first order cross-overs are used throughout. The tweeter crossover is at 5KHz, above the most critical mid-band frequencies, and is a minimal component second order type.

The combination of a low noise very rigid cabinet, a fully optimized true linear phase transient response, a wide ranging and smooth frequency envelope (45Hz to 24kHz +- 2dB on axis), and low compression (111dB at 1 meter maximum spl), translates into state of the art loudspeaker performance. The sound is seamless, uncolored, present and quite powerful from such compact dimensions.

Wilson Benesch Centre Loudspeakers is hand-built.

Price: $4,995 - cherry finish

Wilson Benesch is located in Sheffield England - the traditional home of steel engineering in the UK - and is the only U.K. audio company to have won substantial government funding for its innovative development work.