Wilson Benesch introduces its flagship Cardinal speaker

By Andy Clough
published

Advanced floorstander is expected to cost in the region of £60,000 a pair

Wilson Benesch has a new flagship speaker, The Cardinal, which the company claims is the most advanced model it has ever made. It costs £54,950 a pair for one of the standard finishes.

We first caught a glimpse of an early prototype at the Bristol Show earlier this year, which featured a hefty 35Kg baffle hewn from a solid block of aluminium. This houses the powerful bass units (right).

The carbon fibre based, advanced composite curved cabinet has a complex inner geometry to counter internal standing waves, which can adversely affect the sound quality.

Internal volume is said to be 65% greater than that of the Wilson Benesch Chimera, and The Cardinal stands a foot higher than its predecessor.

Part of the Geometry series, The Cardinal is fitted with proprietary Tactic-II drive units and a Semisphere tweeter. There are 18 drive units in total, delivering wide bandwidth sound from 25Hz to 35kHz.

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Andy Clough
Andy Clough

Andy is Global Brand Director of What Hi-Fi? and has been a technology journalist for 30 years. During that time he has covered everything from VHS and Betamax, MiniDisc and DCC to CDi, Laserdisc and 3D TV, and any number of other formats that have come and gone. He loves nothing better than a good old format war. Andy edited several hi-fi and home cinema magazines before relaunching whathifi.com in 2008 and helping turn it into the global success it is today. When not listening to music or watching TV, he spends far too much of his time reading about cars he can't afford to buy.