BOENICKE AT AUDIO MAGIC

Melbourne-based Australian hi-fi end distributor Audio Magic has added Boenicke speakers to its portfolio. Boenicke was founded by German designer, Sven Boenicke, and is one of the few loudspeaker manufacturers in the world whose speakers are constructed from solid wood, rather than re-constituted wood or ply. Boenicke says that just as the wood used in a musical instrument fundamentally affects the sound it produces, the material in which a loudspeaker is mounted also fundamentally affects the quality of sound it produces, so the same loudspeaker will sound completely different when mounted in different materials. His view is that the best results are achieved when a driver is mounted in solid wood. Boenicke is also renowned for his labyrinthine loudspeaker enclosures, which he says are: ‘ to engage mid-low frequencies in a potent way, and provide remarkable low frequency solidity and thus a strong foundation for the upper mid-bass.’ According to Aleksandar Maksimovic, of Audio Magic, another thing that sets Boenicke apart from other speaker designers is that he also works as an audio engineer, and has been responsible for a number of highly-regarded recordings. ‘ Sven has spent more time in concert halls recording live music than most other loudspeaker manufacturers,’ he said. ‘ And it’s his extensive experience listening to—and recording—live music that underlies the design philosophy of his amazing speakers.’

The design of Boenicke speakers is also unusual, for example the 165mm bass driver in the Boenicke W8 (pictured) is tuned to 28Hz and is run ‘full-range’ (without a crossover), while the 100mm midrange driver has only a first-order low-pass filter, and the high-frequency driver is 75mm in diameter. It has a rated sensitivity of 87dBSPL/w/m and a ‘nominal’ impedance of 4 . (‘SE’ versions of the W8 have a 2 impedance above 5 kHz.) Available in solid walnut, oak, ash or cherry and measuring 776×114×260mm (HWD), the standard model Boenicke W8 retails for $11,208 per pair.