Boenicke Audio W5 Speakers Review
Written by Terry Ellis April 2020
Not what I was expecting at all
Boenicke Audio is a company that has interested since my first Munich HiFi End Show in 2017. Shooting a video in the Boenicke room their speakers stood out for their unique looks and excellent sound. It wasn't until a year later at the Audio Video Show in Warsaw 2019 that I had the opportunity to put myself , my camera and recording equipment in a good seat for proper listen to some Boenicke speakers, but this wasn't enough for me I wanted more.
I expressed an interest to Sven Boenicke (Owner) to review the W5 speakers because their form factor is both interesting and fitted a unique criteria of being suitable for desktop use. Desktop speaker use might seem a little alien to some but for others who spend as many hours working at a desk as I do the prospect of high end sound quality on a desk is very appealing. The W5 are ideally suited for this because they have a spring suspension system that isolates them from the desk overcoming one of the main problems of using speakers in this manner.
I was very excited to receive the speakers and thanks to Elite Audio the UK distributor for shipping the speakers to me quickly. Initially I was very surprised by how small and light the box was that housed the W5 speakers and I was even more surprised by their small physical size and low weight. Normally installing speakers is a back breaking affair but not with the W5 you can pick them up in one hand and easily move them around needing only your finger tips to adjust their position or toe in which is a welcome change.
In the video below I introduce the Boenicke Audio W5 and tell you more about their design.
More surprised in how they sound
The W5 speakers have a very long suggested run in time of 250 hours, it made sense to get cracking on the task asap. I did my best to ignore the speakers trying not to actively listen to them during this time but it was impossible with a speaker system this engaging to listen to and on quite a few occasions I found myself stopping work to listen.
By the time 250 hours were up I felt I had a pretty good take on how the W5 were sounding but on Sven's advice to toe them in more aggressively resulted in a significantly better sounding W5 speaker system. You will see the results of this in the demonstration video below but to summarise the W5 are very open and highly detailed sounding speakers with excellent treble extension and crispness. The bass quality, articulation and ease in which they deliver punchy bass was a big surprise from such a small speaker. Its still a small speaker so inevitable laws of physics apply for bass extension and overall output but the W5 deliver more bass than they should for their extremely small footprint.
Compared to other speakers, larger speakers the mid arrange and some vocal can sound a little lean and lacking the same presence, other larger speakers deliver the bottom octaves of vocals better, however I think correct system component matching could help with this.
With certain music styles the treble and upper frequency regions energy was a little forward and little too much but again this could be a system matching situation as I don't think I was using the ideal amplifier with the W5.
By the time 250 hours were up I felt I had a pretty good take on how the W5 were sounding but on Sven's advice to toe them in more aggressively resulted in a significantly better sounding W5 speaker system. You will see the results of this in the demonstration video below but to summarise the W5 are very open and highly detailed sounding speakers with excellent treble extension and crispness. The bass quality, articulation and ease in which they deliver punchy bass was a big surprise from such a small speaker. Its still a small speaker so inevitable laws of physics apply for bass extension and overall output but the W5 deliver more bass than they should for their extremely small footprint.
Compared to other speakers, larger speakers the mid arrange and some vocal can sound a little lean and lacking the same presence, other larger speakers deliver the bottom octaves of vocals better, however I think correct system component matching could help with this.
With certain music styles the treble and upper frequency regions energy was a little forward and little too much but again this could be a system matching situation as I don't think I was using the ideal amplifier with the W5.
Pulling it all together
The Boenicke W5 are a very interesting, very beautiful, very clever and very good speaker system and I enjoyed my time with them immensely. They perform fantastically well in certain areas with the speakers mains strengths of creating a wide and open clean sound stage that is fast and clear across the audible spectrum with the exception of sub bass.
The W5 are not a perfect speakers if one exits and with an RRP of £4895 they wont suit every audiophile because at that price point some will want more bass output and extension, higher spl playback levels and a grander overall sound scale that larger speakers can create. The W5 are extremely small speakers about half the size of the KEF LS50, but for audiophiles who want a smaller speaker and who are seeking a pair that can create a totally engaging emotional high end listening experience the W5 are an essential audition speaker system. for you.
The W5 are not a perfect speakers if one exits and with an RRP of £4895 they wont suit every audiophile because at that price point some will want more bass output and extension, higher spl playback levels and a grander overall sound scale that larger speakers can create. The W5 are extremely small speakers about half the size of the KEF LS50, but for audiophiles who want a smaller speaker and who are seeking a pair that can create a totally engaging emotional high end listening experience the W5 are an essential audition speaker system. for you.
